Knifemaker gets his stuff in the Olympics

[R. Mark Lee]

This article was in the local paper this morning. Utah knifemaker Ricardo Velarde gets recognized for his work helping speed skaters do their thing.

http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_14479080

 

[tonydahose]

that's cool or "bitchin" i should say

 

[Darrin Sanders]

Thats cool, I have been wondering about the skates themselves. Anybody know the steel type and hardness? Also what type of grind do they have? Being from Louisiana I know absolutely nothing about skates.

 

[Mace]

Thats really cool!:thumbup:
Mace

 

[Phillip Dobson]

Thats cool, I have been wondering about the skates themselves. Anybody know the steel type and hardness? Also what type of grind do they have? Being from Louisiana I know absolutely nothing about skates.

Sorry for the tread drift, but I was reminded of a conversation I had with an engineer at Black Diamond (one of the country's biggest climbing equipment manufacturers). We met him on an ice climb we were doing and soon began talking about the new stainless steel alloy they were introducing for their crampons (foot-spikes).

While he wasn't able to go into specifics, we did get to talk about the general engineering principles. Most people would think that a harder crampon would be best because it would hold an edge longer. Crampons steadily wear during use, especially when there's rock climbing involved. Of course, a harder alloy would also be more brittle, especially in the cold temps involved in winter climbing. A durable alloy isn't the only consideration, either. Factors like rock friction are also important; a more malleable alloy can conform to the micro-features of the rock, while a harder one may slip.

All in all, it made for an interesting discussion. (And technical discussions are always more fun when you can try out the equipment right then.)

Phillip

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Beryllium is a weird material and the dust is known to be extremely toxic. I've heard that different people can have a widely differing response to it, some people tolerating it and others quickly dying when exposed to minute amounts of dust. I have turned down work involving machining beryllium copper.

 

[B. Davis knives]

Cool mark I watched all of his races I seen them gloves.

 

[DrThunder88]

Thats cool, I have been wondering about the skates themselves. Anybody know the steel type and hardness? Also what type of grind do they have? Being from Louisiana I know absolutely nothing about skates.

I did some research on this when my dad asked me to clean up his old hockey skates. Most skates have a hollow ground on the "edge" of the blade. This means the blade actually has two parallel edges running along the ice. The radius of the hollow is only an inch or so for hockey and figure skates. Speed skates, on the other hand, have no hollow. They are entirely flat along the bottom of the blade. Evidently, this leads to greater speeds but less control.