How to Test Skate Sharpness
The rule of thumb, no pun intended, to test the sharpness of your skates is to use your thumb. Turn your skate upside down and run your thumbnail down the edge of the skate lightly. If the skate blade shaves a thin layer of your thumbnail off, you are said to have a good edge.
Importance of Skate Sharpness
Why is It Important to Know if Skates Are Sharp? To Improve Speed. If your skate blades are too dull, you will glide too much and not dig in enough. This causes difficulty in gaining speed and may cause you to lose an edge when turning, as your edges are too flat.
Sharpening Frequency
- Hockey skate blades are sharp enough to cut someone when swung at high speeds but also dull enough that you could softly run your fingers across without even breaking the skin.
- New skates are not sharpened, so you will need to get them sharpened by a trained sharpener, and then re-sharpened every 15-20 hours of ice time – to keep them in tip top condition by removing knicks and deformaties in the metal edge.
- Keeping your ice skates in peak condition is beneficial for ice skaters of all skill levels. Whether you’re still learning the basics or preparing for the Olympics, sharpening ice skates regularly is key. The sharpness of your skates can have more of an effect on your skating than you might realize. It affects how you turn, stop and the overall control of your skating.