Sparx Hockey has revolutionized the way hockey players will sharpen their skates by cutting out the bulk of the process; going to the shop to get blades sharpened. Instead, Sparx allows skaters to sharpen their skates at their own convenience at their own homes.
Colleen Coyne, marketing manager at Sparx, gave SportTechie insights into the creation of Sparx.
To put it simply, Sparx is a personal skate sharpener. Coyne explained how there are few options for those looking to get their skates sharpened; the process can be time consuming, and there are those who are not as proficient at sharpening skates. “Skates are such an important part of the game, it seems like a risk you should not have to take, handing [your] skates over to someone who may not be very skilled at sharpening skates,” Coyne said. Sparx minimizes this risk by delivering a better result and a more convenient sharpening experience.
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Sparx founder Russ Layton grew up playing hockey and remembered the experience of rushing to get his skates sharpened. If the person who he wanted to sharpen his blades was not working, he would have to settle for poorly sharpened skates.
Later, when his son started playing hockey, he began to relive that process all over again. As a result, Layton began to think of ways to improve the experience. He identified three primary problems; first, finding time in his already busy day to get to a hockey shop was practically impossible. Second, if he could get to the shop, sometimes the line was so long he’d have to leave before ever getting his skates sharpened. And third, too often the quality of the sharpening was poor. Now a mechanical engineer, Layton recognized he was capable of solving this problem.
Layton developed the product that became Sparx over three years. He began to research and design the product on his own. Ultimately, Layton left his job and as an alumni of Northeastern University, returned to their co-op program seeking a talented engineering student. Ivan Goryachev, the first official employee of Sparx, collaborated with Layton to create a personal skate sharpener.
Sparx evolved through seven different iterations before reaching the final design. In the current version, the skate remains stationary and the grinding wheel (which actually sharpens the skate) moves across the stationary skate blade.
Traditional skate sharpeners typically keep the grinding wheel stationary and the sharpener moves the skate blade across the wheel. Layton experimented with both methods, but finalized the product with a stationary skate blade because it is much more controllable and accurate than having two separate entities moving.
The stationary skate blade is not the only thing that distinguishes Sparx from typical skate sharpeners that are found in hockey shops. “Skate sharpeners are enormous, between two and three feet deep on a counter that is usually about three feet tall. These are huge machines” Coyne said, but Sparx “is something that can actually sit on a kitchen counter… it is relatable [in size] to a printer.” While there are other portable versions of sharpening machines on the market, that are smaller than professional grade machines, none are as light and compact as Sparx.
Additionally, Sparx’s dust management system differentiates it from any other home skate sharpener. “In a shop, or when using a traditional home sharpener, there is a boatload of dust created. This is because the wheel grinding the skate blade is made from a composite material that gradually disintegrates during the sharpening process. Grinding away a layer of steel from the blade also creates dust.” Typically, shops or individuals sharpening at home, utilize an additional machine (often a souped up vacuum) to manage the dust. Sparx contains a built in filtration system to manage the dust. There is a built-in blower that, when the sharpener is running, prevents the dust from reaching the environment and instead directs it into a filter. Anything that does not get caught by the filter is collected in a removable tray that can easily be emptied into a garbage can.
On average, Sparx takes two minutes to sharpen a skate, or four minutes for a pair of skates. Although it may take approximately the same amount of time to sharpen a skate manually, using a Sparx sharpener eliminates the need to physically go to a shop and the possibility of having to wait in line when you get there. And, equally important, Sparx’s patented alignment system removes the element of human error during the sharpening process, ensuring consistently accurate results every time you sharpen your skates.
Sparx offers a few different features and adjustments. At the moment, Sparx focuses solely on sharpening the skate blade, so the only part of the blade altered is the groove on the skating surface. “A lot of people like to vary how deep that groove is. If you were to look at the bottom of a skate blade under a microscope, [you would notice] that the blade is not flat, but concave” Coyne explained. The grinding wheel is what determines how deep the groove is. To appeal to many skaters, Sparx offers multiple common sizes as well as a few off-beat sizes to match more unique preferences. A dozen grinding rings of different sizes are available to serve those users, so anyone can sharpen their skates and meet their personal preference. Coyne also noted that the Sparx will work for both hockey and figure skates. An adapter will be needed for figure skates.
The grinding rings also utilize technology to help guarantee the customer gets the best possible result. Coyne furthered that notion by adding, “quality is just super important to us. When people step on the ice, we want it to feel like the best skate sharpening possible.” To that end, each grinding ring has a chip inside. The chip will count down the number of sharpenings left and visually alert the consumer on the control panel when it is time to replace the grinding ring. According to Coyne, the ring takes about fifteen to twenty seconds to change, stressing the ease of using the product.
The only training users need is to read the instructions. “The idea was to make it as simple for people to sharpen skates as it is to use a Keurig coffee maker,” Coyne said. The user simply needs to clamp the skate in, close the safety guards, and press the “Play” button to begin sharpening. “It is a very simple and easy process,” Coyne explained.
Currently, Sparx is focused on getting the product to those who have ordered it. Sparx has talked to professional teams and many professional and elite level players can attest to the quality of the sharpening. While the original plan was not focused on team use, Coyne says that “would be fantastic.” Rather, the original plan “was really to help solve the problem for families with kids playing hockey. With multiple kids [playing], they may need their skates sharpened at different times and that can be difficult for busy parents. We plan to change that.” Sparx also will be a great solution for club teams and high school teams who do not have a full-time skate sharpener available.
Sparx will be officially launched early in 2016, but is available for pre-order now.