what does this mean?

[spartaman12]

i have a 6" hand auger (mora) and it worked great until my last outing, i was just starting a new hole when the auger was sort of dancing on the ice it wouldnt go straight down like normal.

[madmichael365]

it's the blades saying replace me, i'm dull

[spartaman12]

really cuz i just bought it this year..? its probably only drilled like 40 holes or so

[aquaman]

i have a 6" hand auger (mora) and it worked great until my last outing, i was just starting a new hole when the auger was sort of dancing on the ice it wouldnt go straight down like normal.

    Ice build up on the blades will make it skip. check that 1st when it happens. we hold ours over heater when this happens. shake water off after every hole and dont place wet blades in snow. if no snow .sharpen blades. remember, bottom surface remains flat sharpen only the top bevel.

[TR19]

make sure you didn't hit the auger blades on the ice (knocking off the slush) and bend a blade. That can happen really easy.

[SPARKYICE]

just started doing that all at once?
did you tap it on the ice to remave built up ice? my buddy did that to mine once, it bent the blade and it behaved like you described.
i was able to bend it back, but it was tricky.
also, if you have sand blowing onto the ice it melts in and will dull your auger.
look closely at the edge of the blade, with a mag. glass and look for pits or knicks
the edge should look mirror smoth

[bassranger]

differently dull blades do you keep the guard on it

[scavengerj]

I'd suspect ice build-up first. Then a good visual to see if there is any sort of damage to either of the blades. If you drilled a hole or two this last outting and didn't hit the blades on anything, I'd think ice build-up was the problem. If you hadn't used it since last year and the first hole you tried to drill with it did this, I'd say damage.

[Lobes]

If it happened so suddenly like you said and it was part way through a hole, my guess is the blade loosened a little. The Mora's are especially prone to this since it is so critical that the blades are very close to the same angle to the ice to cut a true (vertical) hole without "worming" around. If one of the blades gets just slightly loose it will tip ouward slightly and that is when you actually bend that side and the angles won't match causing you to get the effect you described. It's very important to make sure the blades are torqued down the first few times you use new augers for that reason. A drop of blue Loc Tite can save a lot of headaches with augers.

                                              
NBG

[SPARKYICE]

    Ice build up on the blades will make it skip. check that 1st when it happens. we hold ours over heater when this happens. shake water off after every hole and dont place wet blades in snow. if no snow .sharpen blades. remember, bottom surface remains flat sharpen only the top bevel.

with a nice large new arkansaw stone (it's got to be perfectly flat) oil it up good and run the flat side in figure 8's on the stone. keep the oil to it. this not only sharpens the blade, but also maintains the original angle on the blade.
some augers have compound edges on their blades.these are trickier to sharpen.
i've used a lansky sharpener with some success on these.
the machine tool makers where i used to work showed me these tips. those guys knew their stuff.

[pooley]

if it's not ice build-up, the blades are damaged. replace the blades.(unless your really good with a stone) i always keep a new set with me, just in case.

[SPARKYICE]

yes. spare blades. and bolts. i've broken them before

[deadsmelthead]

Are they stainless blades or plain steel ? I know some stock augers come with plain steel blades out of the box. They rust and work like crap in no time. If this is the case buy a set of stainless. If it has stainless on it already then as others have said it's ice build up or you have a blade out of whack.

[spartaman12]

idk what kind they have its a strait up mora 6" that i just bought in december so i hope i dont already have to change the blades

[vipercat64]

I had that happen to me about 6 years ago, with an OOOOLLLDDDD mora after I replaced the blades.  Not only did one of the blades come loose, one came right off...and down the hole before I realized what was happening. 

Bottom line, make sure your bolts are SUPER tight. 

[deadsmelthead]

idk what kind they have its a strait up mora 6" that i just bought in december so i hope i dont already have to change the blades

It's very easy to tell. Stainless steel doesn't rust stays mirror like looking and it has a stamp that says stainless steel made in  " wherever". If you bought it last week and it came without stainless blades I'd tell you the same thing and thats this....... If you don't have stainless blades on your auger go to the store /bait shop wherever and buy stainless steel replacements. If you have them on there already quit banging the thing on the ice but your still gonna have to go to the store.

[oldken]

definetly look for a loose blade. or worse yet a missing one

[snot rocket]

one time through ice w sand blown into it and the blades were shot...tried to touch up with a stone...cut even worse, got new blades and it cut like a hot knife thru butter.


                 Snot Rocket

[zooplankton]

They also have small shim's that come with a kit (blades,screws, ect.) I just went through
this w/ my mora 8" auger . I tried shimming behind the bolts, much to no avail....then I
put them in front of the bolts ............whala..... cuts like a charm...........just use extreme
caution those edges are like a scalple :embarassed:...........Zoo

[WAN2PHISH]

Sounds like time for a lazer.glad I bought one much easier! A lot of places don't stock to many of the old style blades any more,got to be a major run around when I needed them.It sounds like blades unless it was slammed or something like that.