I’ve often wondered what it would be like to have a skate sharpener in my own home. Wouldn’t it be great to just head out to the garage or down to the basement and sharpen your own skates? Or your kids skates? Or a friends skates? You would be able to do it any time you want, which makes it incredibly convenient. You also wouldn’t be forced to waste time waiting in line while other skates get sharpened ahead of yours. My last sharpening experience took 45 minutes! I would love to eliminate that wasted time.
All of this might be possible with the new Sparx Skate Sharpener which is now on Kickstarter.
The Sparx Skate Sharpener is actually designed to be used at home, and without any hassle. It gives players an automated way to sharpen their skates at the professional level.
I’m incredibly intrigued by this sharpening system, and wish I had a way to try it out. However, the early bird price to get your hands on one really isn’t that bad. At $499, you’re getting a sharpener, a grinding ring and an alignment tool, leaving you ready to sharpen your skates for anywhere from 35-50 sharpening before having to replace the grinding ring.
If you live in an area that doesn’t have a close hockey shop, or reliable sharpeners, this solution might be perfect. Throw in the idea of sharpening a few teammates skates and you can start to make back some of your money too.
Check out the video of the Sparx sharpener from their Kickstarter campaign below. You can check out the official Kickstarter page here.
This product looks promising but I have a couple questions. I’ve been sharpening skates for 20 years and have develop a very good reputation. How does the Sparx sharpener handle skate blades that have been bent/bowed, will the clamping system straighten a blade so that the wheel runs true on the blade? Also what if a pair of let’s call them rough shape blades are sharpened in the Sparx, will that rough pair of skates leave its mark on the wheel and then transfer that to the next pair to be sharpened or is the wheel resistant to this which would eliminate the need to dress the wheel between skates as you would on a traditional machine. Best of luck, I think it’s a great concept and would consider this, just need a little more info/feedback on these questions, Thanks.