Among the different types of winter sports, perhaps the most popular entertainment among the people is ice skating. However, skates can give you real pleasure only when it is easy and pleasant to ride on them, and this ease is added not only from the quality of the ice on the rink and from the quality of the skates themselves, but also from the degree of sharpening of their blade. If the blade of your skates is dull, you will notice that the skates are no longer going as fast as they used to. You can sharpen skates either from a master or on your own, if you have the right tools.
Instructions
Step 1
Sharpening your skates correctly implies a groove on the blade, which makes skating more comfortable due to less blade contact with the ice. If you decide to sharpen your skates yourself, without contacting a master, then you will need a grinding wheel with an electric motor and a guide plate.
Step 2
Use a grinding wheel to grind the groove, then take a round file with a 4.5 mm thick blade with a 10 mm diameter and manually saw through the correct depth and shape of the groove, bringing its depth to 0.5-0.6 mm.
Step 3
As you shape the groove, you simultaneously sharpen the edges of the skates with a file. Pay attention to how symmetrical the groove of the ridge is - it shouldn't slope to one side or the other. To ensure that the groove is even, take any flat ruler or plate and place it across the groove perpendicular to the ridge blade.
Step 4
Metal burrs from the blade should be removed with a fine-grain sander. Repeat the sanding procedure on both skates, and then check if the blades are sharpened the same and the groove is the same.
Step 5
In the case of sharpening figure skates, the groove can reach 11-15 mm in depth, and hockey skates have a shallow groove. The more often you skate, the more often you need to sharpen them.
Step 6
Check the condition of the blades from time to time, and if you notice that they are starting to dull, correct them with a file or round emery cloth, not allowing the blades to become too dull.
