Guest
Quite many coaches and skate shops feed information to people how honed sides increase the (bite) angle between the blade and the ice when taking a deep edge. This is true only if concave shape (or dovetail shape) goes all the way up to the edges which are in contact to the ice. In case of John Wilson and MK blades this feature never materializes. If concave shape exists in some manufacturing phase up to the edges, it is removed in chrome removal grinding. Chrome removal process actually makes edges almost always to be totally opposite when edges are rounded. This is the reason why I do not use chromed blades. If the increased bite on deep edges is important feature for you, I would look blades example from the Ultima. They have design what they call Taper Design, Tapered Edges or Tapered Runner. In these blades dovetail shape goes all the way to the edges and it really improves the bite. See... It’s good to keep in mind that one issue of the dovetail design is that the edges are more sensitive to collect deep dents when blades hit together. Removing them requires obviously more grinding passes. As runner has dovetail shape, this means also that blade is getting thinner and thinner in every sharpening pass. Progress is pretty slow, but still happens. In normal chromed blades affect is opposite when used area of runner is getting thicker and thicker in every sharpening, thanks to chrome removal grinding which is angled to the chromed side surfaces.
