What's New

2/11/13 entry: On November 9, 2012 I was granted a United States copyright, registration number FAu 1-087-434 for the engineering drawings of the Pegasus 2011 figure skate blade design. I will be applying for a patent on a technical design feature of the blade design this year. After that process is completed there will be an initial prototype run of blades made.

10/28/02 entry: Last week after an intial test laser cutting the material we use for Pegasus 2401, it was determined that a different gas must be used by the laser cutters to blow out the molten titanium alloy. They ordered the requisite gas and we should have the first run completed this week.

I appologize for the phone number changes and glitches. New phone numbers will be in place and contact information updated accordingly very soon.

A random thought. After hearing that Scott Williams was now coaching Michelle Kwan, I knew he'd get her on the road to becoming a SERIOUS jumper. IMHO, what has been lacking in the women's competition was some serious jumping. It appeared to me that I was seeing more gutsy jumps in skaters' practice and just wussy jumps in live competition. Most of the skaters were playing it safe in competition with so much on the line. I still find it more enjoyable to see skaters in practice versus live competition. I used to like how Angela Nikodinov used to jump in competition a few years ago - the jumps were so high and nice and clean from a technical perspective (although she wasn't always landing them then). Please be advised that this is only my humble opinion and I am NOT a judge in any official capacity, nor approved by the ISU, USFSA, or any other official governing body. Shoot!, I like more "unknown" skaters over most of the "big names"! :-)

10/12/02 entry: The first run of the new blade design is slated to begin this coming week. The Pegasus 2401 (formerly known as Pegasus 7) blades will test various optimal figure skating mechanics theories that have been discussed in the "figure skating world" for some time. Only after the blades have been actually physically completed will pictures and more details be released. The reasoning is simple; this blade will be using a new technology which Titanium Beach will file a patent for. Once the patent is granted or if in the unlikely event it is rejected, Titanium Beach will release pictures and other details of the blade.

10/11/02 entry: Titanium Beach officially became a privately held Nevada corporation. The official name is now "Titanium Beach Technologies Corporation". The necessary paperwork is being filed with the Federal government, the Nevada and California State governments, Clark County and Orange County governments, and the local city governments of Overton and Newport Beach in order for all facets of business operations to begin under the corporate name. The financial operations will be conducted in the state of Nevada and the engineering operations will be conducted in California.

The primary reason for the name change is to reflect the diversification into other markets with the one unifying commonality; using leading edge technologies in all of the corporation's endeavors. In the manufacturing segment this includes the latest materials technolgies of titanium, magnesium, aluminum, and aluminum-beryllium alloys, and metal-matrix composites.

09/14/02 entry: The Pegasus 7 design has been in progress since August. The compound rocker radius and rather radical toe-pick design is complete.

09/08/19/02 entry: Titanium Beach is in the process of relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to the move, Titanium Beach is being incorporated under the name Titanium Beach Technologies. The move to Las Vegas will reunite me with my former coach Barbara Roles Williams and makes collaborating with Surya and Suzanne Bonaly much easier. The Las Vegas heat does make it rather tough on my Ducati 748 motorcycle though.

The focus of the company will be to manufacture sports related products of high quality made from exotic aerospace materials. Although Titanium Beach was on a long one year hiatus, I had nevertheless been investigating the use of several other non-titanium alloys, metal matrix composites, and other materials. When the products become production, more specific details will be released. Let's just say that there are many materials that had been dying to be used in sports related products.

One random thought. I only recently found out that one of my favorite Italian pop bands played during the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Irene Grandi. If you haven't heard her band's music, you should check it out. Her current album, "Irek" is her best so far in my opinion.

07/14/02 entry: Titanium Beach is back after an unfortunate one year hiatus due to other commitments. I am now working full-time with Titanium Beach and will be incorporating the company in August.

Titanium Beach will no longer give the technical details on the exact alloys, composition, surface treatments, production techniques, etc., at the level we have in the past. The reason is obvious; we do the work and our competition uses this information to accelerate their development efforts. I will say that research has been done on .... mums the word. :-)

06/12/01 entry: The heat treating genius - Dennis - over at Certified Metals is working on a way to get an acceptable heat treat/solution age on our titanium alloy sheet. Apparently nobody has attempted a heat treat/solution age of this kind on sheet as thin as a skate blade before and extra care needs to be taken to prevent warpage. I have total faith in the people over at Certified and am just waiting patiently for them to finish the work on our sheet so we can cut some Pegasus rev 4 blades for my anxious skaters (Devin this means you!) who have been patiently waiting for their blades.

05/20/01 entry: In order to whet your appetite for Pegasus R4 while it is in process, here's two pictures of a Pegasus R2 before finishing and chroming.

04/12/01 entry: I couldn't be happier with the results of the heat treatment with respect to the physical properties of the blades. The flexibility, hardness, strength, and impact resistance are nothing short of phenomenal. It now must be determined where in the production process the heat treatment should be done to minimize distortion and whether distortion can be controlled so that the finished blades are within specifications.

04/11/01 entry: The heat treatment has been completed on the sample blades. They are being shipped back to me and so I should have them tomorrow. Once I get them I will be able to perform some tests to determine whether or not to use the process in making the current batch of blades. All I know right now is that the surface hardness has increased.

03/27/01 entry: After investigating various heat treatment processes for 6-4 titanium earlier this month, the laser cutting of blades has been postponed pending testing of a particular process on some sample blades. The blades are due back from the heat treaters by 4/3/01. This process will increase not only the hardness of the blades, but the tensile strength will increase to approximately 160-170,000 PSI. After testing the blades on the ice it will be determined whether to add this process to the manufacture of the blades. Testing on the ice is important prior to adding the process to the manufacturing stages, because the heat treatment changes several physical properties of the blades; most notably the surface hardness, flexibility, and coefficient of friction. These factors will alter how the blades perform on the ice.

03/01/01 entry: Two sheets of milspec titanium alloy arrived. Thickness, grain, flatness all checked out. Now on to the laser cutters! Surya's blades will be cut from this batch of material.

02/17/01 entry: Earlier in the week I finally found a company that will give Pegasus even higher specification tolerances by performing precision grinding of the blades to achieve a plus/minus thickness tolerance of one thousandth of an inch.

02/16/01 entry: A businessman called me to voice his concerns about my use of Surya Bonaly's pictures on my company website and my documenting that Surya has had equipment problems. He has taken these facts as being an attack on a particular product, saying that it may mislead the public into thinking that this other product is of poor quality. I have never said that. He is also claiming that it may mislead the public into thinking that Surya is currently wearing Pegasus blades. I feel that the public has pretty good reading comprehension, but I will attempt to make it clearer. I have never made the claim that Surya was currently wearing Pegasus. I am also not attacking this other product. I have told the truth in everything that I have said on the Titanium Beach website and stand by it. I have not attacked any blade manufacturer. What I have said is that Pegasus is the highest quality figure skate blade and that Pegasus 6-4 titanium alloy blades are stronger than any steel blade currently made. It is a fact that 6-4 titanium alloy is stronger and lighter than steel and all of its commercially available alloys. Titanium Beach reached an agreement with Surya in November of 2000 to make her a pair of Pegasus blades to test and that she would help develop them. That is a fact. There were two points which this businessman made which after thinking about it, I decided to change. I made reference to the actual manufacturer and model of a particular blade which was shown to me by Surya that was bent to the point of almost breaking. I thought it best to state the truth as to the exact blade, because it was one of the best steel blades available, yet Surya's powerful skating had severely damaged it. For the sake of peace, I will only refer to it as "a topnotch steel skate blade". The other thing was that I made reference to Surya's equipment problems without being more specific as to the frequency and time period which these problems occurred. I have revised my description referencing them which I hope will provide better clarity as to this subject.

It is unfortunate that I have not made it clear enough to some business oriented individuals that Titanium Beach is based not on profit motivation, but on the philosophy of building a legacy. I have been approached by business people to farm out manufacturing overseas to make things more profitable and lucrative, but have said no to that. Pegasus will never be a mass produced product. Except for the ore that is used to make the titanium alloy sheet, Pegasus is 100% manufactured in the USA. (The last I knew, the ore used in the manufacture of the 6-4 titanium sheet was coming from Canada). All the manufacturing, finishing, and assembly will always be done in a country where the people that do the work in the making of Pegasus are not oppressed or taken advantage of. I love figure skating in its purest form. I skate myself. My philosophy of figure skating may not be mainstream, but I appreciate the sport. It is my love of the sport and the people involved in the sport which drives me in this endeavor. It actually is that simple.

As for Surya's pictures, unless Surya takes back her permission to use these pictures, I will continue to have them available for the public to enjoy. Surya is one of the nicest people I have ever met and just happens to be a great skater. These pictures are scans made of the actual signed postcards which were given to me by Surya. I hope the public can enjoy them.

02/16/01 entry: Material ordered from Timet for making this month's set of Pegasus version 4 blades. One set is a pair for Surya who has been very anxious to get her first titanium alloy blades with a new type of edge technology. I can't wait to see what she says when she does her first back flip on them. I feel that she will like the shock absorption properties of the titanium alloy. A very different feel from the harsh stiffness of steel blades.

11/20/00 entry: Much has been happening. Pegasus Revision 4 has been completed and thanks to Barbara Roles, Titanium Beach has been able to hook up with Surya and Suzanne Bonaly. After at least two months of trying to schedule a meeting, I was finally able to meet with Surya and Suzanne during the Beverly Hills On Ice show. We have come to an agreement on making Surya some skate blades and she will be our "test pilot". During a lengthy brainstorming session I gathered the information necessary to make a few modifications to the design and will start on the project to make Surya some blades after the Thanksgiving holidays. Suzanne showed me how badly some of Surya's steel blades have gotten bent during skating over the years. In one past example, the forward mounting plate of the left skate blade of a topnotch steel blade had almost broken in two. Because of the extremely superior tensile strength and nice flex of the Pegasus titanium alloy blades this type of failure will never occur. It was a wonderful pleasure to work with Suzanne and Surya during this initial meeting. Having been able to talk with them at length on many subjects I have to say the they are two of the nicest people I have ever met.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see Scott Williams at the show. I later found out that he was involved in the production of the show in addition to skating in it. Scott is one of those skaters who I never get bored watching. His style of skating is refreshing to see and definitely his own. I also have to say that it made me smile to see how much the Beverly Hills Police officers who were on duty for this outdoor show on Rodeo Drive just be thoroughly captivated by the great skating. It's nice to see the human side of our law enforcement officers on occasion.

10/14/00 entry: The meetings with Lorin and Barbara to review the design yielded some changes that need to be made to the design of Pegasus Rev 3. Actually, the most significant changes are due to input from Sashi (Hisashi Kuchiki) who happened to be with Barbara at the Pickwick Ice Arena in Burbank (the Southwest Regionals were being held there). Based upon what Sashi told me, I am making modifications to the spinning tooth of the toe pick and the radius from the spinning tooth to the point under the ball of the foot. The pre-production blade samples (unfinished parts) were handed out to Barbara (coach, Olympic Bronze Medalist, USFSA Hall of Fame Inductee), Sashi (coach, Japanese National Champion, etc.), and Modina (skating parent, and nice person). Everyone was excited about how light and strong the titanium alloy samples are. To top off the good meetings, Modina's non-skating teenage son (who is a talented graphics artist) may be able to design the Pegasus logo; it has not been determined yet, but I am hopeful.

10/11/00 entry: Two meetings today. One with Lorin O'Neil and the other with Barbara Roles Williams. Leaving pre-production blade samples with them so they can see the general blade design and show other interested skaters. Also reviewing the blade design with them so if any changes are needed before the blades are cut by Serra Laser, can make some last minute changes.

10/09/00 entry: The laser cutter failed to meet our quality requirements during inspection. We have switched to using Serra Laser Center of Anaheim, California. I have discussed the quality and tolerance specifications with them and have been guaranteed that they will meet them. So please be patient a little longer.

10/09/00 entry: Laser cutter finished the job of cutting the first Pegasus Rev. 3 blades. Am headed out to a meeting to check them out. Will put the pics up real soon.

10/03/00 entry: Pictures are really delayed. The laser cutter is very late. We asked them to put our job ahead of the parts for the Space Shuttle, but they weren't very agreeable to that. We may have to send someone out there to break their legs. Seriously though, they have been swamped with a very important job which is delaying the cutting of Pegasus Revision 3. Please be patient. Thank you.

O9/22/00 entry: Pictures are delayed. The laser cutter is late, but has promised to finish the job of cutting and chamfering by Monday. So will be able to put up first pictures of Pegasus Rev. 3 the week of the 25th.

09/15/00 entry: Will be putting up pictures of the current batch of Pegasus blades as they go through the production cycle from being laser cut from the titanium alloy sheet, to laser engraved with logos, to argon tig welded, to final plating with engineering hard chrome. This will be done starting next week. Will also replace the rendering of the Pegasus Rev. 2 with the current Pegasus Rev. 3 with Cane Matto toe-pick on the Titanium Beach home page.

08/19/00 entry: Beautiful. Molto bello. That describes the special proprietary chrome plating that will be used on all new Pegasus blades. Silver Frost. I have seen samples from US Chrome and they are just wonderful. The color is like pure silver as seen in US silver dollar bullion coins, the texture actually feels very smooth like silk, and best of all it is tougher than any chrome plating being used on figure skate blades today.

07/26/00 entry: The design for the Cane Matto (pronounced Kah-nay Maht-toe) toe pick is being finalized this Saturday. All Pegasus blades will incorporate this new design change. Cane Matto is Italian for "mad dog". This toe-pick has the bite of the aforementioned creature. Originally, it was to be called Rabid Dog in Italian, but that didn't translate all that well. Cane Rabbioso just didn't sound that good . . .

07/26/00 entry: US Chrome will probably be doing the chrome plating for us. They have the technological know-how and experience plating titanium alloy products for the aerospace industry and have recently plated cylinder bores of Indy race car engines with a proprietary coating. They have the pride and enthusiasm that we need in a business partner to ensure the excellent quality we want to build into our blades. They will be doing the chrome plating on our next batch of Pegasus blades.

07/06/00 entry: A small enhancement to the toe-pick for Rev 2 along with removal of chamfering on the back part of the blade to allow for the "Dorothy Hamil heel stop" is being done by Ken The Engineer. The virtual reality file will be updated when I get the new engineering models from Ken.

06/09/00 entry: The first virtual reality version of Pegasus Rev. 2 is available for download. This file is about 300k in size, so if you don't have a DSL or Cable modem connection to the Internet, it will take some time to download. You will need a VRML viewer plugin for your web browser to view and manipulate Pegasus in 3D. Click here to get the Cortona VRML client from Parallel Graphics. Once you have a VRML web browser plugin you can click here to download the Pegasus Rev. 2 virtual reality file.

06/08/00 entry: The files used by the computer controlled laser cutting machines to make the Pegasus Revision 2 blades have been sent to Mike Connery (the master tool and die maker) who will take them to the laser cutters. This is very exciting as a lot of time and energy has been put into this second revision and many people are anxiously waiting to test them out (myself included). I will also be testing out some different finishes on the blade besides the special chrome plating done by the aerospace parts plating company.

06/07/00 entry: The toll free phone number 888-339-AXEL is now working properly. All e-mail sent to Titanium Beach is also working properly. Thank you for your patience.

06/01/00 entry #2: The e-mail problem has been fixed, but the toll free number problem is still being worked on. Thank you for your patience.

06/01/00 entry: Please be patient, the phone company and Internet service provider have both made mistakes during the move to the new address. The toll free phone number is not working properly. All calls are incorrectly being rejected as not being within the area codes covered. All e-mail sent to Titanium Beach is being returned saying that the account is disabled. Please be patient, we are working with our service providers to resolve the issues. Thank you.

05/19/00 entry: Revision 2 of Pegasus is finally done. Met with Ken The Engineer today and reviewed the design changes he completed. I was very happy with them. Some initial blades will be made and tested with the new design.

05/11/00 entry: Titanium Beach will have a toll free number as of 05/25/00; 888-339-AXEL (2935). The phone number for international and local calling customers will be 949-640-4299 (voice). The fax number will be 949-640-4272.

05/10/00 entry: Titanium Beach will be moving to a better location in the wonderful city of Newport Beach by May 25th. Our new address will be 2768 San Joaquin Hills Road, Newport Beach, CA 92625.

05/04/00 entry: I have found out that Mike Cunningham of Skater's Paradise is having fun with the original proof of concept prototype blades at skating equipment shows and skating conferences. Apparently he is tossing blades at unsuspecting attendees and obtaining shock value when they gasp at how light they find the 6-4 titanium alloy blades. Fortunately for Mike, he hasn't hit anyone in the head yet . . .

03/28/00 entry: The music section of Titanium Beach has been updated with a brief history and photos of Ander May. This brings me to the point that photos of the three major contributors to the Titanium Beach Pegasus blades will be posted in the near future. Stay tuned.

03/27/00 entry: Pegasus is undergoing a design change of the toe-pick to provide more functionality for the professional show skater and figure skater with a high skill level. The changes are designed to afford finer spin control through the spinning tooth and better toe jump control.

03/25/00 entry: Having taken a rather circuitous route, the original prototype blades were delivered to Mike Cunningham of Skater's Paradise so that he can gain experience sharpening titanium alloy blades and for other interesting experiments.

03/10/00 entry: The original prototype has been sent back to us from Guspro of Canada after they have tested numerous methods of sharpening these titanium alloy blades to find the ideal sharpening method using the various skate sharpening machines and sharpening wheels that they manufacture. Much thanks to Andrew Davis, Paul Sunnen and the people at Guspro for working with me and spending the enormous amount of time on this. The information they have given indicates that Titanium Beach will have to engage in some type of program of authorized skate sharpeners for Pegasus.

02/28/00 entry: An Olympic qualifying skater has agreed to test out Pegasus. The skater's blades should be ready the first or second week of April.

02/04/00 entry: The military spec titanium sheet arrived and I have double checked it with a micrometer to ensure that the thickness is correct. Production of a batch of Pegasus blades should begin next week.

01/27/00 entry: A new shipment of our military spec 9046J titanium sheet is on its way from beautiful Texas for a batch of Pegasus blades.

01/06/2000 entry: A new policy of allowing prospective buyers the opportunity to trial the blades free of charge will be instituted later this month. The trial blades will be unfinished versions of the Pegasus to be easily identified as such. When I have ironed out all the details I will post them.

01/06/2000 entry: It has come to my attention that - sure enough - a competitor has sold some titanium blades. From what I heard, the rocker radius on the blades was much too radical - less than 7 feet and probably closer to 5 feet. This led to problems with the unlucky skater having trouble with her spins. Please be careful people. If you're paying less than $1,000 US Dollars for a pair of titanium figure skate blades, something is wrong. The cost of quality titanium alloy combined with the necessary quality work for manufacturing and finishing would preclude the cost from being anything less. Also perform the titanium test. Take them to a sharpener and explain that you just want to see if the blade is solid titanium. Have them just grind small bit to see if you get the blinding white shower of sparks. If you don't, then the blade isn't solid titanium alloy. Before you buy, ask for references that you trust or whose credibility you can establish.

12/29/1999 entry: Now that permission has been given, I can name the heretofore unnamed Pro skater which will be evaluating the Pegasus blades. Scott Williams who has such a refreshing aggressive Macho skating style all his own will be putting Pegasus through its paces in February 2000. I look forward to his evaluation and am very excited to see his reaction when he sees how hard he can push the blades without the "tension" that steel blades kick back to you. Scott Williams is NOT to be confused with Scott Hamilton. Scott Hamilton is the funny skater, Scott Williams is the relaxed Macho style skater. Click here to get the lowdown on Mr. Williams.

12/17/1999 entry: Evaluations of Pegasus by a professional male skater that has competed at the Worlds and another by a male coach that is highly respected in his profession who has competed at the US Nationals in the past will be forthcoming.

12/08/1999 entry: Perspective views of the Pegasus blades will be up soon followed by virtual reality viewing of them.