You may have heard the words “sharpen your blades” before or heard skaters describing blades as “too dull” or “too sharp”. This is because blades need regular sharpening at a local pro shop or by a trusted coach/professional. Your blades will dull down over time, even with proper use, so expecting blade sharpening to become a routine as you progress as a skater.
When should I sharpen?
It is important to note that, if you are just starting out as a skater, you are likely using rental skates instead of your own skates. This is completely fine! While the boots and blades will never be quite as well-taken-care-of as your own as they change hands (and feet) multiple times every week, they are perfectly suitable for a beginner. For when to get your own pair of skates, see Choosing Skates.
As a beginner skater, your skates will not need sharpening very often. You likely won’t be able to tell when your skates need sharpening, and the difference may feel drastic after each sharpening. I remember relying on my coach to tell me when I should sharpen my skates, and it is a great idea to ask your coach if you have any questions about anything–not just sharpening-related. They know much more about skating and what a dull blade feels like than you do right now. Honestly, as you’re just starting out, there isn’t much need to keep note of how many hours you’ve skated to determine when the prime time to sharpen is. Consider sharpening once every 2-3 months if you skate 1-2 times a week for 1-2 hours each session, but even this loose number will vary based on personal preference, coach recommendation, and exact skill level. Always listen to your coach.
Of course, if your blade has nicks in it or feels uneven, go get them sharpened. Practicing on damaged blades is never good.
For more advanced skaters, I recommend keeping track of how many hours you’ve skated and sharpening every 20 hours. This number can be altered to fit your own preferences, but keeping a record of your skating hours works wonders for predicting when to sharpen so you can compete or test in tip-top shape or avoid a longer recovery period after waiting too long to sharpen. My favorite time to skate is around 3-12 hours after sharpening, and you can find your own sweet spot through trial and error to plan accordingly.
What does a sharpened blade feel like?
The best way to figure this one out is by experiencing it yourself. But just so that you know what’s normal, I’ll attempt to describe it: Your blade is essentially sharper, so it grips the ice stronger. This can make it feel “stickier” and make your turns and stops feel more sudden. Your edges will crunch less (By crunch I mean that ripping noise that you hear when you lean on a deep edge–if you don’t know what it is yet, don’t worry! You’ll hear it more and more as you progress.), and you may feel slower but more secure and “deeper” in the ice. It’s more difficult to tell if a blade is sharp or dull by simply feeling it (unless the blade is very sharp or very dull, which it shouldn’t be), so don’t be surprised if you don’t feel much of a difference when running your finger across your blade, step on the ice, and feel like you’re wearing a whole new set of skates.
I’ll dub the period of time between when you sharpen your skates and when you feel “normal” again the Recovery Period (not a formal term, I’m making this up on the spot to explain). The Recovery Period can vary in length based on how dull your skates were before you sharpened, how sharp you have your blades sharpened, how experienced you are, and even how hard the ice you skate on is.
Starting off, sharpening your blades can seem like a huge setback (that’s how it was for me), since stepping back on the ice with sharp skates seems to wipe from your ability several skills you thought you knew. It may feel impossible to stop, as each attempt is met with a jarring deceleration (or rather, negative acceleration, if I let my physics-enthusiast side through) that threatens to tip you over. Don’t worry though–as you become a better skater, the Recovery Period should gradually decrease, and you’ll start feeling better than ever within an hour or two of skating.
For the meantime though, I recommend actually practicing snowplow stops (if you don’t know what these are, check Terminology!) while holding onto the wall with freshly sharpened skates. This will help you build familiarity with sharper skates and how much pressure to apply, allowing you to stop (a crucial skill on a busy session) on command no matter how sharp your blades are. If you feel like your snowplows are tipping you over and desperately need to stop, try dragging one foot behind you, letting the inside of your foot face forward. Your edge will then scrape along the ice and slow you down without, hopefully, a complementary belly flop (which does technically bring you to a stop…).
How/Where do I sharpen?
The availability and quality of sharpening can vary based on where you live. Is figure skating common in your area? Do you have a well-established rink nearby? Unfortunately, skate sharpening and pro-shops aren’t exactly as available as a McDonalds, so your commute time to a reliable sharpener may be on the longer side. I want to emphasize “reliable.” Definitely ask around and do some research before entrusting your blades to someone. While you could get away with some questionable sharpening as you’re starting out with blades fresh from Amazon (I had my figure skates sharpened by hockey sharpeners when I was but a wee skater, I shiver to imagine sharpening my current blades the same way), be sure to think twice as those skate prices rise. Just like with when to sharpen your blades, when in doubt, as your coach! Ask other parents whose kids have skated for a little while longer than you have, your coach, other coaches, and rink personnel. Gather their opinions and you’ll soon see one or two names or stores stand out. The skating market is, after all, not that big.
Something you may begin to consider as you improve as a skater is how deeply you want your skates sharpened. The standard is a 1/2 inch radius of hollow (ROH), which is essentially the default “sharpness” most if not all sharpeners go with if you don’t specify anything, and this works great. It sustained the majority of my years skating after all. I only learned that you can specify getting sharper or duller sharpenings 2-3 years ago. Getting a 7/16″ ROH will mean a “sharper” blade, while a 9/16″ ROH will result in a “flatter” blade.
You don’t need to know how a ROH or sharpening works, but if you’re curious, you can think of the blade as a long, narrow rectangular prism. Now picture a cylinder lying horizontally on that prism. Your blades has two edges, an inside and an outside edge, and these two edges result from the cylinder cutting into that prism of a blade. The middle part of your blade is therefore sunken in a little since a cylinder is round. So if you have a skinnier cylinder, the middle is sunken in more and you have sharper edges. If you have a larger cylinder, the middle is sunken in less and you have shallower edges.
When deciding on a ROH, dance usually favors blades with more grip (so 7/16″ or less) while freestyle favors blades with more glide (9/16″ or more). You can adjust based on this as you skate. If you’re just starting out, however, there is no need to worry about this and just work on getting sharpenings when you need them and improving edge control.