What are common sharpening flaws?
A – While the goals for good sharpening are quite easy to quantify, skate sharpening is a manual operation, and as such is very much a “craft”. The most often seen flaw is unlevel edges. If the centerline of the grinder is not aligned with the centerline of the blade, one edge will be higher (and sharper/grabbier) than the other. The effect of this is that one edge will grab while the other seems weak. If really bad, a flat will pull to the right or left. To achieve an even grind, the sharpener must move the blade along the rotating wheel with constant force and speed. With time and repeated sharpenings, it is inevitable that errors will accumulate, and show up as uneven rocker. The degree to which this happens is a measure of the skill of the sharpener. Sometimes a particularly heavy hand in sharpening can alter this curve in one sharpening.
