The intent of this page is to quickly present the most common questions we receive from our customers or via e-mail. If you have a question please send us an e-mail at info@skaters-edge.com  and we'd be happy to help.

What is Contouring?

• In basic terms it’s a process of applying the proper radius (not to be confused with the hollow) and lie to the skate blade based on the players age, weight, body type and skates type.

Why is this important?

• By applying the proper radius & lie to the blade the skater will achieve better performance by improving their body position. This provides the player with improved balance, increased length in strides, improved stopping, turning and speed.

Aren’t skates contoured from the manufacture?

• No. Actually, most skates from the factory, regardless of the manufacture (Bauer, CCM, Graf, etc.) have inconsistent radiuses and lies. Not only from manufacture to manufacture, but from skate to skate. From our experience I’ve seen that as much as 80-90% of the new skates we contour actually have different lies between the left and right skate or have a reverse lie and incorrect radius applied to the blade.

How do I know if my child’s skates need to be contoured?

• If your child has short choppy strides, has troubles with crossovers and stopping or seems to skate straight legged (falls a lot). This is most likely caused by having a reverse or neutral lie which makes it difficult for a player to maintain proper forward knee bend and body position.
• If you child’s skate’s are hand-me downs they more than likely need to be contoured. This is because the more the skates are sharpened the more they tend to become “banana” shaped making it very difficult for a player to find their balance points on the skates.
• If your child’s skates are brand new they more than likely need to be contoured to match their age, weight, body type and skate type.
• Unless they were contoured by someone who has the knowledge, experience and equipment to contour skates more than likely your child’s skates need to be contoured.

What is the Radius?

• In general the radius that is applied to the skate blade is based on the player’s age. Most players under 12-13 years of age should be on a 13’ radius. Players in age from 13 and up should be at an 11’ radius.

 What is the Lie?

• The amount of lie is based on the player’s body type and skate type. Since boot angles on skates vary from manufacture to manufacture the proper lie must be applied to achieve maximum results. Although not recommended, basically a reverse lie has less blade at the center of the heel and more at the ball of the foot. This creates poor body position since the player is actually skating on their heels. A forward lie is recommended which has less blade at the ball of the foot and more at the heel, thereby creating forward knee bend which in turn improves the position of the body.

My child is just starting; will it really make a difference?

• Absolutely. The sooner a player achieves proper body position and balance the faster other parts of the game improve. Stick handling, shooting, passing and checking are all critical components of the game. If a player is having a hard time trying to skate other parts of the game are affected. Also, it’s important that a player not develop any bad habits early in their development. As they get older (in their teens) these bad habits can be difficult to overcome and can create obstacles in the future. The bottom line is skating is the foundation for any good hockey player.

My child has been playing for a few years; will he/she have any problems adjusting?

• No. The great thing about kids is that their bodies adjust more quickly than adults. However, if you child has playing for a few years and is not skating on properly contoured skates it could take a skate or two for them to really get them dialed in. This is because their muscles are not used to the increase in forward knee bend and they will have a tendency to fight it at first. However, once their body adjusts after the first couple of skates you’ll really see an improvement and so will they. In many case I’ve seen where kids adjust in just a few minutes of being on the ice.

How does the process work?

• We’ll ask a few questions about your player. Height, weight, body type, how long they’ve played and position. At a young age, it does not matter if they are male or female.
• Then we analyze the current condition (radius, lie, boot angle) of the skates so we know what your child has been skating on. We then use this information to determine the proper lie, ranging from .5mm to 1.5mm. This information is gathered by using a patented boot gage which allows us to place the proper measuring points on the skates.
• The skates are then contoured using our contouring machine that actually applies the radius and lie from a template on the machine. This insures that both skates are contoured exactly the same.
• They are then sharpened.
• Once completed you’ll receive a report explaining what we found when we analyzed your skates and what we did.

How much does it cost?

• Contouring (includes sharpening) = $30.00 p/pair
• Sharpening = $5.00

What about Skate Sharpening?

• Other than skate comfort and contouring, sharpening is one of the most important factors to consider. However, in order to completely understand what a properly sharpened skate is it’s important to know the basics.
• The Hollow. This is the portion of the blade that actually glides along the ice surface. The deeper the hollow (i.e. 3/8”, 7/16”) the less glide and more “bite”. The flatter the hollow the more glide and speed with less bite. So the trick is to find that perfect hollow that provides maximum glide without sacrificing the bite.
• For young players I’ve found that a hollow of 9/16-5/8” hollow provides the perfect combination. This hollow allows the player to stop more easily, skate faster with less fatigue and maintain their edges while turning and transitioning from forward to backward. A great question to ask is how many times you’ve seen a kid try to stop and they can’t, or when they do their skates chatter. This is because a stop is nothing more than a slide by applying more pressure to your edges. If the player has too much bite they feel uncomfortable trying to get on edge therefore they won’t, or if they do they only stop using one foot or dragging their toe. The more confident a player feels rolling onto their edges to more likely they are to stop when the play changes direction.
• Other factors come into play as well. Things like coarseness of the grinding wheel, amount of blade removed when sharpening are all important. A qualified sharpener will understand these.

I've been hearing a lot about T'Blades, what are they?

• Designed and developed in Europe the T-Blade system is designed to provide players with a "replaceable" blade system that does not require sharpening. At around $15 p/pair these blade are considered to be fairly inexpensive and provide the player the ability to quickly replace the blades when they are worn out. In addition they offer "pre-contoured and hollow" configurations. This all sounds good, even to a guy that runs a business based on what the T-Blade claims to offer. However if you take a closer look, the cost savings are not that much plus if you take into consideration the cost and installation of new holders, the cost can be even higher than conventional sharpening over a one year period.
• Additionally, the concept that the blades are "pre-contoured" is questionable.. The reason for this is because a properly contoured skate is based on the body, the skate and the sole plate. Based on their system it is very difficult, (if not impossible) to properly place the T-Blade holder in the proper position on the sole plate. The correct placement of APEX of the radius  (i.e. 11' or 13') is critical in making sure the body is properly balanced. If it's not, then the fact that the T-Blade is contoured means nothing. In addition, other important factors considered when contouring skates are the boot angle, and angle from the ball of the foot to the heel. Every skate is different and requires adjustments in the contouring based on this so if the T-Blade radius and lie is based on their own skates it most likely will be wrong for your skates.  

• 95% of the blade holders (regardless of the manufacture) are not placed symmetrically between the left and right skate. This means that you will not have consistency in your stride, turning, stopping and crossovers. Properly contoured skates eliminates this variable of improperly located holders since the measuring points, radius and lie are derived from the sole plate.
• We've already converted dozens T-Blade users to go back to their old holders (CCM, TUUK, Easton). With our contouring they have found a dramatic improvement in their skating ability.

Does the height of the eyelets I lace may skates too make a difference?

• Yes! Many manufactures today have created lace patterns which come to high up on the front of the leg. If this is the case in your skates you'll have trouble trying to get your knees over your toes without the heel of the blade coming off the ice. Remember the more blade on the ice, the better balance and agility you'll have. Through research we've determined that the maximum height of the eyelet that should be used is base don a percentage of the overall length of the foot. We've developed a specially designed gage that's east to use to determine the proper lace height.

What skates typically have high lace patterns?

• It varies from manufacture to manufacture and size. There seems to be very little rhyme or reason to why some skates are higher than other even though they they are the same type of skate.