How good are blackedge blades for hockey skates?

Answer 1

BlackEdge blades merely add a surface treatment consisting of carbon to the outside of the metal. The process is called carburization (or, the metal is carburized); easily looked-up on-line. This makes the outside surface harder to hold a sharp edge longer. That means more ice time between sharpening (if you don't damage the blades somehow, like stepping on rock...).

The carburization process is ancient (a variation was used on the original Samurai swords) and has been used for decades on gear teeth used in machinery and other metal surfaces subjected to wear in machines.

The hype about "carbon" being a special addititive is misleading--steel has carbon in the mix, otherwise, it would be iron--an ancient recipe (also, stainless steel is "stainless" by the addition of chromium and nickel).

Adding more carbon ONLY makes the surface harder. Steel, typical blade or hardened, is so much harder than ice that the performance is indistinguishable and impossible to discern -- certainly much less so than the changes in the ice between resurfacing and the end-game when its gotten chewed up & snowy. In other words, this is a gimmick product providing some marginal reduction in skate sharpenings (by holding an edge longer) that might over the long term lead to off-setting cost savings. That is the ONLY physically possible benefit.