Drilling Concrete Lintels

I wasted a lot of drill bits on concrete lintels and Staffordshire brick. I now have an SDS, like drilling butter, so if you don't think it worth the cost maybe someone will lend you one, or drill the holes for you.

This is a perfect justification for you to buy an SDS drill. Decent ones start at about £90 for a Bosch or slightly more for a DeWalt or Makita.

.andy

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There are plenty of cheaper ones you will find more than adequate but the chances are that your concrete lintel is a steel one.

What is the reason for the holes? If it is for fairly light curtains, adhesive mastic on a 3 by 1 batten will provide adequate grounds. Prop and pin, then use small screws to hold it temporarily while the mastic sets.

Remember the screws for the curtain rail don't go through the wood unless you want to prise it off.

Can someone tell me the difference between a standard drill and a SDS drill. I would hazard a guess that the motor is stronger. Can these drills be used in the same way as a standard drill?

cheers

Steven.

I posted this to anoother thread a couple of days ago, seem like it should answer your question as well:

A google of this group will get you loads of discussions on the topic.

In summary, it is a highly effective hammer drill system that often uses a pneumatic compressor to deliver the hammer action. The drills all have a standard sized shank that is splined, these lock into a matching chuck. The hammer action hits the end of the bit itself rather than the chuck.

The result is a hammer action that delivers many hundreds of times the energy per blow. Hence you can drill straight through hard masonry like it is hardly even there, in circumstances when an ordinary hammer drill would make a lot of noise while making an ever wider but not deeper hole.

The better models also have a rotation stop mode where they can be used as a lightweight breaker with a chisel bit. Ideal for chasing walls etc.

See here for selection of decent examples of the species:

Motor power tends to be in the 500w to 800w range - so on par with the more powerful end of the range of conventional drills.

You can use them as you would a conventional drill. If you want to hold ordinary (i.e. non SDS) bits then you will need a chuck to fit in the SDS socket. The only other difference is the max rotational speed tends to be a little lower at around 800-1200 rpm.

A hammer drill has a cam which provides a sort of hammer action as it rotates. An SDS drill has what is in effect a built-in pneumatic drill mechanism, and hammers more effectively. Decent ones have a rotation stop which also enables chisels to be used - i.e. just hammering and not rotating.

SDS drills don't have a conventional chuck - they use special bits with fluted ends, which are very quick to snap in and out. If you look at:

Some SDS drills are supplied with a chuck adapter - which plugs in in place of an SDS bit, and enables ordinary drill bits to be used (without hammer action). The whole thing gets a bit long and heavy with this fitted though, so I wouldn't recommend having an SDS drill as your *only* drill.

They use a special chuck which totally prevents the drill slipping, and a much stronger hammer action. They must be used with the correct special drill bits - which although more expensive to buy are cheaper in the long run because they last much longer.

Better SDS drills can have their chuck swapped for an ordinary one for non hammer drilling. Others can have an ordinary chuck plugged into the SDS one. But they don't usually have as high a maximum speed as a normal drill.

Best to buy an el cheapo non hammer mains drill as well for everything other than masonry. They're smaller and lighter.

yes, dont. I dont know just how much effect drililng through the reinforcing bars would have, but I doubt I'd try it.

I tried it (just the once) on our cast-in-place reinforced concrete lintels. It involved the alternating use of a masonery and ordinary twist drills. Hard graft, and neither drill was much good after the job was finished.

You can get multipurpose drill bits that are designed for drilling concrete as well as steel. These may be a better bet for this sort of task.

e.g.

When drilling an old concrete fence post with a SDS drill, whilst shouting instructions at someone, I failed to notice the bright red glow coming from the fence post. I can confirm that even the best SDS bits in a 4kg machine don't TOUCH re-bar.

Alex