How often should I sharpen my ice skates?

http://www.XtremeIceSkating.com

- Questions answered:
How often should I sharpen my skates?
How often should I resharpen my ice skates?
When to sharpen skates.

Types of radius of hollow sharpenings for ice-skates:

1" (for goalies) - flat blade practically.
5/8" (dullest)
3/4"
1/2" (standard sharpening)
7/16"
3/8"
1/4" (sharpest - Xtreme Ice Skaters)

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[6199Amber]

I might get new skates, but on the website it asks me if i should buy them sharpened. If I buy them without sharpened, will they send it to me dull? And how can I sharpen them?

[Prolite]

@6199Amber Buy them not sharpened. Than go to a pro shop and get them sharpened to your liking. And yes, they will come dull. Better to get custom sharpening.

[Prolite]

@Ma1iciousMike Basically, yes. At least that's according to my experience. But that depends a lot on the weight of the skater.

[Ma1iciousMike]

@Prolite Ah I gotcha thanks. Its like trading one for the other when you go north or south of 1/2.

[Prolite]

@Prolite When I say less radius of hollow, I mean less of a deep hollow. Technically, the exact phrase should be "a bigger radius (1") the faster, as opposed to smaller radius (1/4") slower.

[Prolite]

@Ma1iciousMike The less radius of hollow, the faster you'll go because you'll have more get more glide to your stride. However, there is a point to which you will slip because the radius is not deep enough and you'll lose glide power. It is likely that the best combination of speed and power can be achieved at 1/2" hollow. 3/4" you'll slip out too much. And 3/8" you'll lose speed even though you'll gain more edge or explosiveness.

[Ma1iciousMike]

I noticed that what I got my skates sharpened at 3/4 instead of 1/2 I lost some explosiveness. Does this mean that if I get them sharpened at 1/4 I should pick up some more speed or explosiveness?

[lexalolsicnh]

@RENJ55 thats your balance not the skates, youve gotten used to stopping on blunt skates and sliding forever, practice on sharp skates regularly and master stopping from fast speeds in short distances. its all about how much you are leaning back to counter balance the sudden stopping of your weight. where you have been practicing on blunt skates you havn't needed to lean back as much as there has been less friction and therefore your stopping distance is longer so you needed less counter balance

[RENJ55]

@Prolite sorry. well wen i havnt sharpened then in a while i stop smoothly and when i get then sharpened it throws me off balance and i skid instead of glide smoothly

[Prolite]

@RENJ55 Need more information.