How long should it take to “break in” freshly sharpened skates?
A – Most skaters are conditioned to expect a bit of an adjustment period after having their skates sharpened. The common symptom is that skates feel “grabby”: edges catch, and stopping is difficult. Skaters with newly sharpened skates are often seen doing things like dragging their skates sideways on the ice, running blocks of wood along their blades, etc., to dull them into skateability. The correct expectation is that properly sharpened blade should have little or no adjustment period. It should never feel grabby. It should simply feel more secure. (exceptions are the cases of changes made to a blade, such as correcting previous sharpening errors or changing the depth of hollow, or sharpening an exceptionally dull blade). The edge of a well sharpened blade should feel very smooth as a finger is run along the edge: proper edge finishing will have removed the metal burrs that can cause grabbiness, and give the edge a smooth, not draggy feel. Be careful: a sharp blade can cut (though a
