How to Know When Skates Need Sharpened?

If you are new to ice skating, it can be difficult to know when exactly you need to take them to the shop for a sharpening.

It’s a good idea to sharpen your skates after using them 10-15 times on the ice. However, there is no particular length of time that will determine when your skates should be sharpened.

You shouldn’t take the advice of sharpening your skates once a month or once every 3 months because not everybody uses their skates the same amount you do. For instance, I only skate for my beer league team about once a week so I can get away with sharpening my skates only once every couple of months. If you are a more avid skater, you may need to have your skates sharpened more often

Sharpen Your Skates When They Start To “Slip”

Once you have skated for a while, you start to get a feeling of when to sharpen your skates. If you are new to skating, you will eventually begin to feel the difference of a dull and freshly sharpened skate.

The first time you step on the ice after a sharpen, you can immediately tell the difference between how it feels to skate now that you no longer have dull skates. It feels like your feet stick to the ice more when pushing off for strides.

Conversely, when your skates begin to get dull, you will start to feel that your skates don’t grip the ice as well as they did after they were sharpened. If you start to notice that your skates are “slipping” out from under you as you have them angled to push off the ice, this is an indicator that you should have your skates sharpened.

Look Down The Length of Your Skate Blade

One way to tell if your skates are very dull is if you look down the length of your blades. If your blades are completely flat, they have most likely never been sharpened. Hockey skates aren’t usually sharpened out of the box so looking at one of these blades can be a good example of a dull blade.

A sharpened skate will have a slight “U” shaped arc from edge to edge of your blades. It is harder to tell if your skates need sharped this way if they are just getting dull but it can be a good test if you know what to look for.

What Happens If You Don’t Sharpen Your Skates?

If you wait too long to sharpen your skates, it’s not the end of the world. Your skate blades will never just give out causing you to lose all ability to move on the ice. The skates will gradually get more dull over time but nothing dramatic will happen. Having nice sharp skates will help you move a little faster on the ice as you are able to push off a little harder with each stride.

It’s nice to have sharp skates when you are playing a hockey game for instance, but if your just casually skating, there’s no need to worry about having your blades sharpened beforehand. If you have ever used rental skates at an ice rink, you know what it feels like to skate on dull blades.

How To Get A Quick Sharpen

If you’re in a time crunch and like to keep your blades as sharp as possible, you may want to look into getting a hand sharpening tool. Although they don’t have the same effect as getting them sharpened at a pro shop, these tools can be a quick and inexpensive solution to adding a bit more edge to your blades.

These tools have a small sharpening stone on the end that you run along your blade once or twice to roll over the dull edges. They will add a little bit of sharpness to your blade but you will still need to have your blades sharpened by a machine sharpener as you normally would.