ice auger blades won't cut

I know nothing about ice augers but have done a fair number of large ice carvings.
The chisels I used had to be ultra sharp and the back edge had to be dead flat with no angle else they just skidded.
I would check if the edge of the blade against the ice has been ground away from flat I would suspect that this is what is wrong. In other words you have a flat edge on the ice rather than a sharp edge.
Your blade in the second photo looks as if the edge of the blade has been stoned on its back side to remove the grinding flash producing a tiny flat edge.
I could be totally wrong here, Just my 2c
 
The sharpening guy is a fully equipped shop that sharpens everything, including endmills. He thinks that the circled area needed to be taken down , so I let him sand a few thou. off. He compared it to the circled area on the saw blade picture, and said it was just to control how much it can cut.

I would assume he understands relief angles, and geometry....?
I will try it and see,.
I figure it will get one of the following results.

1. still wont cut.
2. will cut good but wont like "finishing the last part of the hole" and want to corkscrew into the ice at the end of the drilling
3. will work good now?


At the end of the day worst case they are garbage.

The centre point is sharp, there has been no stoning of the bottom side....... new replacements are all Chinese unfortunately, the auger itself isn't out of angle alignment, the dull blades work fine.
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It has been an interesting thread. Hard to get a good idea of the three dimensions from a pic, But I can see what your sharpening guy is saying.

If By Chance they do not cut, and you think of it, take a pic of the hole for us.
 
I can't tell how much relief angle is on the blade mounting but could the mounting bolts be rubbing on the ice? They look like they're sticking below the blade. Maybe missing a washer on the top?
 
Why not take a turn or two around the ice with Your tool and see where it is cut after putting a coat of food coloring on the ice to highlight where it is not cutting? Pictures here help.
 
In the 3rd pic in the first set, that edge doesn't look sharp at all. You can see the edge looks rounded.
I would think you would want an edge like on a plane iron. Lapping the back to be perfectly flat to remove the burr from sharpening. That edge should probably be able to shave.
 
I use a Solstice 2 MK 3 121147 model ice auger, the blades have a .700 Degree positive rake angle and work a charm in Summer ice, often entirely to quickly.

There is some evidence that ice at 65 Degrees F is rather soft and easy to drill, I do not believe this.
 
It definitely is soft at 65. I was able to scoop some up with a cup. Similar consistency as the beer I was drinking. I think it has something to do with the rhombus effect.

Maybe that could be a solution for RCdizzy, bring along a torch set to warm up the ice.
 
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