Does pure hockey sharpen skates?
Pure Hockey believes in making your time in our store an experience. Every store offers the chance to purchase a Breakaway Rewards membership, free WiFi, and a service center for getting your skates sharpened or fixed.
The majority of pros use something with a shallower hollow, but preference does widely vary. I used a 5/8ths hollow, but as I got older and heavier, I switched to the less sharp 3/4ths.
We have found, time and again, that this simple test does a great job ensuring that a suitable edge is present on a skate blade. We recommend testing 3-5 spots up and down the blade on both the inside and outside edges. If you feel a little bite to your nail as you drag it across the edge – the edge is sharp.
It's a 3-millimeter-wide piece of steel hollowed out down the middle in an inverted U to create two edges. An NHL player uses both edges on both skates, like a skier shifting weight from side to side during turns. Most recreational players just want their skates sharpened.
Some players might want them sharpened after every game, but other players might get them sharpened once every three months. A general rule of thumb is every 12 hours of use. Certain instances, though, can cause you to need a sharpen to make them skateable again.
Some players will sharpen very frequently, such as every 2-3 hours of ice time, while others go for an entire season without sharpening. If you're unsure of where to start, try getting them sharpened after 10 hours of ice time, and then adjust as you feel is necessary.
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Some examples of ROH used by current and former NHL players are:
| Wayne Gretzky – 1/2″ | Sidney Crosby – 9/16″ |
|---|---|
| Joe Sakic – 5/8″ | Evgeni Malkin – 11/16″ |
A Guide to the Recommended Skate Sharpening Radius
The 1/2″ radius would be our typical recommendation because it is the perfect blend of “glide” and “bite.” Some players opt for the 3/8″ cut, but you are definitely sacrificing some “glide,” which can in turn affect your overall speed on the ice.
5/8 (Shallow) grind is what most figure skaters skate on. This gives you a good flowing edge and has little friction on the ice.
| Skate Lab | Price |
|---|---|
| Regular Sharpening | $7.00* |
| Regular Sharpening Card (10) | $50.00* |
| Regular Sharpening Card (20) | $80.00* |
| Flat Bottom V Sharpening | $10.00* |
Do ice hockey skates come sharpened?
They influence how fast you can skate, stop or turn when playing ice hockey. Unfortunately, most ice hockey skates don't come from the factory sharpened. They're often U-shaped, rounded, dull, and flattened. This is a single edge blade that isn't cut out for ice hockey because you won't get great results with it.
The rule of thumb is to sharpen ice skates after every 15-20 hours of use. This is typical for athletes who play hockey or figure skate multiple times on a weekly basis.
Hockey 101: A lesson on skate sharpening - YouTube