Skate sharpening tool

Abstract

A skate sharpening tool for ice hockey and figure skating applications comprises a housing having a plurality of grooves configured to hold grinding rods in predetermined positions. The plurality of grinding rods are held within the grooves and positioned at an angle of 0.3 to 1 degree off from a skate blade reference plane, for smaller diameter rods to achieve the cutting effect of larger diameter rods. The grinding rods include at least a first rod for roughing operations with diamond grit, a second rod for smoothing operations with finer abrasives, and a third rod for polishing operations comprising porous material such as wood for diamond paste adhesion. A plurality of clamping screws adjust tightness of the tool onto skate blades of varying thickness. The off-angle positioning allows the tool to create multiple blade profiles and Radius of Hollow configurations while maintaining manageable tool size.

1 . A skate sharpening tool comprising:
 a housing having a plurality of grooves configured to hold grinding rods in predetermined positions;   a plurality of grinding rods held within the grooves, wherein said grinding rods are positioned at an angle of 0.3 to 1 degree off from a skate blade reference plane;
 wherein the plurality of grinding rods comprises at least a first rod for roughing operations, a second rod for smoothing operations, and a third rod for polishing operations; and 
   a plurality of clamping screws for adjusting tightness of the tool onto a skate blade.   
     
     
         2 . The skate sharpening tool of  claim 1 , wherein the housing is constructed from a rigid material selected from the group consisting of nylon plastic, metal, and fiber materials. 
     
     
         3 . The skate sharpening tool of  claim 1 , wherein the grinding rods are arranged in a circular pattern within said housing to enable sequential access to each grinding rod during the sharpening process. 
     
     
         4 . The skate sharpening tool of  claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of grinding rods have a base material of metal and include diamond grit or abrasives applied using a Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) process. 
     
     
         5 . The skate sharpening tool of  claim 1 , wherein the third rod for polishing operations comprises a porous material configured to retain diamond grinding paste on its surface. 
     
     
         6 . The skate sharpening tool of  claim 5 , wherein the porous material is wood having adhesion properties suitable for retaining diamond paste. 
     
     
         7 . The skate sharpening tool of  claim 1 , wherein the off-angle positioning of grinding rods enables smaller diameter rods to achieve the cutting effect of larger diameter rods. 
     
     
         8 . The skate sharpening tool of  claim 1 , wherein the tool is adjustable to accommodate different skate blade thicknesses through the plurality of clamping screws. 
     
     
         9 . The skate sharpening tool of  claim 1 , wherein different combinations of angles and diameters of said plurality of grinding rods create multiple blade profiles, including radius of hollow (ROH) configurations ranging from 7/16 inch to ½ inch. 
     
     
         10 . A method for sharpening a skate blade using a skate sharpening tool, comprising:
 placing the skate sharpening tool over the skate blade by aligning the skate blade through one of the insertion spaces of the housing, wherein the housing comprises a plurality of grooves that hold a plurality of grinding rods arranged in a circular pattern;
 wherein the grinding rods are positioned at angles between 0.3 to 1 degree off from a reference plane of the skate blade for effective hollow sharpening profile greater than the rod diameter; and 
   adjusting the tightness of the tool onto the skate blade using a plurality of clamping screws to secure the tool in position during sharpening;   performing a roughing process on the skate blade, followed by a smoothing process, and subsequently performing a polishing process to restore and refine the blade edge.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the roughing process comprising:
 cleaning the blade to remove dirt and rust from the edge of the blade;   inserting the blade into the groove corresponding to a designated roughing rod;   securing the tool to the blade using the clamping screws;   moving the tool from one end of the blade to the other while applying pressure toward the blade;   rolling the tool off the blade ends every three strokes to ensure even sharpening near the toe and heel; and   repeating until a burr is formed on a side edge of the blade detectable by fingernail.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the smoothing process comprising:
 using the groove corresponding to a second grinding rod after the burr is formed;   moving the tool in the same forward-and-back manner as the roughing process; and   continuing until scratch marks are eliminated and a smoother blade surface is achieved, while retaining the burr.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the polishing process comprising:
 using the groove that holds a porous polishing rod;   applying a diamond paste polishing compound to the blade edge;   moving the tool back and forth under slight pressure until the blade surface turns black, indicating effective polishing;   wiping and reapplying compound until the desired polish level is achieved; and   removing the burr by placing a rectangular polishing stone on the side of the blade and pushing it toward the flat face of the blade.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the grinding rods are rotated during the roughing process to prevent clogging and maintain effectiveness. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the polishing compound is applied in pea-sized amounts and spread across the blade edge before tool movement. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the burr removal comprises placing the polishing stone parallel to the blade and moving the polishing stone from front to back. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein for skates having a rolled edge from die cutting, the polishing stone is placed at a slight angle during burr removal.