Drilling into concrete

[Andrew]

Of course, but the heffalump in the room is the fact that you also have to buy all new drill bits too, because you can't use your ordinary ones !

[Roland Perry]

In message , at 19:43:12 on Sat, 11 Jul

2020, Andrew remarked:

The Screwfix one comes with a selection of SDS bits (and two chisels), also a regular bit to be able to use your others - although they don't recommend hammering.

As it happens, about half the butch drill bits I've bought the last

20years were actually SDS ones, used in a regular hammer drill.

[polygonum_on_google]

But you can buy a set of 5 for under a tenner - which would do if they are the sizes you need. Twenty and you get a choice of sets!

I'd be happy to sell an older Lidl SDS with a random selection of bits. It worked well but I decided to get a Makita which really is much nicer to use.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Dave Plowman (News) formulated the question :

Very true...

I bought my first SDS around 15 years ago from Aldi when they were on special, no clutch, fixed speed and rather heavy, but it worked and still works as designed. I bought a lighter, variable

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

It happens that charles formulated :

Don't forget the torture of using a star-drill, for the larger fixings.

[TimW]

And the answer is - yes the bosch pro 240v hammer drill will do the job fine. No new tools to clutter up my nice new workshop! TW

[tabbypurr]

Any power tool needs bits/consumables of some sort, it's part of the cost.

Yes you can get adaptor chucks to use old drill bits in SDS machines, but NEVER engage hammer mode with one. If you do you get an instantly destructuve demonstration of the hammering energy difference between a bent washer and an SDS hammer.

NT

[williamwright]

There's no comparison. Many times I had a customer watching as I prepared to drill through a wall using a decent SDS. [Fairly brief noise from drilling] "Err... is that it?" "Yes!" "Bugger me!" They've often tried to drill little holes for shelves etc so are expecting a mammoth struggle for me to drill right through the wall.

Although you mention 'cheap'. I wouldn't know, but a good quality mains SDS is only about £120 anyway. Non-SDS drills are s**te. In fact they won't even drill through s**te, once it's been left out in the sun.

Bill

[PeterC]

Powercraft (Lidl) SDS is very good but too big and heavy for general use. I've a mains Bosch percussion drill from '97, OK for loads of holes but it's so bloody loud! A good combi does almost everything nowadays - even about 8 years ago the Makita put 50-off 8mm holes in rustic bricks (vine eyes for next door's wisteria) on about 1.5 charges of a 1.2Ah NiCad.

[PeterC]

Ah yes, Rawltool for curtain rails onto concrete lintels. I might have been a forerunner of the SDS - my father was of the 'belt it hard with a big hammer' brigade; I discovered that very fast hits did the job better. Still took hours to do all of the holes.

[Robert]

+1 Old JCB one from Argos decades ago weighs a ton but no comparison for concrete or hard brick.

[Tricky Dicky]

There was definitely a knack to using a Rawltool and belting as hard as pos sible was not it. Surprising how many people continued to use them despite available power tools, I once watched a bloke fitting a downspout using one for the screw holes nearly offered him my SDS as it was painful to watch. Mind you at least he did not need a power supply and this was in the days b efore battery drills came into their own. With the over baked engineering b ricks our last house was built from although The SDS did a god job it was s till hard work if you had lots to drill. When I replaced all the skirtings and internal door casings I soon learned how to make twisted wooden wedges using the existing mortar gaps the original builder used only needing to ma ke a few new ones.

Richard

[Reentrant]

They were perfect for making a conical crater in a lintel.

[polygonum_on_google]

You can even get a Bosch or DeWalt for £99.99. Obviously not the tops of their respective ranges. And if willing to go to Titan or Erbauer, drop twenty.

[ss]

Thats what I thought but since buying it (SDS+) I have demolished a small wall and broke up a concrete slab that a shed was sitting on. Also used for lifting floor tiles. I dont use it often but its a cheapy and still going after 7 years.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The other thing is those universal drill bits. Which drill softer masonry with no need for a hammer action.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

My SDS is one of the original affordable ones - DeWalt - and pretty old now. But very little heavier than a normal mains drill. Low price SDS do seem to be rather heavier than needed. And the light DeWalt less tiring when used to chase things.

[charles]

I paid about £25 for a green Bosch some 12 years ago. I think the, now defunct, DIY store had mispriced it.

[polygonum_on_google]

My Makita was very close to £100 - and I see it is now quite a bit mor e, £150 or more. That is in about three years.

[Andrew]

But not in hammer mode !, especially if you were drilling concrete.