Blackstone Flat Bottom V Sharpening
FBV is a Breakthrough!
FBV® is a breakthrough skate sharpening architecture that offers a perfect blend of speed and agility. Blackstone has created a unique blade hollow that allows for additional glide while maintaining consistent bite. The flat bottom shape of the blade allows the skate to glide across the top of the ice rather than cut through it. This reduces drag helps to increase speed. At the same time, the precision edges are ready to dig in and provide precise control on turns and stops. With traditional radius of hollow (ROH) sharpening skaters must choose between additional bite vs additional glide. FBV eliminates the need to choose one benefit over the other and is designed for the perfect blend of speed and agility.
FBV Sharpening Options
FBV sharpening options are defined in terms of the ratio between the width of the channel and the height. The first number describes the width of the channel in thousands of an inch.
The width of the channel will determine the bite of the edge. The larger the width of the channel the more bite you will get. With larger channel widths you will also get more glide.
The second number is the depth of the Flat. It is available at three different levels, 50, 75, and 1. The deepest depth, 1, represents 1 thousandths of an inch, 75 represents ¾ of a thousandth of and inch, and 50 represents ½ of a thousandth of an inch. For reference, a thousands of an inch is about the thickness of a sheet of paper. The depth will determine how much of the edge is able to sink into the ice. The less the skate blade sinks into the ice the more glide you’ll get.
The table below lists Blackstone’s general mapping of ROH to FBV. Keep in mind this is just a recommendation and a skaters personal preference and comfort is much more important.
5/16 - 100/1
3/8 - 100/75
7/16 - 95/1, 95/75
1/2 - 100/50
9/16 - 92/75, 98/50
5/8 - 90/1
11/16 - 85/1, 92/50
3/4 - 90/75, 88/50
13/16 - 85/50
7/8 - 95/50
1 - 90/50
1 1/8 - 80/75
1 1/4 - 82/50
1 3/8 - 80/50
1 1/2 - 75/50
1 5/8 - 72/50
1 3/4 - 70/50What Should I Skate On?
The above guide is based on Blackstone’s FBV sharpening scale. We have skated on almost every one of the above FBV hollows in order to compare them. Although the Blackstone guidelines are useful as a starting point there is no substitute for exploration. A bit of trial and error is required in most cases. From my experience try 92/75 for a good balance of glide and grip. If you don’t like your blades very sharp then step down to 90/75 for less bite . For extra bite go with 100/50. With so many options there is a right fit FBV for you. Contact us if you have any questions or would like to try and find your FBV match. We’re eager to work with players to find the right match.
For the ultimate setup pair a Custom Skate Profile with a Blackstone FBV sharpening. The combination of the two will give you great agility and grip for turning with lots of glide and stability.
