Morris Hockey Association has the equipment to sharpen hockey skates or figure skates here at the Lee Community. Locate our LCC Arena Manager if you need your skates sharpened prior to practice. Only designated persons are trained to use our sharpening equipment.

Available Options:

$4 per pair

OR

Skate Sharpening Card

$40 (10 sharpenings get 1 free)

If you need your skates sharpened for your next practice the following day please drop your skates on designated shelf by the skate sharpening room.

• Please grab a tag and write your name, town, team and radius if known to be sharpened too
• Skates will NOT be sharpened if player doesn’t have sharpening card or payment is NOT left with skates

Note: All MHA players sharpening is included in registration fees for 2020-2021. HS teams and BHA players will need to purchase card or pay per sharpening

The “Radius” of your skate blades can be described as the hollow that is ground into the bottom of your blades during sharpening that gives you your pronounced inside and outside edges

WHAT RADIUS IS THE BEST? 

There is no "right" or "wrong" answer, as it all comes down to what is most comfortable to you and your skating style. Here is a image that shows the different radii look like on the bottom of your skate blade.

A smaller radius will give you more bite into the ice for tighter turns and quicker acceleration, but at the same time because your edges are digging deeper into the ice which causes greater friction, your glide and speed will suffer (Also a more pronounced radius will be more fragile and less durable).

A larger radius therefore gives you greater glide and speed (speed skater’s blades are completely flat!) causing less fatigue, but less bite for maneuverability, so choose which advantages are more important for you and your skating style

VARIABLES TO CONSIDER

The main variable to consider when first picking a radius to try is weight. As a general rule, the heavier the skater, the larger the radius needed. An extremely light skater can tolerate a very small radius (producing a deep hollow with lots of edge) because they do not have much weight to bear on the ice.

A heavy skater trying to skate on a small radius (too much edge) will bite into the ice so hard that they will have trouble stopping without chatter or going over the top of their skates. Another disadvantage is they will also lose glide to excess friction and be working harder to skate full speed. On the other hand, they will be able to hold a very tight turn!  Please note that beginner level skaters can learn most skills (particularly the hockey stop) easier by grinding their skates with a very large radius. As they progress the radii is decreased back to a normal level.

A “general purpose” chart for radius by weight is as follows:

Another variable to consider is ice temperature. Most rink managers shoot for an ice temperature of approximately 25 degrees Fahrenheit. A temperature of 17 to 23 degrees is considered “hard hockey ice,” 25 to 26 degrees is considered good figure skate ice. Slightly smaller radius may be used on colder/harder ice and vice versa.

Source: Wissota Skate Sharpeners