How much do dull blades affect your jumps and spins?

Miss Ice · Oct 27, 2014

So... I skated once a week for about 5 months so far without sharpening my blades.

I noticed that my edges out of my jumps are really unstable and shaky, especially on axel, when I try to snap out of the backspin a the landing the blade kind of "catches" in the ice causing me to fall. I get all the way around on the jump.

So I am guessing this could be more of a sharpening problem rather than a technique problem? Or a bit of both?

Yes, I will go to sharpen them soon.

pooh-beanie · Oct 27, 2014

probably sharpening.
depending on how long/ /how often/ how hard you skate, the number of times you will need to sharpen your skates will vary. but i think around 20 weeks without sharpening is really unsafe for you and not good for your skating or your body

Casey · Oct 27, 2014

Depends on your type of blade, your sharpening radius of hollow, how often you skate, and how well you take care of your skates (in particular how dry you keep them and whether you run around the rink without guards or keeping on the toe picks). Also the quality of the ice you skate on, how hard you skate, etc. If you only skate once a week, that amount of time between sharpenings may be okay...I've gone years when I only skated that much but I have stainless steel blades at the moment... The way to know whether you need a sharpening is to use your thumbnail - on each side of each blade, about every 1/2 inch, lightly drag your thumbnail perpendicular to the edge - unless the blades are very dull, a small amount of thumbnail powder will remain on the blades. You may want to try on a freshly-sharpened blade to get an idea of how it *should* be if you're not familiar. Anyways if you use the consistent amount of light pressure all the way down the blade, you should see the same amount of powder at each 1/2 inch mark. If you don't, you have found a dull area - it may be a part of the blade, one edge more than the other, or they might just be all out dull. Also you can feel for any nicks or burrs.

If you're catching an edge on a jump landing, that sounds more like under-rotation to me (or possibly over-rotation - which way do you fall, to the left or right? To your right would indicate under-rotation, to your left would indicate over-rotation). Dull blades may fail to hold you and cause you to skid easier, but they shouldn't pull you down. What ROH is your sharpening? Depending on your weight, blade profile, and personal preference, you may prefer a shallower or deeper sharpening. The standard figure skating sharpening is 7/16" ROH, but on traditional carbon steel blades, I preferred deeper - I had 5/16" on 7' rocker blades but reduced it to 3/8" when I moved to 8' rockers. Stainless steel feels different, and even the 7/16" I have now feels too sharp, so I may go down to 1/2" when I get my next sharpening.

Miss Ice · Oct 28, 2014

Casey said:
Depends on your type of blade, your sharpening radius of hollow, how often you skate, and how well you take care of your skates (in particular how dry you keep them and whether you run around the rink without guards or keeping on the toe picks). Also the quality of the ice you skate on, how hard you skate, etc. If you only skate once a week, that amount of time between sharpenings may be okay...I've gone years when I only skated that much but I have stainless steel blades at the moment... The way to know whether you need a sharpening is to use your thumbnail - on each side of each blade, about every 1/2 inch, lightly drag your thumbnail perpendicular to the edge - unless the blades are very dull, a small amount of thumbnail powder will remain on the blades. You may want to try on a freshly-sharpened blade to get an idea of how it *should* be if you're not familiar. Anyways if you use the consistent amount of light pressure all the way down the blade, you should see the same amount of powder at each 1/2 inch mark. If you don't, you have found a dull area - it may be a part of the blade, one edge more than the other, or they might just be all out dull. Also you can feel for any nicks or burrs.

If you're catching an edge on a jump landing, that sounds more like under-rotation to me (or possibly over-rotation - which way do you fall, to the left or right? To your right would indicate under-rotation, to your left would indicate over-rotation). Dull blades may fail to hold you and cause you to skid easier, but they shouldn't pull you down. What ROH is your sharpening? Depending on your weight, blade profile, and personal preference, you may prefer a shallower or deeper sharpening. The standard figure skating sharpening is 7/16" ROH, but on traditional carbon steel blades, I preferred deeper - I had 5/16" on 7' rocker blades but reduced it to 3/8" when I moved to 8' rockers. Stainless steel feels different, and even the 7/16" I have now feels too sharp, so I may go down to 1/2" when I get my next sharpening.

Erm, yeah, I don't think any thumbnail powder really comes off, but my thumbnails are not the best for this. xD

In any case, I was falling kind of back on my butt because as I was about to check out, my foot catches (often feels like the toe pick is really "thin" when it first hits the ice). I was definitely skidding while doing backward three turns and brackets today, so I definitely just need to go and sharpen them.

Thanks for all the tips on the sharpening! I didn't even know about the deep vs shallow blade thing. I have 7/16" on 8' rocker, actually. I will ask about that when I go sharpening next, I guess!

vlaurend · Nov 13, 2014

According to my sharpener, the rule of thumb is to sharpen blades every 40 hours of skating. That assumes the blades are good quality steel blades (like MK or Wilson). You'll need to sharpen more often than that for lower end blades and less often for harder blades like Paramount blades.

karne · Nov 14, 2014

Hmm, I think it's a bit of a personal thing, what's affected. Even when my blades are in the desperado stage of bluntness, I can still land my toe jumps securely and spin. But my edge jumps and edge work - forget it. And yet as soon as I sharpen them, my spins depart for a time.

That said, I usually try and remember to sharpen them every three months. I don't get to skate much more than three or so hours a week, so that works for me.

fleeting · Nov 14, 2014

Personally, I prefer a sharp blade - I'm rubbish at spinning on dull blades, and my edges also look awful. Jumping I can sort of manage when they're dull but I really prefer for them to be sharper - it makes landing somewhat easier for me, I suppose.

I get mine sharpened about every two months because I skate a couple of sessions a week. It just feels lighter when my blades are sharp, if that makes any sense.

concorde · Nov 15, 2014

Dull skates will not allow the edges to "grip" the ice. Plain physics.

Rental skates are usually awful because the blades are dull, not because the boot/skates are terrible.

mariajeffery · Nov 26, 2014

It's definitely the sharpening problems, in your case.
Try to sharpen at least once in 20 weeks, otherwise, it would be very dangerous for your body

How much do dull blades affect your jumps and spins?

Miss Ice

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pooh-beanie

Casey

Miss Ice

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vlaurend

karne

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fleeting

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concorde

mariajeffery

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