Sharpening first pair of figure skates.
- Thread starter padme21
- Start date
First off, what did you buy? In particular, what blade?
General advice (without having more information): Proceed with caution. Many pro-shops specialize in hockey skates and do a horrible job with figure skates. One sloppy job of sharpening can destroy a pair of figure blades. Are you taking lessons? If so, ask your coach or instructor for a recommendation. If not, look up coaches at your rink, or figure skaters that you see on the ice, and ask them whether they trust the local pro-shop or go elsewhere. One parameter you need to specify to the sharpener is the radius of hollow (ROH). If you don't know (and don't have a coach to talk to), then I would recommend starting with 1/2". If the sharpener asks "What's ROH?", go elsewhere.
At some pro-shops, there may be more than one sharpener, but only one who does figure skates properly. But if you just drop off your skates, you might just get the next available guy. You then need to specify, I want these sharpened by Rich (or Bob or Ken or whoever the right guy is ...). So when you ask for recommendations, clarify whether you need to specify a particular sharpener at a particular pro-shop.
General advice (without having more information): Proceed with caution. Many pro-shops specialize in hockey skates and do a horrible job with figure skates. One sloppy job of sharpening can destroy a pair of figure blades. Are you taking lessons? If so, ask your coach or instructor for a recommendation. If not, look up coaches at your rink, or figure skaters that you see on the ice, and ask them whether they trust the local pro-shop or go elsewhere. One parameter you need to specify to the sharpener is the radius of hollow (ROH). If you don't know (and don't have a coach to talk to), then I would recommend starting with 1/2". If the sharpener asks "What's ROH?", go elsewhere.
At some pro-shops, there may be more than one sharpener, but only one who does figure skates properly. But if you just drop off your skates, you might just get the next available guy. You then need to specify, I want these sharpened by Rich (or Bob or Ken or whoever the right guy is ...). So when you ask for recommendations, clarify whether you need to specify a particular sharpener at a particular pro-shop.
Last edited:
my skates are American athletic they're primarily for recreational skating.
Okay, they're from Dicks? I hope you have fun with them
When you drop them off ask for a recreational radius of hollow for figure skates. If you don't, then they'll stick you with whatever they have on the sharpener.
For the exact number of ROH, I point you to the Ice Chalet in Knoxville ( a huge ISI recreational rink) and they recommend 7/16" or 1/2" for adults.
7/16" will be more 'grippy' and 1/2" more 'glidey'. Pick one.
I skate on 1/2" ROH now because I need something that lets me do figures and freestyle. It's really glidey.
When you drop them off ask for a recreational radius of hollow for figure skates. If you don't, then they'll stick you with whatever they have on the sharpener.
For the exact number of ROH, I point you to the Ice Chalet in Knoxville ( a huge ISI recreational rink) and they recommend 7/16" or 1/2" for adults.
7/16" will be more 'grippy' and 1/2" more 'glidey'. Pick one.
I skate on 1/2" ROH now because I need something that lets me do figures and freestyle. It's really glidey.
