auger blade sharpening

[markr108]

I put a new blade on my auger and want to get the old one sharpened for a spare. Anybody know a good place to take it?

[Jim Almquist]

You will want to post make and model because some blades need to be factory sharpened and some like the old Jiffy's you can just use a flat file on to sharpen and some you can exchange.

[Northlander]

Surface Tension is offering blade sharpening get a hold of him.

[fishnhuntnboy]

You can always buy the hand sharpener. I believe lazer makes it. Recently i just bought one instead of new blades and the sharpener did a great job. I was really suprised on how well it did.

[Surface Tension]

Mark, what type blades do you have?

I sharpen the Nils Master blades. I could do any blade but I'm just keeping it to Nils now.

Most Bait shops offer a blade exchange for SM and Jiffy. Cost depends on what brand you have.

There are hand sharpeners made especially for auger blades that do an OK job.

DO NOT use a a hand style knife sharpener with cutting edges on both sides on an auger blade or it'll ruin it for good. Also DO NOT take any material off the backside of the blade, you sharpen the beveled edge only.

[markr108]

I'vr got an older Eskimo. Don't know the model right off.

[Northlander]

Try Duluth Saw then.

[Steve Foss]

Mark, sounds like that's a flat chipper blade, then. They're easy to sharpen, and like Northlander said Duluth Saw is a good place to go if Frank won't do it yet. God knows Frank spent many years sharpening the chipper blade on that ancient Strikemaster he used to have.

[Northlander]

Steve he turned that thing into a crossbreed auger now. Call it a Stilsmaster. Head of a strikemaster and put on a Nils blade and it flies. He has too much fun with that new sharpener.

Im bringing up all my knives to him just to keep him busy. Heck even his scissors are razor sharp.

[markr108]

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if Duluth Saw would do it. That's convenient too so I'll bring it there. The auger was given to me last year. Cleaned the carb and tuned it up and now it runs like new. That is if it started and ran good new.

[Surface Tension]

Mark, yours is common and most bait shops have a blade exchange. So if you can't wait that would be the fastest route.

The Nils sharpener I made special for those blades but yes I can do knives and scissors with it. My Rapala fillet knife is sharper then the day I bought it.

Steve, that special auger has some Mora in it too.

[Northlander]

Morstilsmaster highbread then Frank? That baby is hines 57 thats for sure. Does the job though.

[minnowdangler71]

ST, how do you get a rapala knife sharp?? I tried the sharpener they gave me with it, but it doesn't do the trick? I bought a second knife, cuz I was sick of the dull one! silly to buy a new knife everytime it is dull. maybe I need some expert sharpening lessons? see you at the bash. thanks in advance mike

[Surface Tension]

minnowdangler71, I've tried a lot of different sharpeners on Rapalas and didn't get them as sharp as they should be.

Here you go. Note where he says don't do this at home, send your knife out to have it sharpened. That buffer is turning at 3500 RPMs. If you catch an edge you'll feel pain before you knew what happened.

[Steve Foss]

I've been using the same Rapala fillet knife for a billion years. To keep the sharp knife already sharp, I just use the little plastic Rapala sharpener that comes with two grades of ceramic inserts, coarse and fine.

First option: send it to Surface Tension if it's dull (Frank, are you offering knife sharpening service too?)

But if you want to do things yourself, here's what I do with mine. I've had great luck with the broadhead arrow sharpeners that you drag across the broadhead. The cutters make a V just like the Rapala sharpener, and there's a handle on the sharpener. You lay the knife upside down on the counter tip pointing toward you and pull the sharpener toward you across the knife.

The sharpener cuts fine shavings of metal from the knife blade to normalize the angle. You need a bit of a steady hand, but it works great. I use it on everything from the fillet knife to kitchen knives. You're almost always left with a wire edge, though, so you need to use the small ceramic sharpener already mentioned to finish the edge.

[upnorth]

I use a lansky type sharpening system. Nice cuz it helps maintain the proper angles on the blade. Once I have it nice and sharp I use ceramic sticks to keep it that way. I do believe the older rapala filet knives were made of better steel than the newer ones. I have one of those 30 yr old rapalas that does seem to be made of higher quality steel than the new ones. I picked new one up for my son a few year back and just doesn't seem to sharpen or hold the edge near as well.

[Northlander]

I send my knives out through the hardware store down the street from me. Back in 2 days very very sharp. Cheap too. I could never do it as sharp as this guy does it.

[markr108]

I'm not in any hurry but will probably do the exchange. If it were a single blade all the way accros instead of teeth I'd have no problem doing it myself. I've sharpened my hand auger several times myself and have no touble keepin a good edge on my knives.

[minnowdangler71]

Thanks for the info, maybe I wasn't made to be cleaning fish,just catching them...