Nils Power Ice Augers

[hamms-scooter]

What is the difference between the lazer and the fin bore besides the offset handle?

[Lawrence Luoma]

Pitch of the blades.

[hamms-scooter]

Is it something your thinking of throwing on the tanaka?

[Surface Tension]

hamms, its a 270.

[hamms-scooter]

Drilled old holes just fine.

[Fred_Bear]

cost $20 to resharpen so figure $20 a year invested

How are you getting it sharpened for $20? Maybe some kind of connection with Frank or you live close?

For the average person, it costs somewhere between $40 and $50. $10+ to ship there, $20 to sharpen, and $10+ to ship back. VERY VERY fair pricing and Frank does quality and professional work.

But my point is that the price of new Strikemaster blades and getting the Nils blade sharpened is pretty close to equal.

[aczr2k]

When I say re-open old holes I mean holes that started out at 8" and now are froze to down to 6", I absolutely hate drilling into those. When the holes are completely froze over essentially you are drilling a "new" hole.

[hamms-scooter]

I can tell you my jiffy stealth drilled a hole in the ice in any condition it was in. Old holes were like drilling fresh ones.

[Esox_Magnum]

How are you getting it sharpened for $20? Maybe some kind of connection with Frank or you live close?

For the average person, it costs somewhere between $40 and $50. $10+ to ship there, $20 to sharpen, and $10+ to ship back. VERY VERY fair pricing and Frank does quality and professional work.

But my point is that the price of new Strikemaster blades and getting the Nils blade sharpened is pretty close to equal.

The difference is you dont need to resharpen the Nils every year but my experience with SM Lazer blades was a set a year...So in 5 years a set a year for a Lazer your spending an estimated $250, even with $50 to resharpen and cost of blade your talking $150 tops for a Nils for the same time frame....Now take that out 10 year and do the math, SM will cost you another estimated $250 now at $500 for 10 years and the Nils $200 IF it needs sharpened every 5 seasons....Now the next fun thing to question is will the SM need shop time in those 10 years for carb, recoil ect??? I'll bet $100 the Nils motor will not see shop time...

[rouser]

The difference is you dont need to resharpen the Nils every year but my experience with SM Lazer blades was a set a year...So in 5 years a set a year for a Lazer your spending an estimated $250, even with $50 to resharpen and cost of blade your talking $150 tops for a Nils for the same time frame....Now take that out 10 year and do the math, SM will cost you another estimated $250 now at $500 for 10 years and the Nils $200 IF it needs sharpened every 5 seasons....Now the next fun thing to question is will the SM need shop time in those 10 years for carb, recoil ect??? I'll bet $100 the Nils motor will not see shop time...

Up until last year I owned SM augers for nearly 10 years and only needed to replace blades once. I drilled tons of holes, I hole hop a lot and love to grid out an area... dozens of holes most outings. After years with my LM Xpress I switched out the blades, then had the old set sharpened for $5 at a local shop. The auger was however a bit cold blooded so I decided to replace it with a Strike Lite last year, that auger gave me serious problems so I returned it and replaced it with a NILS.

The NILS shipped with a crappy cutting head... it cut maybe a dozen holes and then stopped cutting. Interestingly enough I wasn't the only person to experience this issue. I shipped the bit to Frank, got it back and it cut great.... That did cost me about $40 though when you included shipping. I also bought a spare re-manufactured cutting bit, the re-manufactured bit cost me around $80 I think... so I have $120 already wrapped up in cutting surfaces.

I do like the Tanaka drill, it is quiet and very fuel efficient, and easy to start. For me the jury is still out on the cutting bit but I think I'll be happy with it. It doesn't leave the hole as clean as other augers but it's not terrible either.

[Cyberfish]

You can believe want but there is a reason why the Team USA Ice Team only used Fin-Bore or Lazer hand augers last year at the World Championships. It wasn't because they were sponsored by them ether as they didn't have an auger sponsor last year. Most of the team all own Nils augers also. Pretty sure they didn't use Fin-Bore and Lazers cause they wanted a slower auger. Just ask Michael Thompson he even borrowed my Fin-Bore for the competition as his Nils just wasn't up to par.

Even if you do believe the Nils auger is the fastest you make up the time by not having to scoop slush out by using a different drill unit.

My 4 inch Nils worked pretty well, (though a bit tall for me and not adjustable) until the second day of the tryouts, I hit a little sand, then it was toast. I used a lazer synthetic with speed handles for the practise, saving the finbore for the actual competition. the lazer took almnost twice as many turns per hole than the finbore. the finbore was flawless for me and fast, never dreamed I could cut through a foot of ice so fast, though part of that might have been adrenaline hahaha!

[Kodiak]

"Up until last year I owned SM augers for nearly 10 years and only needed to replace blades once."

i know better than this, i baby my strikemaster and i replace blades at least every 2 years....COMON MAN!!

(espn monday night countdown reference)

[Fred_Bear]

The difference is you dont need to resharpen the Nils every year but my experience with SM Lazer blades was a set a year...So in 5 years a set a year for a Lazer your spending an estimated $250, even with $50 to resharpen and cost of blade your talking $150 tops for a Nils for the same time frame....Now take that out 10 year and do the math, SM will cost you another estimated $250 now at $500 for 10 years and the Nils $200 IF it needs sharpened every 5 seasons....Now the next fun thing to question is will the SM need shop time in those 10 years for carb, recoil ect??? I'll bet $100 the Nils motor will not see shop time...

Thanks for the math lesson, but I was just curious how you were getting the Nils cutting head sharpened for $20.

[rouser]

"Up until last year I owned SM augers for nearly 10 years and only needed to replace blades once."

i know better than this, i baby my strikemaster and i replace blades at least every 2 years....COMON MAN!!

(espn monday night countdown reference)

Finish reading the post Kodiak.... I never replaced the blades again but I did have them sharpened at a local shop. Resharpening the blades was a fraction of the cost for new. I can guarantee you I didn't swap blades every two years either...was more like 3-4. Also, are you using the blades made in China?

[Esox_Magnum]

Fred I forgot about the shipping but I do fish close to Frank so I could easily drop it off if I wanted...

[hamms-scooter]

MT are you thinking the Fin Bore is going to be a good match with your Tanaka also? Sucks that a little sand and the nils is done...

[Cyberfish]

MT are you thinking the Fin Bore is going to be a good match with your Tanaka also? Sucks that a little sand and the nils is done...

Maybe for scouting out new spots, but I want a 6 inch drill for actual angling. I am optimistic that I will catch a 2 pound panfish every time I go! (it hasn't happened yet)I am going to try a 6 mora first and see how that works...

[gill man]

MT are you thinking the Fin Bore is going to be a good match with your Tanaka also? Sucks that a little sand and the nils is done...

In my experience a little sand and any shaving style blade is done. Nature of the beast I believe.

[broman]

In my experience a little sand and any shaving style blade is done. Nature of the beast I believe.

Yep, sand dulled my blade on my SM Lazer while on Red last year.

[dfeste]

From my experience with the Nils/Tanaka combo I don't think using another cutting head will be ideal. This combo is designed for high speed and low torque. I think the other cutters might be too aggressive and actually slow it down. One of the biggest reasons so many people love the Nils hand augers is that they fly through ice with minimal effort and resistance. Putting a cutter on it that really digs into the ice seems counter productive.

[hamms-scooter]

I wouldn't think the mora would be bad at all. In fact I know a couple guys on here that run that very combo and say it is better then nils . I have an adapter for both SM and Nils so I'm set. Did you get the 6" mora when it was on sale at fleet farm last week MT? I am also running 6" drills. BTW hope you get that 2# fish!

[Twins Guy]

I wouldn't think the mora would be bad at all. In fact I know a couple guys on here that run that very combo and say it is better then nils . I have an adapter for both SM and Nils so I'm set. Did you get the 6" mora when it was on sale at fleet farm last week MT? I am also running 6" drills. BTW hope you get that 2# fish!

Hey hamms-where did you get the adaptor to go from the tanaka to a mora auger?

tg

[ClownColor]

Going to break my nils in this wknd. Where do I find amsoil in south metro and what ratio for break in?

[bee]

I have the Nils/Tanaka setup. Last season I adapted a Mora 6in to the power head. Hands down the cats meow.

[bee]

Twins Guy he got it from me. You pm box is full.