Sharpening Augers?

[Salm0trutta]

Does anyone sharpen their auger or is it better to just buy new blades? It took me about a half hour to drill two holes at nine mile the other day. I looked at the blades and with the way they curve I'm not sure if I'll mess them up worse than they already are.
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[FishKillr]

I tried, and they were never the same again. I think it is better to buy factory sharpened ones, then they are guarnteed to work....and they are cheaper than new. Most places sell them, but may be sold out by now....but the auger's website will usually have they all the time.

(I don't think Sportsmans had any left, but FishTech had a bunch last time I was in)

Shawn M
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[Troll]

Buy a new set.
Send the old set back to be resharpened and put them away for when they are needed. Keep rotating the sets until the factory tells you they can no longer sharpen them as they are getting to small.
There was a guy in NSL doing them, but each make has a different shape and it was to expensive to own all the emplates to sharpen them. I think he only does Strike-master now.
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[Salm0trutta]

Ok, my auger is one of those Mora Strike Masters. So I went on the website to order blades and I'm not sure what size it is. This may be a dumb question but I want to be sure before I spend $30... Do they go by the size of the hole it drills?
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[FishKillr]

From what I understand...yes and No. On that one I think if you have the 7" modle you can put either 7" or 8" blades on it. Someone else will have to chime in tho. If you have an 8" auger tho, you will need 8" blades...the option is on the 7" model to go to an 8" hole.

Shawn
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[Therapist]

Both Strike Master and Ardism have blade exchanges. You send them your old blades and they send you a set of re-sharpened used blades. That way you always have a set of sharp blades on your auger. It costs about $12.00 per set, plus shipping.

There was a thread here a short time ago that also mentioned a shop in SLC that sharpened blades. Someone else will have to bring that one up.

[Therapist]

Went checking some back posts and found this one. It is back about 9 pages.

I decided to call the place that sharpens my lawn mower blades. I found out they have a machine designed to sharpen auger blades. $7.50 a blade. They are located in Roy City- Day Power Equipment.

[Salm0trutta]

Thanks for all the info. I did look at the form to fill out to exchange blades. It asks for the size of the blades, I don't know the size but I'm guessing that when they get them they will know. I went and measured one of my holes and it is 8" in diameter. So I'm guessing I have the 8" blades.
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[chinook]

My old Barracuda Ice Auger is dull now. I don't even know who carries that brand any more. I tried to find a website for Barracuda and had no luck. Any advise?
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[FishKillr]

Check out eBay, thay usually have a little of everything.
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[aceman698]

I have a ht hand auger and i sharpen the blades with a wet stone, just don't sharpen the side that contacts the ice takes about a half hour for both blades and it is like brand new each time
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[walleyebob]

The previous post is best, NEVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER sharpen the bottom. The side that touches the ice is a very precise angle. If you do anything to the edge that touches the ice, the blades will be junk. Sharpen the top and you will be fine
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[Troll]

As a wood carver who spends many hours, yes hours sharpening blades from Planes to #12 gouges I have to say that if you do not touch the backside of the blade, they will not cut worth a darn.
I also sharpen my own auger blades, but would not recommend it to most.
First, if you try, mark the edge to be sharpened with a black wide tip sharpie so you can see what you have done and not done. Do not move the stone from the front of the blade to the back. Move the stone along the front edge of the blade keeping careful watch of the angle and keeping it the same from end to end. When you think you have a sharp edge, use a 10x loupe to inspect the edge. Use the sharpie to mark where more work needs to be done. When you have the front edge just how you want it, inspect the back edge with the loupe. You will see a burr running the length of the blade, this must be removed or the burr will continue to curl over and leave you with the worst edge ever.
I remove this burr with a single swipe of my 4000 grit waterstone, blade laid with the angle flat on the stone and moved from front to back, then reinspect with the loupe.
If you pooch the edge a shim can be placed under the blade to make it contact with the ice again.
If you watch the blade in action it is not cutting the ice by shaving it from the center of the blade to the outside edge. A superbly sharpened blade will give off curled ice shavings just like a finely sharpened plane or chisel does.
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[walleyebob]

Yup, like I said, you dont sharpen the bottom. I run my diamond hone one time along the bottom after the blade is sharp to remove the burr.
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[Troll]

That's the ticket, ONE TIME! just enough to remove the burr. Check it with the loupe and you can see the burr and you can see when you have removed it.
The Sharpie really helps you to see what you are doing.
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[submoa]

Accusharp makes an auger sharpener. I haven't used it but have used their knife sharpeners. They are the best I've personally ever used. If their auger sharpener works like their knife sharpeners do I bet we'd all be drilling holes faster. Sportsmans Warehouse used to carry them, haven't noticed if their in there still or not.
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[limitone]

[indent]I had a similar problem a few weeks ago. I decided to sharpen my own blades, not knowing any better, and afterwards, couldn't drill a hole in less than a half hour. Found a place in NSL that sharpens them. That cost me about $14 for the pair. They were for a Mora hand auger. Trying to find them new around here is a bit of a problem.
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[Troll]

I have one of these. If you use it at the first sign of the auger slowing down it works great, a few swipes and you can feel it come back to life.
It can save a trip, but when I get home I change blades to some I have sharpened for real.
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[downed_Phly]

I finally got on the ice today to try my auger after my first attempt at blade sharpening. All I can say is...WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I cut through 18" of ice faster than I could cut through 6" before the sharpening. I tried using the little $8 auger sharpening tool from fishtech and was NOT impressed. I could feel the edge come back a little, but it's not a real solution. However, a few years back, I got a sweet Gatco sharpening set from Cabelas. The important thing is that you can control the angles you are sharpening. You can see the sharpener [url "http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0006453514317a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=gatco&Ntk=Products&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=0"]here[/url].

Definitely impressed with this sharpener. It also sharpened my knives to a unbelievable degree; cutting off a fish head is like slicing through butter.
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