Skate blade and apparatus for removing material from a skate blade

Abstract

A blade for a skate for skating on ice. The blade includes ice-contacting material with an ice-contacting surface for contacting the ice. The ice-contacting surface has a machined longitudinal profile with a radius of curvature that varies smoothly over a majority of the length of the blade. Such a radius of curvature may, in some cases, be an elliptical arc.

1 .- 69 . (canceled) 
     
     
         70 . A template for profiling a blade for a skate, the template being elongate and having a length, the template comprising:
 template material with a longitudinal profile to be imparted to ice-contacting material of the blade, the longitudinal profile having a radius of curvature that varies smoothly over a majority of the length of the template.   
     
     
         71 . The template defined in  claim 70 , wherein said majority of the length of the template over which the radius of curvature of the longitudinal profile varies smoothly corresponds to a region of interest of the template, wherein the radius of curvature of the longitudinal profile has an effective slope of at least 1.18 within the region of interest. 
     
     
         72 . The template defined in  claim 70 , wherein the radius of curvature of the longitudinal profile has a maximum slope of no more than 17.14 within the region of interest. 
     
     
         73 . The template defined in  claim 70 , wherein the longitudinal profile comprises N consecutive arcs, each having a radius of curvature, wherein a ratio of the radius of curvature of each of the segments in the region of interest to the radius of curvature of each adjacent one of the segments is between 0.9 and 1.1, and wherein N is at least as great as 8. 
     
     
         74 . The template defined in  claim 70 , wherein the template material is a non-metallic material. 
     
     
         75 . The template defined in  claim 70 , wherein the template material is a ferromagnetic material. 
     
     
         76 . The template defined in  claim 70  having a flat transverse profile along a cross-section of the template taken at a lengthwise midpoint of the template. 
     
     
         77 . The template defined in  claim 70 , comprising at least one recess for receiving a knob of a holding mechanism of a profiling apparatus. 
     
     
         78 . The template defined in  claim 70 , wherein the portion of the template over which the radius of curvature of the longitudinal profile varies smoothly is a region of interest, wherein the longitudinal profile corresponds to an elliptical arc in the region of interest. 
     
     
         79 . The template defined in  claim 78 , wherein a radius of curvature of the elliptical arc is monotonically increasing from a first point in the region of interest closest to a front of the template to a second point in the region of interest closest to a rear of the template. 
     
     
         80 . The template defined in  claim 78 , wherein a radius of curvature of the elliptical arc passes through a maximum at an intermediate point that is intermediate a first point in the region of interest closest to a front of the template and a second point in the region of interest closest to a rear of the template. 
     
     
         81 . The template defined in  claim 80 , wherein the intermediate point is located at the lengthwise midpoint of the template. 
     
     
         82 . The template defined in  claim 80 , wherein the intermediate point is shifted relative to the lengthwise midpoint of the template by an amount that does not exceed 20 mm. 
     
     
         83 . In combination, a plurality of templates, each of the templates defined as in  claim 70  and having a different length. 
     
     
         84 .- 122 . (canceled)