Point on Auger Drill

[UMC]

I have a 10" strikemaster auger that I don't use real often but when I used it yesterday it would hardly cut and would kind of slip around on the ice and not really drill down into the ice.  About a minute of fighting it and I got about 6" of a hole drilled.  The blades were new last year and have maybe cut 20 holes.  I noticed that the sharp point at the tip of the drill is not there.  Now, I can't say for sure that it ever had one but in looking at other similar units, they have one.  I can't see any signs of damage.  I've always traveled with the plastic cover on the bottom and it's had pretty light use.  Anybody ever heard of the tip breaking off of one of these units?  

Edited January 20, 2016 by UMC

[leech~~]

Not sure how old your unit is but I think some of the older lazers and hand augers didn't have a point on them? Once the blades get nicked or dull it's wobble wobble wobble without a point!

[Gus]

Yeah, I had an older one like yours pictured. The newer ones do have the point, some of the older ones don't. Yours look to be older. Mid to late 90's.

The point does help, even with the point, if the blades are messed up at all it still doesn't cut well. Rather than worry about the point, I'd look to the blades or the cutting angle. The other thing that they added about the same time as the point was an additional support bar to keep the blade angle from getting tweeked so easily. My guess is that this may be a problem if indeed new blades don't fix it. 

 

[tazimna]

make sure your mounting screws are nice and tight. A little loose can throw the cutting off. It's also a symptom of a slightly bent shaft(re-opening holes is a no no) Taz

[UMC]

1 hour ago, Gus said:

Yeah, I had an older one like yours pictured. The newer ones do have the point, some of the older ones don't. Yours look to be older. Mid to late 90's.

 

Yup my grandfather bought it in preparation for the Y2K scare, not even joking.  So it got passed on to me.  

A friend of mine mentioned the bent shaft possibility.  I guess I don't know how to check for this or if it can be fixed so I'll probably just shelve it and use the 7" drill I have.  Cuts better anyways.  Thanks guys!