I hope that "third time's a charm" holds:
<<Emphasis added.>> This is the best available info we have. If you did indeed read the first two instances, then you didn't appreciate its significance.
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Unsharpened section of blades rusting
- Thread starter MilaPang
- Start date
I hope that "third time's a charm" holds:
<<Emphasis added.>> This is the best available info we have. If you did indeed read the first two instances, then you didn't appreciate its significance.
I'm so sorry to bother you guys again, but I think it might be the skate guards. There are some similar spots forming on the spin rocker, although much fainter than the ones I posted about before, that correlate with the grooves of my skate guards. I hadn't noticed any impressions in the guards before, but there are some indents where the sharp edges of the skates would be, and the hollow of the blades may come in contact with the plastic. Is it possible for the skate guards to stain the metal?
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- Joined
- Oct 22, 2022
Without seeing inside the groove in your guards (not in a photo), I wouldn't make any real conclusion, but your description sounds as if the problem is there. Possibly moisture being trapped in a rough surface in the guards and then them being left on the blades too long? That's just my imagination trying to come up with one possibility, but I could be way off.
If it were me, I'd buy a new pair of guards of a different brand and style, and see if the spots still show up. If not, then it was the original guards' fault and I'd just ditch them. And don't leave guards on blades a minute longer than you absolutely have to. It depends on the layout of your rink, but at the two places where I normally skate, I put on my skates while sitting on a players' bench right beside the gate onto the ice. Take them off as I step off the ice again. Even if I'm just taking a quick break to get something from the vending machine down by the door, I take my skates off, run to the machine in my shoes, and then back to the bench where I left my skates lying on a towel, without their guards on. I only use the guards when there's some reason why I have to walk a short distance with my skates on.
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
I mentioned this possibility on the first page of your thread and left you a link for proper guards for figure skates. The ones you are using are more for hockey and their blades etc are completely different, so those are not the greatest blade guards to have on at all. Also, don't leave them on very long, always get your blades and the bottom of the boots dried and in soakers as soon as possible after leaving the ice for the day.
Good luck!
Yeah, I plan on going to my skate tech and getting different hard guards while I'm there. At my rink I put my skates on in the spectating area, similar to bleachers, then have the guards on between there and the ice. There would be some moisture in the guards between getting off the ice and drying my skates I guess? I put my skates in soakers after drying the blades.
* Staining from the hard guards is one possibility (either from trapped water or from the plastic itself). But there are others. Regardless, you should swap out the Guardog Centipede guards that you have. I looked them up; they are outfitted with gummi straps that hook onto the backs of your blades. I know skaters with similar guards. Those gummi straps are much less reliable than metal springs; and you don't want your guards popping off while you're walking off-ice, especially on rough surfaces.
* Again, take a close look at the insides of your guards. Is there a series of raised ridges, maybe ~1/2" long each, separated by holes or grooves for draining water? If so, take a close look at your blades again. Use a penlight at various angles to inspect the hollows; see if there's some faint corresponding pattern.
* Another possibility that I mentioned earlier is muck from the rink matting. At rinks I go to, the cleaning staff routinely swab the rink matting with some sort of detergent. You could be picking up muck left behind prior to cleaning (especially if beer is allowed
), or detergent residue. So switch your guards first. If the problem continues to get worse, then after you take off your skates at the rink, go to a sink, wipe off the blades with a damp cloth towel several times (rinsing in between). Then dry them off, and put on your soakers. If you go this route, make sure to wash your current drying towel and soakers first (or replace them) to get rid of any muck or residue they might have already absorbed.
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At one point I actually had a pair of hard guards in which the springs were on the bottom of the groove that the blade rests in. Maybe not the best design idea - it was too easy for the blades to rub against the spring. I assume you don't have that...
Especially since in another forum, someone said that Guardog Centipede have no springs. But they said that meant they could slip, and sometimes even came off. I wonder if slipping means they create extra wear? But I'm not sure if that makes any sense. Nonetheless - do they fit snugly, or can they slip a little.
It is still theoretically possible for the flaw to be in the blades. E.g., if they did the metallurgy wrong at the factory, the hardened layer in those spots might not have gone very deep - so once that layer wore through, you would have seen the tempered layer beneath it. Likewise, if that spot was a little bit rough, it might have taken a while for rust to have taken hold, so there was no obvious rust at first. But I don't know how often that sort of thing happens. MK and JW have the experience and resources to hire good metallurgists, and the factory is in a city where high quality steel making is an old tradition. But there have been incidences in which they nonetheless did something wrong.
But if your rink or pro shop sells hard guards DESIGNED for figure skates, replacing them is something you can easily do that is reasonably cheap.
And on a separate issue, you don't by any chance skate on a rink where visible dirt sometimes gets on the ice? There are rinks where the ice is put down over sand. Sometimes, especially at the periphery of the rink, the sand comes through, though that tends to be more of a problem on outdoor rinks, but I've seen it at an indoor rink too. Sand can be very abrasive.
Especially since in another forum, someone said that Guardog Centipede have no springs. But they said that meant they could slip, and sometimes even came off. I wonder if slipping means they create extra wear? But I'm not sure if that makes any sense. Nonetheless - do they fit snugly, or can they slip a little.
It is still theoretically possible for the flaw to be in the blades. E.g., if they did the metallurgy wrong at the factory, the hardened layer in those spots might not have gone very deep - so once that layer wore through, you would have seen the tempered layer beneath it. Likewise, if that spot was a little bit rough, it might have taken a while for rust to have taken hold, so there was no obvious rust at first. But I don't know how often that sort of thing happens. MK and JW have the experience and resources to hire good metallurgists, and the factory is in a city where high quality steel making is an old tradition. But there have been incidences in which they nonetheless did something wrong.
But if your rink or pro shop sells hard guards DESIGNED for figure skates, replacing them is something you can easily do that is reasonably cheap.
And on a separate issue, you don't by any chance skate on a rink where visible dirt sometimes gets on the ice? There are rinks where the ice is put down over sand. Sometimes, especially at the periphery of the rink, the sand comes through, though that tends to be more of a problem on outdoor rinks, but I've seen it at an indoor rink too. Sand can be very abrasive.
Could the dark spots be good things? Many sources, including in refereed journals, talk of deliberately trying to form a protective "oxide layer" a few molecules thick, to slow the formation of deeper rust. That will somes be on the order of one wavelengh of light or less, so it can affect brightness and color, due to wave interference patterns. (Some skilled metal workers even create complex multicolored artwork that way.) I wonder if skating and/or stepping onto the sometimes dirty ice at the ice rink entrance could rub off the oxide layer - or perhaps something in the detergents tstop4me mentions reacts with it. In which case, the exact way you stand when placing your blades on the ice, or taking them off, might affect that oxide layer differently on different parts of the blade. If it doesn't feel rough, and there is no obvious rust pitting, maybe it is good?
