Jackson Apex Elite blades!

[bunnieplushsk8]

I switched from coronation aces and jackson freestyle and my fitter told me it was time to move up, and I listened and got the cheaper copycat of the pattern 99, the apex elite blades and edea ice fly a month and a half ago. I really like them and their response on the ice and they fixed a lot of the issues that I had with my coronation aces (being scratchy no matter what and could not hold edges that well). I noticed it was time to get them sharpened and went back to my regular sharpener who also happens to be my fitter. Came back to pick them up and she told me that one of my blades was damaged and had little chips all along one of the edges. I was confused because I am someone who takes EXREMELY good care of my equipment because I would like for them to last and want to skate to the best of my abilities. I always wear my guards no matter what and wipe them down thoroughly. Thought not much of it and went to practice like normal. 2 days later I'm warming up with power pulls and noticed that the heel, or tail of one of my blades was slipping, continue my lesson and work on rockers, footwork and moves, seems normal. I move on to working on spins and I cannot do a backscratch at all, despite it being one of my most consistent spins, along with my camel spin, the edge going into it would just not hold and i could not get the power to do more than 2 rotations which is highly unusual for me. I get off the ice and wipe them down to inspect and see what was going on, and there are chips along my edges again despite them getting that issue fixed last week. I never had any issues with my john wilson blades with chips and damage like this. And I really do not believe it is my sharpener because the shop I go to is extremely credible and deals with the highest level of skaters in my state. Has anyone else had problems with their jackson blades? Is it the steel itself? I mean I'll go back to my shop and talk to them but I was wondering if there is anyone out there struggling with them like me!

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Yes and No.

Blades regularly get chips, and small ones aren't always a disaster but big ones can cause problems. This happens to all blades.

One thing to note is I find Jackson stainless steel to be of a lower quality compared to other stainless steel, and chips more frequently.

They did not use a higher quality stainless steel (like for example eclipse blades or skatescience), and they did not use the more durable carbon steel in wilson/MK.
Hardened Carbon steel used in wilson blades is even stronger, and will chip less.

Edit: my apologise, Apex Elite do not use stainless steel. I do suspect the steel is lower quality than wilson/MK steel, as the stainless steel used in Matrix blades is lower quality than others that use stainless steel.

They also use a "titanium coating" (which I am unsure how effective would be to protect the edges other than marketing)

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I agree with @kolyadafan2002. Tiny chips happen, it's a fact of skating life. But the big ones are not good.
If you want me to be blunt, APEX blades suck. As far as your first blades you mentioned: I feel like someone might have messed up sharpening your CA's that you had before the APEX, or they came from the manufacturer not even, etc (it happens there are defect blades).

You may have to take the hit and go back to John Wilson blades or try MK. Mind you, if you want P99's get the real deal, the copycat ones aren't exact copycats, esp with material quality, etc.

Good luck!

 

[WednesdayMarch]

I agree with the above. Tiny chips do happen but this doesn't sound right. There's a reason that MK and John Wilson blades have been popular for so long. They may cost more, but they are better quality. If you want P99s, then buy the real thing.

 

[gliese]

Apex blades have always seemed to have lower quality steel to me. Sometimes they'd feel dull after 7 hours of skating on good ice.

 

[tstop4me]

OP: You should still bring the blades back to the shop to have them inspected for a manufacturing defect. If the blades indeed have excessive chipping (where chipping means small pieces of metal breaking off), then the edges were not hardened and tempered properly. If the edges are too hard, they are brittle and prone to chipping. If the remaining portions of the edges are still sharp, rather than prematurely dull, that's likely the case.

On the other hand, if overall the edges are prematurely dull, the nicks could actually be the result of small indents rather than chipping. Closer inspection is needed to distinguish. If so, the edges are too soft. This could be a manufacturing defect. But it could also result from overheating during improper sharpening.