do hand augers become bent or kadiwampus

[wallie]

 

[Badgermilk27]

I bought a brand new laser, and after drilling about 15 holes, the handle was definitely bent, and it really slowed the hole drilling considerably.  I had to bite the bullet, and shorten my auger to the shortest setting, and get on my knees to finish the hole...

[toes r cold]

Yes they can get bent. I had one that would cut 15" of ice to make a hole through 12". Whats more common is to knock the blades out of whack so they don't cut the ice properly. Takes you twice as long to drill as it should.

[ice dawg]

Yup! That's why I drill holes in 4" of ice with a power auger. 

[RealityCheck]

Make sure your blades are installed properly.  I knew a guy that put his blades on upside down....lol it took 5 minutes to cut through 6" of ice....and it was a 5" auger...but he had a 8" hole

[srobocop]

maybe that could be the problem with mine, i recieved it free from a man i dont really know and it cuts 6in of ice in about 5min. i'll have to check that.

[empty hook]

maybe that could be the problem with mine, i recieved it free from a man i dont really know and it cuts 6in of ice in about 5min. i'll have to check that.

You may just need new blades.  Towards spring I watch for sales and buy blades for 1/2 price. Although at Dicks I bought new 8" blades for my power Lazer for $13.00 AND THAT WAS IN Jan.

[MikeThePike]

I bent an HT hand auger to the point where its almost useless as a paper weight. That was not being used under normal conditions though and was easily avoidable. I know that any # of factors could contribute to making a hand auger more trouble than its worth sometimes though.

You may just need new blades.  Towards spring I watch for sales and buy blades for 1/2 price. Although at Dicks I bought new 8" blades for my power Lazer for $13.00 AND THAT WAS IN Jan.

Dicks jumped the gun and put almost all their stuff on clearence before we had ice and now that we do they have almost nothing left. I could see not wanting to get stuck with inventory but they should have atleast waited until early Feb to have done it.

Yup! That's why I drill holes in 4" of ice with a power auger. 

I'm with you....over 4" and I'm using the power auger unless I'm fishing a river....then its 8" or more for the power auger.

[putback]

I've seen 2 that must of taken a hard hit straight on the cutting end, changed the angle where the blade attached. Played with shim stock and got it back, lot of screwing around but it worked.

[TrekJeff]

I tried sharpening the blades on my old Mora.  After spending the money on a sharpener that was "made" for the Mora, it was like cutting concreat with a stick of butter.  I learned that new blades are worth the time and frustration of trying to shim, sharpen and tweek old blades.  Not only that I went to a Lazer.  The Mora is great for cutting post holes in the sandy loam in my back yard though.

[walbra60]

i have just recently (a couple of weeks ago) bought a new 8" Mora auger from gander. And a couple of days later with my buddies out on the ice. they were complaining that it would not cut right. What it would do was cut a little bit then skim the ice and cut again the skim it. so i looked at he blades and here one the blades had about an inch and half snapped off. No idea how that happened. then i paid just as much for the blades as i did the auger.

[Fat Boy]

I bought a brand new laser, and after drilling about 15 holes, the handle was definitely bent, and it really slowed the hole drilling considerably.  I had to bite the bullet, and shorten my auger to the shortest setting, and get on my knees to finish the hole...

I'd return it from where you bought it or email/mail someone from Strikemaster and complain about it.  If you didn't do anything other than cut holes, then it's clearly defective.  You shouldn't have to go to your knees to finish cutting a hole.  They should be going to their knees by giving you a working product.

[TrekJeff]

i have just recently (a couple of weeks ago) bought a new 8" Mora auger from gander. And a couple of days later with my buddies out on the ice. they were complaining that it would not cut right. What it would do was cut a little bit then skim the ice and cut again the skim it. so i looked at he blades and here one the blades had about an inch and half snapped off. No idea how that happened. then i paid just as much for the blades as i did the auger.

If the biggest complaint would be about the price of blades being equal to the price you paid for a mora..I assume you mean a blue one, then that's not too bad.  If you have a lazer and are saying the price you paid for the auger is the samae as blades, then I'll be on my way to Gander for another lazer, considering blades on ebay run about 15-20 bucks...lol 

[killitandgrillit]

If you push down too hard you can bend the blades, i've done that. You can also dull them fast by pushing down too hard.

[slider]

strike master has a blade exchange program its pretty cheap
i just got a drill attachment for a 6 " auger and i love it been going thru 7 to 10 inches of ice