Skate Services
Here at Puck Stop, we offer various services to help you maintain your skates.
Services include:
- Skate sharpening
- Profiling
- Heat Moulding
- Boot Stretching and/or Punching
- Rivets
- Eyelets
- Conversions or replacement of chassis or holders
- Other repairs and services
Skate sharpening
When buying new skates, you will need to remember to have them sharpened. It is essential and will allow you to skate to the best of your ability.
When sharpening skates, a hollow groove is cut into the centre of the bottom of the blade creating 2 edges, one on each side. The depth of hollow will affect the performance of the skates.
Which hollow to choose?
Radius of Hollow (RoH) is the traditional method of sharpening hockey skates. Radius refers to the distance to the edge of a circle from its center, and hollow is the depth of the concave groove.
To create the RoH grind, the skate is moved carefully against the skate sharpening machine’s spinning grinding wheel that has been contoured to create the correct hollow for you.
When choosing a radius of hollow, there are a few things to consider. As the radius of hollow gets larger, the depression in the skate blade becomes shallower.
Typically, a deeper hollow will give a skater more grip or bite, while a shallow hollow is better for gliding. This means a deeper cut may feel slower to a player when skating in a straight line because the edges are digging in more developing greater resistance. The trade off is that the deeper hollow bites deeper into the ice which allows for quicker, more explosive acceleration.
The three most popular hollows are 5/8”, ½”, and 3/8”. As seen in the graphic above, 5/8” is the “flattest” of the three, whereas 3/8” is the “deepest”. For beginners, we would recommend ½ inch as is offers a middle ground of bite and glide of the three.
There is no best radius, your personal ideal RoH will depend on your skating style and preference. Our team can assist you with the options and provide recommendations based upon information from you about how you play.
Traditionally, younger or smaller skaters will use a deeper hollow such as 3/8” to ½”. Older or bigger skaters will traditionally use a less deep hollow like ½” to 5/8”.
Flat Bottom V (FBV)
The FBV grind developed by Blackstone, puts an updated spin on traditional skate sharpening. In a RoH, the hollow is curved but on an FBV cut, the bottom of the groove is flat and the two sides extend out like fangs. The theory is FBV gives skaters the benefit of greater bite and grip like a deep hollow while capitalizing on enhanced glide like a shallow hollow. The variable resistance factors result in more energy transferred back to the skater allowing for less fatigue over time.
Choosing the correct FBV cut is much like RoH. Your personal FBV will depend on your skating style and preference. Our team will sharpen your skates to your specific request or can make a recommendation based on information from you about how you play.
How often should I have my skates sharpened?
How often you have your skates sharpened is a matter of preference but most of the time it will depend on how often you play, train or skate. On average, we would recommend to have them sharpened after 8 to 10 hrs of ice time.
How long do I have to wait for skate sharpening?
Here at Puck Stop we offer a “while you wait” service. (Unless otherwise stated) During busier periods our team will let you know if wait times are longer than normal.
Skates dropped off for sharpening within 30 minutes of closing will be sharpened for the following day.
How much does Skate Sharpening cost?
When purchasing your skates from us, the first grind is included in the fitting service and will be free of charge.
- 1st grind on a new pair of ice hockey skates or new runners (not purchased from us): £10.
- Hockey (RoH) grind thereafter: £8
- FBV grind: £10
We do offer a loyalty card: purchase 5 grinds get the 6th free of charge.
Profiling
What is a Skate Profile? A Hockey Skate profile is the shape of the blade when seen from the side (or in profile).
What is Skate Profiling?
Skate profiling changes the contact points of your blade with the ice, utilising 1, 2, 3 or 4 distinct zones along the blade length ensuring you are getting the very best from your skates.
By choosing the correct profile you can get help or maximize acceleration, agility, speed and stability. Choosing the correct profile combined with a shallower hollow can also put less stress onto hips, groins and knees, leading to less injuries.
Finding the correct profile for each skater is very individual and it all boils down to the feeling on the ice. For further information, see our Hockey Skate Profiling blog post.
The longer the profile the more contact with the ice creating greater stability but also potential for faster acceleration and greater speed with less effort. A smaller profile will reduce contact with ice which allows for greater manoeuvrability and agility.
Choosing a profile can be daunting and can take time. If you are unsure, please don’t hesitate to contact our team either via email or directly in store. You can talk us through your preferences and we can assist in finding a suitable profile.
Whether you have a custom profile or the factory profile, it is important to maintain it through consistent skate sharpening. Profiles can be altered over time during sharpening and might need redoing every now and then.
How much does Profiling cost?
Profiling is £30 and includes a skate sharpening.
This will take longer than sharpening alone so we would recommend leaving the skates or runners with us. We will contact you or ship them back to you (for an additional £4.50 shipping cost) when ready.
Heat Moulding
Heat moulding skates is essential to making a skate fit properly and make the skates more comfortable from the beginning for the skater. Most modern skates are constructed using thermoformable materials and are intended to be heat moulded to help dial in your perfect fit. The ideal way of heat moulding boots is to heat them in a skate oven in store.
Heat moulding at home is not recommended and will void the warranty.
How much does heat moulding skates cost?
As part of our fitting service, the first heat moulding will be offered free of charge. The charge to heat mould skates not purchased from Puck Stop will be £20.
Please note that not all boots are heat mouldable. Ask our staff for advice.
We always recommend resting the boots for 24hrs before using the skates again.
Boot Stretching and/or Punching
Sometimes, even after heat moulding, some boots may still cause discomfort in certain areas as all feet are unique.
We can help remedy this by offering a general stretching or a more local punching of the boot. Come to store and speak to our trained staff and they will be able to advise on the best way to remedy the issue.
Stretching will take some time and will require you leaving the skates with us for a few days.
Punching can be done while you wait.
How much does Skate stretching and punching cost?
- Boot stretching: £10
- Boot punching: £5 each
Rivets
Rivets are commonly used by hockey skate manufacturers to mount holders or chassis to the skate boot. Over time, the rivets can come loose or rusty and may need replacing. This is a job that requires specialist tools.
We can offer the service while you wait during quiet times. During peak times we might require you to leave the skates overnight in order to complete the job.
How much does replacing my skate rivets cost?
- Steel rivet: £1 each
- Copper rivet: £1.50 each
Eyelets
Over time, eyelets can rust, loosen or break. They will need replacing as soon as you notice a change to avoid more strain being put on the skates while lacing and skating. Leaving it too late and you might risk the eyelet tearing through.
We can offer the service while you wait during quiet times. During peak times we might require you to leave the skates overnight in order to complete the job.
How much does replacing my skate eyelets cost?
- Eyelet: £1 each
Conversions or replacement of chassis or holders
Whether your holder or chassis broke or you would like to turn your ice skates to inline skates or vice versa, here at Puck stop we can offer this service for you.
As it is a job which requires precision, you will be required to leave the skates with us for a few days. Not all skates can be converted, so we will contact you should we encounter issues.
How much does a skate conversion cost?
- Mount a pair of Chassis/Holders on to a skate: £40
Other repairs and services
As part of our services, we are able to offer certain repairs: stitching, patching, ..
If you have an issue with a piece of equipment which need a little care and attention, don’t hesitate to contact us and we will assess the issue. We will email you back and let you know if it is repairable by us. If not we might be able to point you in the right direction.
Please note, we do not re-palm gloves.