Subject: recreational {ice} figure skating FAQ part 3
Supersedes: <rec-skate-faq/recreational-figure-skating/part3_794870416@rtfm.mit.edu>
Date: 9 Apr 1995 18:34:10 GMT
References: <rec-skate-faq/recreational-figure-skating/part0_797452370@rtfm.mit.edu>
Summary: Part 3 of this 6 part posting is the second of two parts on
        equipment, covering skate blades, childrens skates and
        miscellaneous topics.
X-Last-Updated: 1995/02/09

Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 14 Jan 1995
Version: 199501


PART 3.  More figure skating eqpt
    5.2 Blades
        5.2.1 buying new blades

Blades are commonly made in 1/4 inch sizes.  The blade size denotes 
the measurement from the front of the sole plate to the back of the 
heel plate.  Measure the length of the sole from toe to heel and fit 
blades which are 1/4 inch less in length.  A list of commonly 
available blades and their characteristics and prices is given in 
appendix 2.

Many people believe that they have to buy blades that are super 
expensive in order for them to become great skaters.  You should 
buy well-built and *appropriate* equipment.  Skaters gradually 
upgrade their equipment as their needs change, for example a skater 
may need to upgrade boots when they move from basic skating to 
their first jumps or from double to triple jumps.  Advanced blades 
require the skater to perfect his/her technique.

Top of the line blades are designed for very advanced skaters.  
Advanced free-style blades have a longer radius and have *large* 
toe picks.  Also, the portion of the blade that is used for spinning is 
much shorter than on intermediate blades; that means that unless 
you are perfectly balanced and positioned going into and during the 
spin you will start rocking on the blade.  Intermediate blades like the 
MK Professional,  Coronation Ace, etc. provide you more "room" to 
make  corrections and continue spinning even if you are slightly off 
balance.

Just because the MK Gold Stars are typically $350-$400 does not 
mean that they are inherently better blades than MK Pros or 
Phantoms.  Starting with MK Pro and Coronation Ace lines, the blades 
are all made using the same materials and manufacturing process.  
To put it succinctly, certain blades are more expensive simply 
because of supply and demand and a few slight design modifications 
like side honing which makes them marginally more costly to 
produce.

        5.2.2 three ways of checking used blades:

1. Look at how thick the dull strip is on the sides of the blades along 
the edges.  They were three or four millimeters when new.  If 
they're now thin, then your blade has few sharpenings left, and the 
toe picks are that much lower in relation to your edges.  Pass on 
these blades.

2. Put the skate upright on a table, and rock it forward until the toe 
pick touches.  The boot should be leaning forward at a decent angle 
(say, 20 degrees), and the blade should be touching within one or 
two inches of the toe pick.

3. Ask the skate sharpener at your rink to examine the blade.  They 
can tell you if the blade is bent, incorrectly mounted or obviously 
damaged by abuse or bad sharpening.

If the only problem is that the toe pick is too low, ask your shop to 
grind it some to raise it.  Never have the bottom (master) tooth 
ground off your blades.  This is bad.  Doing so may avoid a fall, but 
makes the blade useless for learning any jumps.  And the tooth fairy 
will never forgive you!!

        5.2.3 mounting

Skates with improperly mounted blades can be virtually impossible 
to skate on.  The blade must be correctly positioned and aligned on 
the boot.  To avoid twisting the blade, the boot heel and sole contours 
must match the blade mounting surfaces.  If not, the surfaces can be 
trimmed with a rasp, or shims can be added between the blade and 
boot.

Briefly, this is how your skate shop will mount the blades:
1) find the center of the tip of the sole and the center of the heel and 
draw a line joining them.
2) place the front of the sole plate of the skate blade in line of the 
front of the sole of the boot, and maintain the skate blade along the 
line drawn.  This will place the blade between the big toe and first 
toe.
3) Screws may be placed only in the slotted holes, so that you can try 
them and make minor adjustments (a blade position slightly closer to 
the big toe is sometimes favored).  Don't do any jumps until the best 
position of the blades has been found and more screws have been 
inserted.

Problems with warping.

   1. The blade may have shifted sideways slightly when the front or 
back pair of screws were tightened on the temp mounts, warping the 
blade from front to back.

   2. The holes for the permanent mounts might not be positioned 
perfectly, warping the blade as in #1 above.

   3. The heel might not be perfectly level or flat with respect to the 
front of the boot.  Old screw-holes may have created bumps on the 
heel.  Or the boot might have been manufactured with an uneven 
heel.  Such a heel will twist the blade.

        5.2.4 Rocker

Rocker is the curve of the blade from toe to heel, and is based on the 
arc of a circle with a given radius.  Thus, if you drew a circle with a 7 
foot radius and placed a blade with a 7 foot rocker along the inside 
curve of the circle, it would line up with the tracing.  The curve is 
somewhat sharper at the transition to the toe pick (where you spin) 
and at the tail.

The smaller the radius, the more rocker (amount of back and forth 
rocking motion you can get when standing on the blade) it has.  With 
small radius blades, you can do turns with less chance of falling as 
there is less blade on the ice.  For the beginner, a 6' radius is fine as, 
among other things, it is very forgiving in the toe pick department -- 
you really need to lean way forward on them to catch the picks.

The bigger the radius, the flatter the blade.  This will generate more 
speed as more of the blade contacts the ice.  You will want a flatter 
blade (7 foot or more) as you become more advanced.  When you 
start learning jumps, you will find that you need good edge control.  
Because you have more blade on the ice, you can start to prepare 
your body position for takeoff without falling off the edge so easily.  
Furthermore, when you learn toe jumps, on a too curved blade you 
will have to really struggle to over-point your foot to get that pick 
planted in the ice.

        5.2.5 Grind or Hollow

Hollow or Grind refers to the concave surface on the bottom of a 
correctly ground blade.  A small radius creates edges that will dig 
deeply into the ice, while a larger radius digs in less, but glides more 
freely.  A hollow with a 5/8" to 3/4" radius is recommended for 
beginners and "all purpose" skates.  This hollow will allow you to 
sense how a proper edge should feel, and at the same time be 
forgiving in things like T-stops.  

A deep "freestyle" hollow with a 3/8" or smaller radius will be 
UNFORGIVING.  This type of grind yields crisp and fast 3-turns, 
ability to hold a very deep edge when going into a loop jump, and 
allows for fast spins IF you have them centered.  An uncentered spin 
on sharp edges will cause you to travel. (see section 5.7 on spins)

A shallow "figure" hollow with a 1" or larger radius will require a 
more correct lean to prevent skidding and requires more frequent 
sharpening, but yields an easy glide and clean tracings.

        5.2.6 Sharpening explained by an expert

Take your skates to a pro shop or ask some regular skaters at your 
rink where they get theirs sharpened.  Skate sharpening is NOT a do-
it-yourself project!  Skates are expensive and it only takes one bad 
sharpening to turn them into scrap metal!
1) You have to know and trust your sharpener,
2) Your sharpener has to know you and your needs,
3) You have to stand guard over your skates until they are 
sharpened by the proper person.

Skates properly sharpened will have a smooth concave grind 
accurately centered along the length of the blades, edges squared 
(parallel to the bottom of the boot) and level with each other (inside 
edge at same height as outside edge) for the length of the blade.  
Proper sharpening will maintain the correct rocker for the life of the 
blade.  

Free-style sharpenings will have 1/2 inch radius concave grind and 
will be in a sharp condition. The edges of a deep free-style grind 
have the great advantage of holding jump landings on hard or soft 
ice and also will outlast a shallow grind by a considerable amount of 
time. They will also hold landings on missed jumps and give the 
skater that extra split second to catch their balance and avoid 
unnecessary falls. A sharp deep grind takes a little effort on the part 
of the skater to adapt but is well worth the effort and once adapted 
to it will be no problem in future sharpenings.  

Figure sharpenings will have 1 1/4 inch radius concave grind and 
will be in a medium sharp condition. The figure grinds are extremely 
smooth and flow freely on the ice. More shallow (greater radius) 
grinds have extreme flow on the ice but are usually suitable only for 
the more advanced skater.  

Combination sharpenings will have 3/4 inch radius concave grind 
and will be in a medium sharp condition so that the skater can skate 
figures with ease or they can be used for general skating. The grind 
will be of smooth finish and will flow quite freely on the figures 
(although not as freely as a true figure grind). This grind can be used 
for all jumps and spins and will hold well while blades are in a sharp 
condition. This grind is also very suitable for occasional skaters and 
some dancers; and is also good for adults to start with.

Skates should be resharpened before they become so  dull that the 
skater experiences a very difficult time making the change from dull 
to sharp skates as well as slipping on hard ice.  Most skates brought 
in for sharpening have been dulled due to nicks rather than actual 
dulling from use on the ice -- remember, bad nicks in the edges will 
ruin the finest sharpenings.

    5.3 Children's skates

Every parent has had the experience with buying shoes or other 
clothing for a growing child and having them no longer fit after only 
a few weeks -- and not due to shrinkage, but due to a growth spurt.  
Unfortunately, feet  grow erratically, and the growth is not always 
accompanied by an increase in  height.  

If you buy children's skates too loose, they will interfere with the 
skating and may actually be dangerous because of lack of support.  
They may also repeatedly raise blisters.  If you buy them too small, 
or have your skater continue to skate in them for some time after 
they have become too small, either the skater will quit (because it 
hurts so much), or the skating will suffer, OR the  feet will suffer -- 
perhaps permanently.  

To check the fit of the skates your child has now, ask him to put his 
skates on loose and put his foot right to the front of the boot. If you 
can put an index finger between his heel and the back of the boot, he 
has enough room to grow.  When he skates, check to see if his skates 
are perfectly upright.

The only way to lessen the impact of keeping childrens feet in skates  
that fit is to buy used skates (on consignment, or at skate swaps), 
and to sell your outgrown skates as well.  Used childrens skates are 
very available and usually in far better shape than used adult skates.  
Get the children's coach to help you select them, (and yours, too, if 
you go that route) so that you don't get stung.

You can buy gender neutral brown boots if you plan to have the 
skates passed on from girl to boy etc.

    5.4 Diagnosing boot and blade problems

If your feet feel loose in the skates, try wearing two pairs of socks 
and try tightening them more (temporarily).  If this helps, there may 
be a problem with the fit or condition of the boots.

If you have trouble getting good edges, first have the blades checked 
to make sure they are straight and properly sharpened.  If the 
problem persists, have someone watch to see if your blades "make 
snow" as you try to skate on the edge in question.  If they do, this 
may point to a mounting problem.  You will need to tell the person 
remounting your blades which edges you are having trouble with.

    5.5 Accessories

This is a list of things you might find useful to have in your skate 
bag, and why.

Blade covers and a clean rag.  There are two types of blade covers, 
plastic and cloth.  The plastic type should be put on before you put 
your skates on and walk from the dressing room to the rink.  Their 
function is to prevent damage to the blades.  Do not leave them on 
your skates between sessions as they will trap water and cause your 
blades to rust.  The cloth covers, also known as soakers, are put on 
after you have removed your skates and wiped them dry with the 
rag.  They protect your blades from bumps and wick away any 
condensation so your blades won't rust.

Other things you might find useful in your skate bag.  Spare laces 
and a lace puller to help tighten laces.  A honing stone (find out how 
to use it), money, chocolate, tissues, and a screwdriver in case your 
blade loosens.  (But be VERY careful not to overtighten the screws)

        
