Blade sharpening advice? | Golden Skate

Blade sharpening advice?

1987cp

Spectator
Joined
Feb 25, 2021
I'm originally from northwest Indiana, but have been living in southern Michigan for many years. I learned to skate at the Skokie Skadium in about 1983, and took various hockey clinics and group lessons at Homewood-Flossmoor before playing Mite and Squirt hockey in about 1987 through 1989.

After transitioning to figure skating, I went through the ISIA Alpha through Delta and Freestyle 1, 2, and 3 group classes before studying privately at H-F, Oak Lawn, Park Ridge, Evanston, and McFetridge. I remember passing USFSA 1st and 2nd figure tests (I was starting loop figures) and working hard at all double jumps (eventaully landing a clean triple loop or two but never a good double Axel), but I don't remember now what USFSA freestyle tests I actually passed.

Now that I've had my kids finally doing some learn-to-skate activities on a scrappy backyard rink (now sadly drained and dismantled), and my wife bought herself some new Jackson Freestyles last January, it seemed time to get some decent skates again myself. The downside about being older is that feet spread, so my lovely Gold Testers and Quadrabond Harlick Customs are now a no-go! With kids and household responsibilities, cost is of course of the essence, so I was happy to find an amazing deal on some taper-edge MK Phantoms that are now happily mounted on some decent boots that fit. They felt amazing during the mounting/testing/adjusting process, but a previous owner seems to have had them sharpened incorrectly, so I need to find a way to fix that. I'm crazy enough to try my hand at most tasks, but I'm not ready to spring for a sharpening machine quite yet, so I'm on the lookout for a decent sharpening service.

In the Chicago area it seemed like there was a Harlick dealer on every street corner, but here not so much. In the early '90s I bought most of my skates at Pix'N'Stix Pro Shop at Southwest Ice Arena in Crestwood. Owner John Harmata, who now runs Geppetto's in Downer's Grove, always took prodigious care with fitting, mounting, and sharpening, and I also had success with Rainbo Sports. I once met an adult skater in South Bend, IN who said she mailed John her skates for sharpening, which I may yet end up doing, but I haven't yet exhausted hope of finding someone more local I can deal with.

A member with a SN something like "Nimyue" helpfully volunteered that while she personally goes to Chicago for skate service, there's a decent sharpener in Kalamazoo, MI who can help get my blades sorted. I think I successfully sent a PM (not quite sure since I'm new to this message board platform), but I seem to have lost the conversation during the banning/unbanning process.

I've heard that members of the Lansing Skating Club often go to one or more shops in Detroit, but not being part of the skating scene in this area, I've as of yet been unable to find out exactly where.
 

1987cp

Spectator
Joined
Feb 25, 2021
Best info so far! How do I locate Fred?


Edit: Is this the guy? [LINK DELETED per Ic3Rabbit's advice] Fred's Skate Sharpening
 
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Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Best info so far! How do I locate Fred?


Edit: Is this the guy? (link quoted was deleted)
Yes, and the link needs to be deleted because they don't allow that to be posted here per board rules, just a heads up.
 
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1987cp

Spectator
Joined
Feb 25, 2021
Thanks for the heads up. Idea being, links are often used for pushing a user's commercial interests?

Of course, now I can't delete the link in your post ... 🙃
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Thanks for the heads up. Idea being, links are often used for pushing a user's commercial interests?

Of course, now I can't delete the link in your post ... 🙃
But I can, and have. ;)
 
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