Cordless SDS drills ?

[Sky_geek]

Hi,

I have been thinking for a while of buying a SDS drill to put my own dish up (maybe a few family members as well0 and have a few other DIY projects.

I was just wondering if I go the cordless route which would be handy when up a ladder drilling the sky mounting bracket holes what kind of power will I need to do this ... over 18 volts ? (I would be drilling quite hard brick I guess) no expert here :)

Also any recommendations would be very good.

Been wanting one for a while now and thought its a good time to get one. Me and the standard hammer action drill have been strggling for many years now lol.

Thanks

[The Medway Handyman]

Problem there is, a decent one will cost £250+. Whatever you do, don't buy a 'cheap' cordless SDS.

A mains SDS will do the job, put up with the extension cables - you won't be using it every day.

Top quality Makita, Bosch or DeWalt mains SDS are around the £90 mark.

[dwtowner]

If you go for cordless, it will be quite a bit heavier than a corded. The added weight brings its own problems when up a ladder, even if you aren't wrestling with a cord.. Also, even when you are standing on firm ground, the heavier cordless will be more tiring to use. Unless you have a pressing need to do lots of work away from power sockets, I'd go for a good quality light-weight corded SDS.

dan.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A good cordless SDS will cost a great deal of money. If you can't get mains to that stack, get a man in. Will be cheaper.

A good SDS drill does more than just holes - it can be used for chasing into walls, or breaking up concrete etc. And the weight of the device then becomes very important.

I'd not bother with a cordless SDS unless you really can justify the high cost by the use it gets.

Better to get a good mains lightweight SDS - something like this -

which has enough grunt for most things without weighing a ton. Which you'll appreciate if chasing into walls.

And an ordinary non hammer cordless drill of your choice.

To put things into perspective, an expensive cordless SDS drill will be 24 volts with a battery capacity of approx 2 amp hours. In 'watt hours' that's 48. The mains drill I'm recommending takes 650 watts max. So a battery of that capacity would run it for all of 5 minutes at full load. Of course there's more to it than that - but it should give you food for thought.

[Graeme]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Scotland, in a house built 140 years ago, construction being granite walls about two feet thick. My trusty old B&D hammer drill doesn't scratch the surface. I'm unlikely to need to drill right through the wall, but do want to drill holes for shelves, brackets for hanging baskets etc. Usage will be occasional at best - certainly not heavy.

Do I really need a drill costing 150, or, for now and again use, will something like this be sufficient?

Both come with a few accessories, but one is two thirds the cost of the other. Any comments appreciated.

[george (dicegeorge)]

No you dont need a professional tool which will work 8 hours a day for a year, a cheapo from aldi or lidls will do for you, wont it?

[g]

[mike]

If your local Wickes still has one, you could get a =A3130 pro model for fifty quid:

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'm sure it will be fine. There's not that much difference in drilling performance between makes. I only mentioned the DeWalt because it's the closest to the one I've had for ages which has delighted in use.

If you're sure all you're going to use it for is drilling holes a cheaper one even than that will probably be ok. It's use for chiselling that shows up the wheat from the chaff.

[Graeme]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Very many thanks for that.

[The Medway Handyman]

First of all, The Ryobi is a mid range brand wheras the DeWalt is a full spec professional machine, a bit OTT for DIY use. The Ryobi is a very good piece of kit though, very nice to use - you wouldn't regret buying one.

SDS drills come as 2 function or 3 function; (1) drill only/hammer & drill and (2) drill only/hammer & drill/hammer only. The latter function being for chiseling or light breaking.

If you don't need the hammer only function you might consider

which is the 2 function version & £20 less.

Although, for another £9 you could have the blue Bosch 2 function

which is a top brand & will probably outlive you with DIY use.

Whatever you buy, the first time you see that drill bit effortlessly disapear into the wall, it will put a smile on your face :-) All the neighbours will want to borrow it!

[Graeme]

In message , The Medway Handyman writes

Many thanks for all the advice. There was a guy here a while ago, putting up a satellite dish (I don't do heights). He used an SDS drill to make holes in the granite wall - I couldn't believe how easy it looked!