Drill Replacement

[Roger Mills]

If it's a decent concrete lintel, an ordinary hammer drill will struggle - but an SDS drill will go in as if it were cheese.

Yes, I've still got one of those - and it sometimes comes in handy for small jobs in confined spaces - but the batteries are old (I've got 2) and don't hold their charge for long.

As I reported a few month ago in another thread, I've also got a 12v drill whose battery died so I removed the cells and fitted a cable terminated in a cigar lighter plug - so it can be used in a car, or with a portable power pack.

You may not use it all that often, but you'll be glad of it when you *do*!

[The Medway Handyman]

A few of us around here have the little Makita

(available cheaper that this) which is incredibly useful.

[PeterC]

Worth considering when the Bosch dies. Sometimes it won't be used for 3 months or more, so I rely on it for only a couple of holes; freshly charged it still lasts well.

[Stuart Noble]

On the cheap JCB I find the chisel action pretty useless. On concrete it bounces about forever before doing anything remotely useful. I wouldn't be without it for drilling though.

[Dave Liquorice]

They do that unless you get the end of the chisel pushed right into the chuck so there is no slack between the tip of the chisel and the chuck. Be a bit more forceful in pushing the chisel against the work.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's the same 'hammer' action for chiselling as drilling. If it drills ok it should chisel. Are you pressing hard enough? Or using too large a chisel?