How Can you tell if your Blades are sharp enough or need sharpening?

Question

How Can you tell if your Blades are sharp enough or need sharpening?

Answer 1

If you're having a hard time keeping your feet under you, holding an edge or centering spins, you probably need them sharpened.  The general rule is if you're more than a recreational skater, they should be sharpened about every 20 hours you spend on the ice.  Feel you edges with your fingers.  If the cross section of the blade feels like it's getting flat and the old fingernail test (scraping a finger nail over an edge) yields very little scrapings, you probably need them sharpened.

Answer 2

Go on the ice and dig your left skate into the ice creating shreds and if the blade digs right through its fine but if it skids a little it needs sharpenning. Or you can put the blade on your arm and try to cut yourself and if your bleeding you dont need sharpenning but if ur not then you do. I'd go with the first option. @_@

Answer 3

if you slip a lot on the ice then they aren't sharp enough.

Answer 4

If you are comfortable with your blades then that is fine. Generally if you can't stop (and you usually can) they are too sharp and if you are sliding off you edges (either landing or change of edges) then they are too blunt.

Answer 5

You can take your fingernail and if the edges of the blades are sharp enough to scrape your fingernail then your blades are sharp enough, if you can't scratch your fingernail then they need to be sharpened. Also you can usually tell when you are "sliding" on the ice because your blades need to be sharpened.