When buying new skates, you need to remember to have them sharpened.

It is essential and will allow you to skate to the best of your ability.

When sharpening skates, a hollow groove is cut into the centre of the bottom of the blade creating 2 edges, one on each side. The depth of the hollow will affect the performance of the skates.

How often should I have my skates sharpened?

This is a matter of preference but most of the time it will depend on how often you play, train or skate. On average, we would recommend to have them sharpened after 8 to 10 hrs of ice time.

Which hollow to choose?

Radius of Hollow (RoH) is the traditional method of sharpening hockey skates. Radius refers to the distance to the edge of a circle from its center, and hollow is the depth of the concave groove.

To create the RoH grind, the skate is moved carefully against the skate sharpening machine’s spinning grinding wheel that has been contoured to create the correct hollow for you.

When choosing a radius of hollow, there are a few things to consider. As the radius of hollow gets larger, the depression in the skate blade becomes shallower.

Typically, a deeper hollow will give a skater more grip or bite, while a shallow hollow is better for gliding. This means a deeper cut may feel slower to a player when skating in a straight line because the edges are digging in more developing greater resistance. The trade off is that the deeper hollow bites deeper into the ice which allows for quicker, more explosive acceleration.

The three most popular hollows  are 5/8”, ½”, and 3/8”. As seen in the graphic above, 5/8” is the “flattest” of the three, whereas 3/8” is the “deepest”. For beginners, we would recommend ½ inch as is offers a middle ground of bite and glide of the three.

There is no best radius, your personal ideal RoH will depend on your skating style and preference. Our team can assist you with the options and provide recommendations based upon information from you about how you play.

Traditionally, younger or smaller skaters will use a deeper hollow such as 3/8” to ½”. Older or bigger skaters will traditionally use a less deep hollow like ½” to 5/8”.

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If you are posting your set of blades to us for sharpening, please ensure they are adequately packed and enclose details of your hollow. Please see chart above.

Don’t forget to enclose your return address label and contact number.

See Contacts page for more details.