How to destroy your DeWalt DW566 SDS drill - 6 easy steps

The moral of this story is that you should not pay excessive amounts of money for badly designed kit when you can spend next to nothing on badly designed kit.

Oh dear, easy done though. First outing of my Bosch SDS could have ended up the same way if I had worn gloves. The vents are just where you want to hold it... My mask is also a dust and organic solvents one, very good it is to.

Must be a sturdy wall if it needs an SDS once you have a hole through at the top, I'd have thought gentle thumps with a lump hammer would dislodge each brick/block no problem or maybe a bolster at each joint.

I decided to cut out the middle bit on digging my recent trench in a concrete floor and bought the £25 PP one to save f***ing my same DeWalt on a job it's not really up to, assuming that I could still finish up the job by turning the heavy PP round and using it as a hammer to hit the SDS chisel it comes with once it had died.

However amazingly it's still working !! As you say it's far too heavy for normal work and it does vibrate your hands a lot but as a breaker it is good value.

But before I get too carried away singing PP's praises, the casting cracked on my sliding mitre saw today so that's got to go back - again !

I managed to avoid doing it for two years! Just got carried away today :-(

It's those bizarre 2' long black blocks again. Surprisingly strong.

lol - good plan.

And so much noisier!

Ouch.

Presumably you're going to use the front grip handle next time.... :-)

Still, look on the bright side. If it costs too much to repair, you can always try the new Makita next time and report back as to which is the better drill!

btw, when the fan assembly became detached from the armature of my DW62 circular saw (spit), it was going to be around £60 for the part alone (fixed it with JB Weld in the end). Hope the drill armature's a little cheaper.

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

But holding the body gives so much more control ;-)

I may do - I'll make that decision once I know if I'm going to repair it. If I'm not, I'll be very tempted to get another DeWalt, since I'll have a whole set of spares for it.

As a decent replacement, have a look at the Bosch Multidrill.

I've had one of these for a while and use it quite a bit.

You can use it for conventional, SDS and core drilling - there's a quick change chuck. It's very quiet indeed.

It's a 4kg drill, but so well balanced that this is not a problem - I've used it all day before now. I don't need to wear gloves with it from the vibration perspective either, although I tend to for safety reasons.

.andy

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I've actually considered one of these. I played with one at a local tool shop. It does seem to be a very well thought out drill.

My only problem with it is the weight - I wouldn't really want it as my only SDS. Ideally I'd like to have it as well as a 2kg DeWalt/Makita/Bosch. There are always occasions when single handed operation is needed, and a 4kg makes things unnecessarily difficult.

The core drilling would be most handy, since I've had to hire an sds-max for the cores I've done so far.

This is quite a recommendation Andy. I think I might have to put my case to SWMBO. She understands my grief over the loss of my DeWalt, and may well be amenable to a double SDS purchase at this difficult time ;-)

And it's just such a convenient size and weight for most household jobs.

Certainly single handed it would be challenging. I haven't had any significant situations at this point where I've needed to use the SDS or core capabilities other than with both hands, although I did use it to put some Rawlbolts into the garage floor one handed.

I suppose if I did have to do much one handed work, especially high up, getting an additional 2kg model would make sense.

You just need to tell her how much you are saving. Show the list price and then the typical on-line price. Women do this regarding clothes all the time.

The key thing is to relate it to a project of interest to her that will be done sooner as a result.

.andy

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Oh it is. My only dilemma is whether to get another 566 (680W, £140) or a Makita HR2450 (780W, £120). Both are very similar machines in terms of size, weight and performance.

I was very fond of the DeWalt, but then I'm very fond of my 18V Makita combi :-)

I can tell you've studied this a lot. I like the second point, and will try this one out.

And are therefore not easily taken in by this ploy

Since SWMBO spent all of yesterday ferrying wheelbarrows of rubble down a 100m slope to the rubble heap, I think she may be able to work that one out for herself ;-)

When a motor of this type burns out it's *usually* just the armature which has gone. With a bit of luck a spare will be available at a reasonable price.

Of course. The other one is to obtain a list of long, medium and short things that she would like doing. It's quite surprising how many that seem trivial to you (perhaps because they can be done in ten minutes but you have run out of tuits) but which are angst to her.

Do a few of those as well and you're in business. Obviously look for those that will need the tool that you want to buy.

.andy

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Drat. Caught.

.andy

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WHAT DID YOU SAY ??????????

Surely the repair bill on the DeWalt isn't bad enough to junk it ?