UKC

Which is the best way of sharpening an ice screw?
Not the cheapest, but the best.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

I believe both Needle Sports (Lakes) and Joe Brown (N. Wales) have bespoke sharpening machines. Off the top of my head, it's about £6 a screw.

Alternatively, Petzl make a bespoke sharpener - review by Andy K here: http://andy-kirkpatrick.com/blog/view/petzl_limice

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

I reckon this:
http://www.needlesports.com/393/products/grivel-grivel-ice-screw-sharpening...

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

I like the Petzl limice, but if I had better access to a shop with a machine, I'd probably send them away. However, on a longer trip, it's useful to be able to resharpen easily. If you have a screw that has a different profile to petzl ones, the first time using the limice can take a while, as it effectively needs to reshape it, then it works well.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:


Buy a new ice screw.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:
Thank you. I should have said, a portable one so I could take on a trip and maybe resharpen part way through a trip.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

Surely a small file would suit this... it's small, portable, cheap, and you can get them very sharp if you know what you are doing.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

the petzl ice screw sharpening tool is very good brought some of my old screws back to life expensive but then so are new screws.

In reply to BStar:


Seconded - a small set of diamond files (I think they're called) gives you a few different shapes, and with a bit of practise you'll be able to bring your screws' teeth back to near-newness. It's a bit tricky to explain the process in writing; there's a good website that shows in pictures - I'll see if I can remember what it was and post a link.
Alternatively, Blue Ice have a good book on the subject of all things icey - The Art of Ice, I think it's called

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

A quick trip to maplins and the £1 tool stall at your local market should set you up with a few little diamond files, a few small steel files and a half-round grind stone (small enough to fit inside the bore). Shouldn't cost more than £5-£10.

Then all you need to do is stop grinding ice screws into the rock - it doesn't work - never has done, never will. And apply some common sense and file shapes to: a) keep sharp edges b) keep sharp points c) keep the geometry about the same and d) keep the points all about the same length. Finally, be patient. You need something to do while supper cooks anyway. File a little and often and take any burrs off that evening. That way, the screw goes in easily and you can tell the difference as soon as it touches rock. Finally, never hang screws up to dry with the bungs on - the points will rust.

In reply to nufkin:



The Art of Ice Climbing - I knew I had seen an instruction guide on how to sharpen somewhere, but for the life of me couldn't remember.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

As all Wittertainees know, the answer is "you just sharpen your ice screws".

More helpfully - like this: http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.com.es/2007/02/ice-screw-sharpening.html

My ice screws are all between about 17 and 10 years old, and until a winter ago, were used weekly for ice climbing for the winter season and often on small thin falls, so screws would regularly go through and touch rock. I've always just sharpened them with a hand file and it works fine.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:
The petzl tool is very good.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

Needless sport, £2 a pop, not worth bothering with files

In reply to 3leggeddog:


Not much help if you hit rock with screw at 3 pm in the afternoon and either you want to do some more routes that afternoon or you are heading for a big icefall at 5am the next morning!

In reply to TobyA:

Then just save that screw for the belay or another place where you can place it easily, blunt screws aren't that much hard work. If you are bottom in out every screw then you aren't very clever.

I guess you never had the pleasure of bang in screws

In reply to 3leggeddog:

I disagree, last time I was in cogne my friends screws were all blunt and they were a pig to get in compared to my sharpened ones, once I sharpened them for him problem was solved!

In reply to Reggie Perrin:
I use something like a more primitive version of this process, but I don't use a rounded off bastard file, a vice or a ruler etc. All I need is a set of small files including a round one and a bastard file. I often level the teeth as a final step by standing the screw up on something flat and metal and making sure the screw is upright and doesn't rock on some of the teeth (depending how out of kilter the teeth lengths are with each other)

http://www.adventure-science.com/files/Ice%20Screw%20Sharpening%20Procedure...

My friend didn't want me to equalise the length of the teeth on his screws - to be honest it didn't seem to make a huge difference, although I think mine did go in easier still. I suspect as Toby does that as long as all the teeth are sharp they will likely perform pretty well.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

That's the second time the term 'bastard file' has been used in this thread (TobyA also uses it above.)

What do you mean by the term? Normally, it refers to the cut of the file (i.e. rough, middle, bastard, second cut, smooth, or dead smooth) rather than its size or shape.

In reply to Rob Parsons:

Just meant something like this with a fairly course side and a slightly finer side

http://www.axminster.co.uk/faithfull-hand-bastard-cut-engineers-file-300mm-...

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

Buy a couple of different grades of triangular section abrasive stone (try Norton abrasives). With a drop of oil, some elbow grease and a bit of practice you will have them razor sharp. Plastic backed diamond laps are lighter. If the screw's cutting edges are soft enough a file will work.

jk

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

youtube.com/watch?v=6VFaW0GTMT0&

In reply to 3leggeddog:


If you mean drive ins then yes, I own a Camp snarg and both a salewa and mountain technology warthog, and have placed DMM scrubes on Nevis ice.

I also own BD express and non-express screws, Charlet Lasers, Grivel 360s, Excalibur/DMM ratchet jobbies, Ukrainian titanium 'specials' and some 70s Salewa screw-in crap covered in black paint that I bought off a Canadian when drunk in a pub in Aviemore (probably the best way to deal with Aviemore). I've placed them all many many times in ice ranging from full sun and +5 to about -28 over 20+ years so I have some idea about what I'm talking about.

In reply to Rob Parsons:


I think it was what the file I bought in B&Q was called. It has a nice blue handle if that helps, although it is now wrapped in duct tape after it split on a -25 day!

In reply to TobyA:

If you do use a Bastard file, remember a to fit a F-cking handle !

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

Warding files they are called, you can get a set of 5 or 6 for a few quid, go for lifetime quality rather than cheap and cheerful if you can. They'll work well for cramps and axes too.
As said, search for instructions on the net, the teeth on my screws need 2 different angle profiles for each tooth but it's easy once you know how.
Of course the easiest way to have sharp screws is to never bottom them out on rock but hey, we all do it and will continue to no doubt

In reply to wilkie14c:

Are 'Warding" files the same as safe edge files? They allow you to file only one edge into a corner, if so that would be my choice.

In reply to Pedro:

No don't think so, they are just minitire files really but a set of them comes with a variety of different shaped files, flat, triangle, box etc
http://www.wonkeedonkeetools.co.uk/files/what-is-a-warding-file/

In reply to 3leggeddog:


Actually, I was thinking a bit more about this - I'm not sure if it just on cold ice (say -10 to -20) but even one tooth slightly burred from touching rock can make the screws virtually impossible to place. It becomes very hard to get that crucial bite where the teeth first grip and hold the screw for a second where you can let go and re-position your hand.

In reply to Reggie Perrin:

Maybe.... the best way of sharpening an ice screw is the Mantis-Pro an ice screw sharpening machine
You can choose between sharpening all the faces of the screws keeping the original angles or choose personal angles with much simplicity and in any condition of usury and guarantee a homogeneous use.
Search on Facebook : Mantis pro or its website

In reply to Reggie Perrin:
One thing to bear in mind if your screws are very blunt like some of my bd ones were. I sent them to needle sports and when they came back the points were very short, much shorter than when I sent them off or indeed new grivel screw points are (which are shorter than bd ones anyway). Personally I wouldn't use the grivel machine on bd screws again.

Needlesports confirmed to me that this machine does not make the teeth longer. So if you have quite badly blunted one tooth on a screw this machine is not for you as all the teeth will come back the same length and much shorter than on the original screw.

I have since restored the tooth length of my screws using hand files.