Down pressure for a NILS 8" hand auger?

[Gunflint]

IMO, a Nils have to be babied.
That's why anybody fishing with me, I won't them touch it.
In between drilling holes, the cover goes on.
Anything associated with a Nils is expensive.

I treat my Nils like my filet knife. It is nearly as sharp.

I also cover it as soon when not using it. I also put my filet knife in its sheath.

I also don't let other people play with my filet knife.

[badger132]

I would bet that most augers are dulled or damaged 3 ways:

Leaving them in the midwest humid summer with maybe road salt from riding in the back of a pickup, and they rust severely

Dropping them on the ice like people do with center point drills. I can't remember the last time I saw someone set this precision tool in place. Remember the Mercury ice fishing commercial? I think half the reason for having a center point is to provide protection for the blades when people stab it into the ice.

Drilling into a sand bar just under the ice (I have seen this done)

I have 2 Nils, 6-8 years old, and I noticed one was rusty and not cutting as well as I remember. With a worksharp sharpener, it took only a few minutes to restore it to working order. When sharp, only the weight of the drill is required, and it turns very easy. If you are not having results like this, send in your head to have it sharpened, if you are not comfortable doing it yourself. Then, treat it as Gunflint says, and you should have much better results. Clean it and spray with rust preventative for storage, and it should last years.

[filetandrelease]

 Gunflint is spot on ,
 As with any tool a little care goes a long way
 I have nils cutting heads from the mid 80s still in use

[R-K]

It cut terribly out of the box. I need to find a box and get it sent off. I can use the 10" gasser until I get it back (used stuff is cheap in the summer).

Next purchase will probably be an adapter and a drill to run the 8" NILS, then I can sell the 10" one- I don't think my Ridgid Fuego with a 2.0 AH battery are enough to run the 8" NILS all day.