Need a drill bit recomendation to drill hard brick

[NotMe]

Need a drill bit recommendation to drill hard brick

New (to us) house. Wall brick is hard and the regular masonry drill bit won't (litterly) cut it.

What brand(s) should I be looking to buy?

TIA

[Stormin Mormon]

For some masonry drilling, you need a hammer drill.

Hammer drill provides both rotary, and also pounding action. I've used hammer drill on cement, and it is much better. Hearing protection is truly needed, those drills are serious loud.

. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.

[Ralph Mowery]

YOu would be beter off getting a hammer drill motor. That is not just the bit,but a whole new drill.

Not that I recommend this particular one, but something like it.

Maybe some hammer drill bits to go with it.

[Nate Nagel]

Agree with the comments to buy a hammer drill.

If you only need to make one or two holes, get a hand star drill and an engineer's hammer. This exercise will make you realize the value of a hammer drill :)

Also, why are you drilling? Can you set the holes in the mortar and still accomplish your task? Mortar will be much easier to drill and also patch later if you have to reverse whatever you're doing.

nate

[HerHusband]

The problem isn't really your bit, it's the type of drill you are using.

A normal drill just spins the bit in a circle. When I had to drill holes in concrete with a normal drill, I often burned up two or three bits just to drill a couple of holes. Slow, frustrating, and expensive.

A hammer drill is better as it hammers the bit as it spins. Many cordless drills these days have a hammer option built-in. It's still a slow process to drill a hole with a hammer drill, but it works much better than a regular drill. It's a usable option if you only have a hole or two to drill.

If you have several holes to drill, you really need a rotary hammer. I needed to drill a lot of holes in rock recently to split some large boulders. I bought a Dewalt D25023K rotary hammer and a pack of SDS bits for it.

The rotary hammer doesn't use a normal drill chuck to hold the bit. It's more like a quick release system with slotted bits.

Compared to my hammer drill, the rotary hammer drilled through the rock like butter. I can't believe I fought with drills and hammer drills so long.

You can always rent a rotary hammer if you don't think you'll use it that much.

Remember to wear safety glasses! Drilling through rock, brick, or concrete will send small stone bits flying back at you!

Good luck!

Anthony Watson

[DerbyDad03]

...snip...

...snip...

A wise man once told me, as he handed me an electric jack hammer and took my hammer and chisel away, "If you're working too hard, you're probably using the wrong tool".

[nestork]

NotMe:

Masonary drill bits don't drill by cutting through the material like twist drill bits do.

Masonary bits drill by battering a hole in the meterial like the air drills used in mining do. In order for a masonary bit to work properly, the hammering action is essential. If you're using a masonary bit in a normal drill that doesn't provide that hammering action, you won't get very far and whatever hole you make will be made by grinding on the material.

There are two kinds of hammer drills: percussion type hammer drills and rotary hammers.

Percussion type hammer drills are the same size and shape as an ordinary drill, but they have a feature that causes them to vibrate the drill bit forward and backward. Typically, these drills will provide anywhere from 35,000 to 50,000 impacts per minute, but the movement of the bit forward and backward is only a small fraction of an inch, like maybe

1/100 of an inch at most.

Rotary hammers use a piston and cylinder arrangement to move the drill bit back and forth. Rotary hammers provide far fewer impacts per minute (like 200 or so), but the stroke is much longer (about 1/8 of an inch) and the impacts are far more powerful.

Percussion type hammer drills are made for occasional use on relatively soft masonary materials, like brick, mortar, soft stone and such. Hammer drills are made for frequent drilling into hard materials like concrete and hard stone.

Since the drilling action is accomplished by battering rather than cutting, masonary drill bits don't lose their ability to drill into materials as they get dull. Dull masonary bits drill a bit more slowly, but it's not nearly the drop in performance you get when a twist drill becomes dull.

Home Depot would almost certainly rent percussion type hammer drills and rotary hammers. I'd rent a percussion type hammer drill for an hour (if possible) to drill your holes.

Also, if you're drilling into hard brick, grind a dimple into the brick where you want to drill your hole first with your drill bit so that the bit doesn't skate all over the place when you start trying to drill with the hammer drill. Any tool with a carbide tooth can be used to grind a dimple into the brick where you want your hole to be.

[dadiOH]

People are sugesting a hammer drill. Good suggestion, they make a HUGE difference. Assuming you aren't going to make a career of drilling brick and/or other masonry, Harbor Freight has a decent one for a bit over $30. Works fine, does the job.