Auger Blades

[Dan]

I am about to sharpen a couple of blades off my buddy’s ice auger. Has anyone sharpened auger blades before? And does anyone have a recommendation on a grit? Toothy or more fine?

[Josh]

What kind of auger? How big? Are you going to do it on a belt sander?

[Dan]

Strikemaster Mora, 3 5/8 inch blade. I planned on using the WEPS.

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[Josh]

Ohhh the pics really help thanks! Yeah that should be doable… I would go w/ 600-1k grit edge on it. What angle is that? It may be steeper than the WE can handle…

[Ziggy]

Interesting

My gut says teeth and bite.
IMHO, and its a guess, I’d stick to 200 and under grit.
Just a guess and would be my first shot.

Check these out and you might get an idea.
Looks straight forward.
If they are using hand held $8 carbide tools and are flat, or were flattened, I’d clamp it, match the edge and rip it smooth to 200, 400 max.
If they are hollow grind, you may want a wheel.
Just my opinion from looking and reading. Not much finesse to it I think once you figure the edge.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6651614_sharpen-mora-ice-augers.html

Check this guy’s page/vid. It may give you some answers:
http://www.iceaugersharpening.com/what-we-do.html

I’m wondering if hollow, you approach them like scissors.
What do you think Josch … if Hollow … TAS style?

[Josh]

I’m wondering if hollow, you approach them like scissors.
What do you think Josh … if Hollow … TAS style?

Yeah! I would definitely give that a shot… hadn’t even thought about using the Twice as Sharp. But I am getting the felling that Smif does not have a TAS and will be doing this on the WEPS, which will get it plenty sharp! Keep us posted Smif!

[Dan]

Thanks for the advise guys! I’ll tackle this project tomorrow and will post pictures afterwards. I have the Razor sharp wheels but don’t feel comfortable sharpening his blades freehand without screwing them up.

Question: What is a TAS?

[Ziggy]

Thanks for the advise guys! I’ll tackle this project tomorrow and will post pictures afterwards. I have the Razor sharp wheels but don’t feel comfortable sharpening his blades freehand without screwing them up.

Question: What is a TAS?

TAS … Twice as Sharp, … Razor Sharp with a clamp.

If you have the wheels, 180 and polish, AND if they are hollow grind, I’d say you are in.
If you need to cover the whole bevel.

If flat, lock it in the WEPS and go for it

I read that they are hollow, and seems guys that know what they are doing run hollow.
Not to say they won’t work wonders flat, or edged.

Seems those carbides are only edge use, not the whole primary bevel.
So unless you have huge chips in them, you may only need to address the edge.
Kinda like a chisel.

Any thoughts to addressing just the secondary bevel on the WEPS?
Work the cut, not the ride?

Just thinking out loud.

[Zamfir]

Do Not! I repeat.. Do Not! change the angle any. Ice augers are very sensitive to the angle. My buddies went up ice fishing..had their Auger go dull. They touched up the edges and made them sharp. The Auger would not cut the ice anymore. Even though it was sharp. Sounds weird and I do not know why but it made all the difference in the world when they took it into a shop to have it Properly sharpened. lol. They wasted about a whole day messing around with it. Not sure exactly what they did but There you have it..

[Ziggy]

Do Not! I repeat.. Do Not! change the angle any. Ice augers are very sensitive to the angle. My buddies went up ice fishing..had their Auger go dull. They touched up the edges and made them sharp. The Auger would not cut the ice anymore. Even though it was sharp. Sounds weird and I do not know why but it made all the difference in the world when they took it into a shop to have it Properly sharpened. lol. They wasted about a whole day messing around with it. Not sure exactly what they did but There you have it..

Interesting.
Seems there is more to these than meets the eye.

[Dan]

[/quote]

Any thoughts to addressing just the secondary bevel on the WEPS?
Work the cut, not the ride?

[/quote]

From the naked eye, I cannot see a secondary bevel. Unless there is a micro bevel that I can’t see, but I don’t have a loupe or anything to get a better look. Would you suggest adding a secondary bevel if there isn’t an existing one already? Or would it be a safe bet to not add/change anything based on what Zig said?

[Dan]

Finished the blades today. Didn’t see a secondary bevel, so I added it. Main bevel was 27 degrees and secondary is 35 degrees. The secondary should probably be a bit higher degree, but that’s as far out as I could go. Hopefully this works for him. Finished at 1000 grit. Figured if they don’t work for him, I didn’t have to do much work in order to give it a toothier edge.

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[Ziggy]

Nice Smif!

I can’t see how a secondary would hurt, as the more I read, the more they seem to use that $8 carbide tool to keep it sharp in the field .. end result, a secondary bevel.

But in the future, if no deep dings, just redo the 2nd bevel.

Nice work!

Hey, a little late but check this out … you’re on target.
I’m sure there are variants to manufacturers but basically an acute bevel, and an obtuse 2ndary bevel from this read.
So 15° and 2nd of 40°, flat back, as a ballpark would seem about right. Plenty playroom I bet.

Good Info: http://setthehook.com/icefishing/bladesharpening/index.html

BTW, did you find any hollow grind or all flat.

If flat, another piece perfect for the WEPS.

[Ziggy]

Reading more, it seems its basically a chisel.
Long acute slope, small obtuse cutting edge, flat bottom … like an Emerson blade.

I like the last link where he says to strop the bur off so you don’t raise the plane.
WEPS or Wheel or Platen/Belt, seems the concept is the same.

[Dan]

Thanks, Zig! I was looking at that same website. Good read and makes all the sense in the world. I saw the $8 tool you’re talking about. I’ve never used one, but I read that it’s really easy to jack up your blade if you’re not careful, rendering it a paperweight. The blade was all flat. Worked out good on the WEPS, minus the max 35 degree angle.

Thinking out loud here…. Wondering if I was to take the spacer block out from under the vise, shortening the vise. Use the old screws to clamp the vise down to the base, but still use the upgraded arms. Basically using the upgrade kit without the spacer block. I’ll have to give that a look…

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