Curling Stone Maintenance – Canada Curling Stone

If your club is thinking of having work done on your stones and would like to have an assessment done of the condition of your stones, please don’t hesitate to contact us as we in many cases can visit your club for this. If we are unable to make the visit clubs can send photos of their stones and we would be happy to provide you with an assessment based on the photos.

Inserting, strikeband reprofiling and reconditioning are all services that we offer to clubs looking to repair the stones they currently have. This section details each of these options to help your club to make a decision on the best way to repair and maintain your stones. If you require more information or would like a quote, please do not hesitate to contact our office to discuss the options for your curling club and your stones.

Inserting

Inserting curling stones with Blue Hone granite inserts is a procedure that has been used in curling stone repair since the early 1960’s. The denser, tightly grained Blue Hone granite has proved to be the most resistant to wear and moisture penetration. It is for that simple reason that Blue Hone granite is still the best material for inserts today.

Here at Canada Curling Stone Co., we remanufacture your club’s stones to the same shape and dimensions as our new curling stones.

A six and three quarter inch diameter pocket is cored into your stones using diamond tooling. The Blue Hone granite disk is then epoxied into the pocket.

Once the epoxy has set, the stone is then ground with the proper cup depth and running surface width and diameter.

The striking band of a newly inserted stone is re-profiled to its original convex shape. This is an important process as it will deter any chipping above or below the striking band of the reshaped stone. The stone is then polished to a high gloss finish.

Before the newly inserted stone is packaged it is put through our pre-break in of the running surface. This gives the inserted stoned the ability to perform from the start. There is no “wear in” period. For more information please do not hesitate to contact our office as we would be happy to provide a quote for you.

Reconditioning

Reconditioning curling stones is performed using the same shapes and dimensions as new curling stones are made from. By re-cupping and re-grinding the entire bottom of the stone, we can return the stone to a like new condition. Using diamond tooling, the stones are re-ground by machine assuring that every stoned is finished the same as the one before. The stone is then polished to a high gloss finish and put through our pre-break in process before they leave our factory. The reconditioned stone will perform from the start without any “wear in” period.

Many clubs are starting to understand that properly scheduled maintenance of their curling stones is very important. In most cases curling clubs whose stones are extremely overdue for repairs will have to install Blue Hone inserts into their stones to renew them.

There are a few things you must go over before you can decide whether your stones are fit to recondition. The first is the type of granite that your stones are made from. If it is the Keanie or Ailsa Craig Common Green granite stones, then reconditioning your stones might not be the best solution.

If your stones are made of Trefor granite, then reconditioning them becomes an option. If your stones are made of Blue Hone granite, then reconditioning them is an acceptable choice providing that the strikebands are in good condition. Strikeband condition is an extremely important part in deciding if reconditioning is right for your stones.

For more information please do not hesitate to contact our office as we would be happy to provide a quote for you

Strikeband Reprofiling

When curlers think of the most important area of a curling stone, most would say the running surface and yes the running surface does affect how the stone will perform, but what is so often overlooked is the strikebands. The strikeband of a curling stone also plays an important role in the performance.

A properly shaped strikeband allows for true weight transfer between stones when a curler is performing hard hits and even delicate tap backs. More importantly, the strikeband is the key in determining the life of a curling stone. Blue Hone and Ailsa Craig Common Green granites will chip in half moon shapes throughout the middle of the strikeband. Once this type of chipping has begun these stones cannot be re-profiled as too much material needs to be removed to get below the chip affecting the weight and dimensions of the stones.

In Trefor and sometimes Ailsa Craig Common Green granites the strikeband overtime will begin to wear flat. Once the strikeband loses its convex shape, it will wear too flat and the risk of chipping above and below the strikeband is a likely result.

It is extremely important for clubs that have Trefor granite stones to have their strikebands kept in that convex shape.

Strikeband reprofiling is part of having your clubs stones inserted but is also available as a separate service to those clubs who are concerned about their strikebands but do not wish to have work done to the running surfaces of their stones.