John Rumm wrote:

TMH:
Why would you want to remove the thread off an auger bit? Just
stick it in a suitably powerful mains drill and it will go straight
through. Plaster might dull it a bit, but who cares?

Cash:
The problem is that the thread will tend to 'pull' the auger in the
direction that you don't want it to go - taking the thread off resolves

I think that's slightly missing the, er, point.

The screw point on the traditional auger is a primitive form of
auto-feed, intended to pull the bit through the wood without the user
having to lean hard on the brace-and-bit (much though that tones up the
stomach muscles).

The main problem is that it never worked all that well, because the
optimum feed rates for hard wood or soft, close grained or open, are all
different. Sometimes it's necessary to haul back on the brace to prevent
it smashing through the wood.

And that's the second problem: put the same tool in "a suitably powerful
mains drill" and it *will* smash straight through the wood - always at
its own chosen feed rate.

Just pre drill a small hole in the timber to allow clearance around
most of the worm thread - that will reduce (or eliminate if you prefer)
the pull from the thread without trashing a perfectly good auger.


"Trashing" is far too strong a word. If the threaded point is regularly
forcing you to do two drilling operations instead of one, then grinding
the thread off is a perfectly reasonable modification.



--
Ian White