Having your pair of ice skates allows you to get used to one pair and feel comfortable wearing them, so the skates must be of good quality to help your skating.
If your skates are not of good quality, you will struggle to perfect your skating, so how do you sharpen ice skates to improve their quality?
Sharpening ice skates is an important part of owning them, as you need to keep on top of their condition and make sure that they are safe to use.
Wearing blunt ice skates can be dangerous, so it is important to make sure that your skates are safe to use, but how do you sharpen them?
This article will show you how to sharpen ice skates to make sure that your skating is not affected by blunt blades.
You can find out ways to sharpen your ice skates below!
When Do You Need To Sharpen Your Ice Skates?
The main indication that your ice skates need sharpening is when you feel your glides becoming slower and you are not skating as sharply and precisely as you usually do (Find out How To Check Your Edges here).
This happens when your ice skates become blunt, preventing you from smoothly gliding across the ice with speed and elegance.
There might be cracks or scratches in the blades that could be affecting your skating, so it is important to sharpen your skates to get rid of them.
They can also affect the smoothness of your skating, so sharpening your skates will improve the quality of your blades and the quality of your skating.
If you suspect that your skates need sharpening, you can gently touch them with your hand. If the blades feel blunt, this indicates that you need to sharpen the blades.
Checking the blades of your skates is important for improving your performance. If you feel like your skating has become worse, sharpening the blades could be the answer.
How Often Should Ice Skates Be Sharpened?
There are several indicators for how often your ice skates should be sharpened, but what are they?
They will determine if your ice skates should be sharpened often or less often, but it depends on certain factors.
Weight Of A Person
Heavier people will find that they need to sharpen their ice skates more often than lighter people as their blades will be cutting deeper into the ice, which can cause them to blunt quickly.
If you sharpen your blades regularly, your skating will not be affected, but blunt skates will cause you to feel slower and less sharp than your usual skating.
How Often You Use Them
If you are skating a lot, you will find that you need to sharpen your skates regularly. Your blades will become blunt a lot quicker if you are skating for long periods every day, so you need to keep checking them.
By checking your skates regularly, you can make sure that they are suitable to use and when they need to be sharpened.
Condition Of The Ice
Although ice skates are designed to be used on ice, the condition of the ice can affect the quality of your skates.
If the ice is hard, you will need to sharpen your skates more often, as the blades will find it hard to cut into the ice, causing them to blunt.
If the ice is softer, your blades will need sharpening less frequently as they will cut into the ice more easily.
How To Sharpen Ice Skates
When you need to sharpen your ice skates, there are a few ways that you can sharpen them effectively.
You can take your skates to a professional to be sharpened or you can use sharpeners at your local ice rink, but what if you want to sharpen them at home?
Purchase A Sharpening Machine
If you are finding that you constantly need to take your skates to be sharpened, you can purchase a sharpening machine to use at home.
You need to clamp your blades in the machine, where it will first focus on getting rid of cracks or scratches, and then the blades will be sharpened properly to improve your skating performance.
It can take a while to use the machine if you are new to it, but it can be beneficial to invest if there are a lot of people in your family who are skaters.
It can also be beneficial for ice hockey teams to invest so players can sharpen their skates before or after training.
Use A Skate Sharpening Stone
A skatestone can help to give your blades an extra sharpen before or after training, but it should be used to touch up sharpened skates.
The sharpening stone can be used to make sure your skates are in good condition after a machine has sharpened them, so it can just perfect the blades to make sure that you are happy with how they look.
Should You Sharpen Your Skates Yourself Or Give Them To A Professional?
It is up to you how you would feel most comfortable having your skates sharpened.
If you have never sharpened your skates before, it is recommended that you take them to a professional, as you do not want to damage them.
If you feel comfortable sharpening your skates and you have been taught the right techniques, then you can sharpen them at home.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, it is very easy to sharpen your ice skates as you can either take them to a professional or you can sharpen them at home.
If you want to sharpen your skates at home and you have been taught how to, you can purchase a machine to do the job for you.
This is beneficial if there are lots of people in your family who skate or for teams to use.
You can also use a sharpening stone to refine where your skates have been sharpened by a machine, but take your skates to be sharpened by a professional if you feel more comfortable doing so.