How often do Quantum Eclipse blades need to be sharpened? | Golden Skate

How often do Quantum Eclipse blades need to be sharpened?

BunniesSkate

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 2, 2021
My dealer and one of my coaches said that the Eclipse blades were basically the same as the Matrix Legacy blades material and figure wise, just by a different brand. Does anyone have any experience as how often to sharpen them? I heard both Matrixes and Eclipses are 50-60 hours because they are stainless steel, but I also noticed that they don't last quite as long as they claim. I've been sharpening around every 20-30 hours, which is working good, but I don't want to wear them out too fast. If the information is important, I am skating from 11-14 hours a week and I am on double jumps. Thanks!
 

Ic3Rabbit

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My dealer and one of my coaches said that the Eclipse blades were basically the same as the Matrix Legacy blades material and figure wise, just by a different brand. Does anyone have any experience as how often to sharpen them? I heard both Matrixes and Eclipses are 50-60 hours because they are stainless steel, but I also noticed that they don't last quite as long as they claim. I've been sharpening around every 20-30 hours, which is working good, but I don't want to wear them out too fast. If the information is important, I am skating from 11-14 hours a week and I am on double jumps. Thanks!
It really depends on your preference and how quickly they are dulling on you. All blades where they are sharpened (Runner/edge) are steel, some are all steel . Your blade is aluminum with a steel runner.
 

tstop4me

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Oct 2, 2015
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United-States
My dealer and one of my coaches said that the Eclipse blades were basically the same as the Matrix Legacy blades material and figure wise, just by a different brand. Does anyone have any experience as how often to sharpen them? I heard both Matrixes and Eclipses are 50-60 hours because they are stainless steel, but I also noticed that they don't last quite as long as they claim. I've been sharpening around every 20-30 hours, which is working good, but I don't want to wear them out too fast. If the information is important, I am skating from 11-14 hours a week and I am on double jumps. Thanks!

* I don’t know where you’re getting your information from. But here is the information on the Quantum Blade directly from the Riedell/Eclipse website:




"Precisely engineered to the highest standards, the Quantum Blade is made from a harder 6005 T/5 Aluminum and features a permanently affixed, stronger, rust-resistant 440 C Stainless Steel runner that holds an edge longer."


And here is the information on the Matrix Legacy blade directly from the Jackson/Ultima website:




"The Legacy runner is produced from 420 J stainless steel which offers improved benefits over the carbon steel used in Wilson and MK blades. Faster with superior edge control and less frequent sharpening..."


Further information on stainless-steel skate blades can be found on the Paramount website:




See the video “Manufacturing” from 3:15 to 6:05.


And on the SkateScience website:




"Manufacturing

SkateScience blades are designed as an extension of the Step Skates brand. Step Skates has been manufacturing the highest quality skate blades in North America for decades and is recognized as a premium quality manufacturer of these products. All SkateScience blades are made from high grade stainless steel, (the leading blades are carbon steel which is softer, rusts and does not hold an edge as long) that was developed specifically for ice skating by our Swedish mill, exclusively for us. Stainless steel is harder than high carbon steel from which most blades are made and therefore holds an edge longer." <<Emphasis added. This statement is not completely accurate, but I’ll skip the gnurdy details.>>

* All steels are not the same, and all stainless steels are not the same. In particular, the grade used in the Eclipse Quantum (440C) is superior to that used in the Matrix Legacy (420J). [ETA: The more advanced Matrix blades use a better grade.] Note, however, that the final properties of the blade are dependent not only on the grade of stainless steel, but also on the manufacturing process.That is, even if two manufacturers use 440C, the blade from one manufacturer can have longer edge life than the blade from the other manufacturer.

* Note that none of the manufacturers cited above make any claims as to edge life between sharpenings. That’s because they can’t. Edge life is not only a function of the material composition and manufacturing process (factors that are under the manufacturers’ control) but also a function of many variables not under the manufacturers’ control; e.g., how the blade is sharpened, weight of the skater, skating maneuvers (edge work vs. spins vs. jumps vs. stops), abrasive particles in the ice, abrasive particles on floor mats, diligence the skater exercises in wearing blade guards off the ice ....

* All that the manufacturers claim is that their stainless-steel blades provide a longer edge life than comparable plain-carbon-steel blades (they don't make any claims as to how much longer). So you are posing the wrong question. The question you should really be asking is: “I previously wore Blade X (what is this in your case?), fabricated from grade P plain carbon steel. I typically got them sharpened after T hrs of ice time (what is this in your case?). I have recently switched to the Eclipse Quantum blade, fabricated from 440C stainless steel. How many hrs of ice time between sharpenings should I now expect (1.5T, 2T, ...)?" That is, what blade were you using before, and how often did you get them sharpened (assuming the same skating conditions)?

* The Eclipse Aurora is similar to the Eclipse Quantum, except that the Aurora has the traditional (“standard weight”) brazed construction, whereas the Quantum has the light-weight (chassis plus runner) construction. The edges that contact the ice are fabricated from 440C stainless steel for both blades. My comparison of the Eclipse Aurora with the Wilson Coronation Ace (fabricated from plain carbon steel) was given here:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/has-anyone-tried-eclipse-aurora-blades.56506/#post-1232699 Post #4

As I noted above, difference in edge life will depend on many variables, so my results apply only for me. Note: I dry my blades thoroughly after skating. But skaters who are careless about drying should see an extra boost in edge life, since the grades of plain carbon steel used in blades are susceptible to rust if the blades are not properly dried, whereas the grades of stainless steel used in blades are not (under typical skating conditions).
 
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gliese

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I sharpen mine every 10 to 15 hours working on high doubles and beginning triples. Generally if you feel thrown off by freshly sharpened blades you have waited too long. At double jumps, 20 hours is the average of what people at my rink do.
 

tstop4me

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Thanks for all the help! I think I'll be doing 20 as well.
Hi. I'd still be interested in whether you've gotten extended edge life with the Quantum relative to your previous blades. What were your previous blades, and how often did you get them sharpened?
 

tstop4me

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I sharpen mine every 10 to 15 hours working on high doubles and beginning triples. Generally if you feel thrown off by freshly sharpened blades you have waited too long. At double jumps, 20 hours is the average of what people at my rink do.
Just to clarify the above: What blade materials are you talking about? Specifically stainless steels? Primarily plain carbon steels? Or, ...?
 

BunniesSkate

Rinkside
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Aug 2, 2021
Hi. I'd still be interested in whether you've gotten extended edge life with the Quantum relative to your previous blades. What were your previous blades, and how often did you get them sharpened?

I think I used to have Riedell skates with whatever blade came with the boot. I think the edge lasts quite a bit longer now, and the Quantum blade is more curved in comparison to the old blades, so it's in general easy to spin.
 

gliese

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Just to clarify the above: What blade materials are you talking about? Specifically stainless steels? Primarily plain carbon steels? Or, ...?
The numbers I am using are from when I had Matrix blades. They have been fairly consistent since switching to Apex blades. On average, I was sharpening every 16.1 hours on Matrix and every 14.3 on Apex (I track in my calendar), however I have been skating on worse ice and higher jumps since switching. I am unsure about the materials of the Apex but the Matrix were Stainless Steel. I did have a faulty Matrix blade that lasted like 6 hours on the regular often on perfect ice conditions as did some of my friends so I'm hesitant to recommend them but that might just be a coincidence that all of us experienced this.
 

marcopolobear

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Hi,

Currently I'm skating in Ultima Legacy Matrix (stainless) blades. Previous to the Matrix, I skated in the normal (steel) Legacy blades so I can compare these two. Generally they seem to go at least 50% longer between sharpenings (where previously I'd get around 20 sessions between sharpenings, now I can go over 30 no problem). I use a 7/16" ROH and skate harder than most when I am on the ice.

The obvious nice thing about them is that it is stainless so the fine edge isn't affected by rust -- I think no matter how well you dry and use soakers, there is some corrosion happening on the edge unless you oil them or something.

Another nice thing not often thought about is that with an aluminum holder, you end up with a lot less dings in the blades. Sometimes in falls, or some of the stepping turns, your blades click together and this can result in a ding or scrape on your blade edge. But with the aluminum holder, you don't get a ding on the blade (but you get one on the aluminum!)

Also with stainless blades the toe picks are not chromed either, so the pick edges are very sharp. With chromed edges some of the sharpness is lost because the chrome plating rounds all the edges a bit. A cross-cut pick on a stainless blade just grips the ice like magic!

Cheers,


M
 

gliese

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The obvious nice thing about them is that it is stainless so the fine edge isn't affected by rust -- I think no matter how well you dry and use soakers, there is some corrosion happening on the edge unless you oil them or something.
As a side note, I have started oiling my blades and they last a bit longer between sharpenings. Definitely worth it and completely safe for them. Just take a cloth and spray some WD-40 on it to use after you skate. Every day when you get home spray some more on it. Eventually you won't have to keep spraying it every time. You could also keep the can in your bag but that's a bit bulky for me at the moment. And replace yoru soakers often. If they have rust build up in them, your blades are guaranteed to rust every time you put them on.
 

jcskates

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Feb 17, 2020
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Canada
Hi there, just continuing this thread instead of creating a new one because I wanna ask the skaters on these threads about quantum blades.

I've been looking for second hand blades for my old skates for a long time now (to no avail, cause 9.5 is a rare find these days). I wanna try something different yet similar to aces yet has longer edge retention cause I'll be using it primarily outdoors.

How is it skating in quantum or aurora blades? And would you recommend it?
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Hi there, just continuing this thread instead of creating a new one because I wanna ask the skaters on these threads about quantum blades.

I've been looking for second hand blades for my old skates for a long time now (to no avail, cause 9.5 is a rare find these days). I wanna try something different yet similar to aces yet has longer edge retention cause I'll be using it primarily outdoors.

How is it skating in quantum or aurora blades? And would you recommend it?
They're not the greatest, but you should be fine if you are using them for just outdoors. :)
 

tstop4me

Final Flight
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Oct 2, 2015
Country
United-States
Hi there, just continuing this thread instead of creating a new one because I wanna ask the skaters on these threads about quantum blades.

I've been looking for second hand blades for my old skates for a long time now (to no avail, cause 9.5 is a rare find these days). I wanna try something different yet similar to aces yet has longer edge retention cause I'll be using it primarily outdoors.

How is it skating in quantum or aurora blades? And would you recommend it?
* By "primarily outdoors" do you mean unmanaged frozen ponds or groomed rinks? If you whack your edges frequently against embedded hard particles, stainless steel might not provide substantially longer edge life over plain carbon steel.

* Unless you're a skater who's hung up on lightweight blades, I'd recommend the Aurora over the Quantum. I just checked current prices on a major online figure skating store: Quantum: $305; Aurora: $235; Coronation Ace (standard): $250. That makes the Aurora the most economical choice at present. See my Post #3 above in this thread for a link to my previous post comparing the Aurora to the Coronation Ace. Compared to the Coronation Ace, the Aurora has only one minus that I can come up with: the Aurora has a flatter spin rocker than the Coronation Ace. If a more pronounced spin rocker is important to you, stick with the Coronation Ace. Otherwise, the build quality and the steel grade of the Aurora are superior to that of the Coronation Ace.
 

kolyadafan2002

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Jun 6, 2019
I'm really surprised to see how often people sharpen their blades.
Every 15hours for some people is up to once a week.
Generally speaking I do every 40hours (triple jumps), and when I went to a camp with some high level skaters this was about the time people took before getting sharpened. I assume if you do more often you take less off each time so more similar feel, but this hasn't been a problem for me specifically.

Final note: I don't have a pattern for when taking them to sharpen e.g. every so often. I do it on feel (both feel across the ice, and feel with my fingers on the blade). This usually is my best indicator for if I need sharpening.
 

gliese

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2020
Country
United-States
I'm really surprised to see how often people sharpen their blades.
Every 15hours for some people is up to once a week.
Generally speaking I do every 40hours (triple jumps), and when I went to a camp with some high level skaters this was about the time people took before getting sharpened. I assume if you do more often you take less off each time so more similar feel, but this hasn't been a problem for me specifically.

Final note: I don't have a pattern for when taking them to sharpen e.g. every so often. I do it on feel (both feel across the ice, and feel with my fingers on the blade). This usually is my best indicator for if I need sharpening.
What ROH do you skate on? It might be that you skate on a smaller one so your edges don't need to be as sharp to grip the ice. I skate on a 1/2 and am pretty light, so my blades need to be super sharp to grip the ice so I don't slip.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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What ROH do you skate on? It might be that you skate on a smaller one so your edges don't need to be as sharp to grip the ice. I skate on a 1/2 and am pretty light, so my blades need to be super sharp to grip the ice so I don't slip.
^^Precisely. I'm tiny and light and need sharpened way before 40 hours as an elite and I know larger more muscular male skaters who it's the same.
 

kolyadafan2002

Fan of Kolyada
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Jun 6, 2019
What ROH do you skate on? It might be that you skate on a smaller one so your edges don't need to be as sharp to grip the ice. I skate on a 1/2 and am pretty light, so my blades need to be super sharp to grip the ice so I don't slip.
7/16", Jackson matrix elites.
I'm reasonably tall for a figure skater (weigh 73KG), and boots are quite light.
Store my blades and skates in locker upside down with soaker (although stainless steel).
 

tstop4me

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Oct 2, 2015
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Store my blades and skates in locker upside down with soaker (although stainless steel).
<<Emphasis added.>>

I remember a time when soakers were not called soakers, but simply (soft) blade covers [in distinction to (hard) blade guards]. Soft blade covers serve two purposes: (1) wick away moisture to reduce rust and (2) protect the edges against mechanical damage (i.e., keep the sharp edges from banging against each other and from banging against other hard surfaces). So soft blade covers should be used with stainless steel blades for mechanical protection, even if rust reduction is not a major issue.
 
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