How do you store your ice auger?

[Fishin_dad]

So at the beginning of the ice fishing season I took out my stuff and about died when I tried to punch my first hole. My auger blades were super dull. Gratefully I had a very nice fellow ice fisherman come give me a hand with his power auger which was much faster than my dull hand auger.

So what I am wondering is what do I need to do to store an auger the correct way. What do you all do to make sure it is nice and sharp next season. Do you store it with the cover on or off the blades. I assumed on but have read that maybe off???? Do you put anything on the blades? Any help would be great.
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[The_Red_Leaker]

I have a nils auger. I spray the blade liberally with PB Blaster (or similar) put the cover on and put in the rafters of my shed. It's good and hot up there in the summer and no moisture to rust things. Has worked well for me the last 3 or 4 years with no issues.
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[Hardwater]

My augers live with the covers on.

After each trip I carefully dry the blades and then spray the blades with WD-40. The cover goes back on until the next trip.

You may just need to bite the bullet and get new blades now and then be super careful not to let the blades touch anything but ice or your cover.

I get years and years out of my hand auger and gas auger blades and I fish a lot.

One exception, I fished Starvation under the bridge once and it killed my blades. Perhaps snow plows pushed snow/road grit onto the ice below the bridge and that grit killed my blades.

I have hand sharpened my blades with a wet stone and that helps. I saw Sportsman's in South Jordan sells a auger blade sharpener but the disclaimer on the package made me not purchase. It said something like the sharpener was used for temporary or emergency touch up and you should have your blades sharpened by a professional as soon as you are off the ice.

I used to use Lorenz to sharpen my blades, but they are not downtown SLC anymore.

Best of luck, sharp blades can help make a trip, dull blades can ruin one.
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[WaveWolf]

An Old timer at Pineview told me to smear blue grease, (waterproof) on the edges
and put the cover on for the off season. Keep it in a cool place. Works for me.
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[a_bow_nut]

I also make sure to not leave it standing up through the off season. Don't the pressure on the cutting edge for that long.

And make sure the kids don't try to dig a hole in the lawn with it. Don't ask me how I know that one.
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[RonPaulFan]

I also have the Nils auger. The engine is me, so not messy ... well no messy fuels anyway ... well cookie crumbs ... well, o.k. I am messy, but the Nils is so good at cutting by it's design and cutting geometry that makes it easy. I've tried other brands and they are a reason to get a power auger, but a Nils hardly takes any effort to auger even lots of holes though it does require fueling up with lots of cookies.

That brings me to the point of your post. I have insight into this as a designer of tools. It might not be that the sharpness of the edges were dull because the guard protects them. But, since storage was your question, I wonder if your insight is that it performed well before storage and not after storage.

There might be another issue other than sharpness.

It's very important beyond just sharpness that your auger not get bumped. If it's bumped, even with the guard on, the soft steel of the auger can bend and no longer be holding the hard steel of the blades precisely at the angle of the design for optimal cutting of ice.

Similarly, some people will bump the ice hard which is not necessary or even bump it intentionally to plant it into snow to stand up.

Don't do that! Protect the end of your auger from impacts beyond just protecting the sharpness. Protect the shape and the precise angle.

I store my Nils in a free cardboard shipping tube. They protect my auger from being bumped. They're strong and lightweight and can even be made slightly water resistant by painting it. I get them out of the trash at work.

When my Nils gets dull, I will sharpen it myself. I sharpen mostly everything else.
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

Spray blades with WD-40, put cover on. NEVER stand it up on the blades for storage. The weight of it standing on the edge of the blades will warp them just enough to ruin them. I hang my auger on the wall in the garage. I screw two 6" long screws into the wall and auger rests on the screws. My auger is at least 26 years old and works like a brand new auger.
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