What would happen if ice skates had very sharp, knife-like blades ???

Question

I mean, not double-edged blades with a hollow, but blades just like very sharp knives... How would that affect skating ability, and why ???

Answer 1

well this question isn't that realistic! lol but i'll be happy to give it a shot! well i have my own ice skates, and the blades are average sharpness. but i have to get mine sharpened soon, cuz since i skate once every week, i'll be getting mine sharpened in like about a couple weeks. and when there sharpened, they have a better edge and isn't so flimsy and doul when you skate. and if figure skates had knife-like blades, then the blades would proabably rip the blade soakers!! and when you skate on them, it would be really hard and the baldes would be to thin so you would slip and fall! and knives don't have toe picks to stop!

Answer 2

Turns would become very hard, because the skate blades would dig further into the ice, along with the fact that balance would be much harder because the blade would be much thinner than it already is now. I'm guessing that skating with such a blade would also cause a lot more stress on the knees because turning would be so much harder. Spinning would also become much more challenging, the blade would be enough thinner than it would want to go in a straight line rather than spin.

Answer 3

At some point in the history of skating I imagine that the blades were... well, blades!  Just like you describe.  But then they were also bone and wood so the hollow is a pretty modern thing.

It would effect you abilities to do things like turn, stop, and glide.  Turn because the double edge allows you to make very subtle shifts in your weigh that have major effects in your direction.  Stop because if you only had one edge against the ice you wouldn't have any surface to catch the ice as you dig it up -  you might be able to stop but it would certainly be different!  And glide because one of the principals of how modern skates work is that a small bead of water forms in the hollow and that both speeds up your glide as well as slows it down based on how you use the friction versus pressure - that a physics thing!

If you look into the physics of skating you could probably get a better idea of how and why it all works and probably prove my theories wrong!

Great questions, btw!

Answer 4

mass murderers would start to use them

no actually i have no clue

you probably wouldn't be able to get enough leverage to jump

Answer 5

you probably would cut through the ice .. and also if they allowed you to skate them you would be able to stop moving because it would be to slippery and there might be no toe-pick

Answer 6

interesting idea. it wouldn't work because the ice is not hard enough. your blade would litteraly go throught the ice. they would dull quickly so I wouldn't recomend overly sharpening skates. the blade would get stuck. you have a good imaganation though. keep on thinking. good luck