I Have Completed a Job!

SDS or otherwise?

John

Sorry, don't understand SDS?

Sometimes drill bits just meet their match with a particularly hard piece of material. I've been using Bosch multipurpose drill bits (

However, when trying to drill four holes into a 150mm thick concrete plinth (using SDS+), I eventually hit something about 100mm down on the third hole which rounded off the TCT tip. Nothing would get through it. It must have been a particularly hard stone from the ballast used when the concrete was mixed.

Thanks :-)

No hammer at all, SDS or otherwise.

That explains why after 4 holes you were struggling. Using a masonry bit in a non-hammer drill is only useful for concrete blocks and soft brickwork. Our last house was built from over-baked engineering bricks which were a real drill killer. When we first moved in my then non-hammer drill simply would not touch them and I had to borrow a hammer drill from a mate but the process was slow and I finally gave up when the grease in the gear box started to leak out. I bought a professional hammer drill and that worked reasonably well but was only satisfied when I acquired an SDS+ plus drill some years later. It was dear at the time but prices are much better now in comparison.

Richard

. . . although I lost the tip of a no.6 going into some hard masonry. I think it just overheated and let go.

When I started DIY (1964), I had to hammer out holes by hand with a "Rawldrill". Hit and turn - repeat until hole is deep enough,

My dad was a whiz with those. Hexagonal lump of metal as handle with the business end pointing out of it.

Then it obviously needs to be your next purchase, top of your to-do list.

I still use one on difficult holes. My drill won't go through a bit of flint embedded in concrete, a Rawldrill always works.

And it's good exercise. :)

(I don't think I can justify an SDS drill for the little amount of use it would get)

Andy

I lived in a similar property and lent my power drill to a neighbour. He wrecked it but said he would not buy me a new one as the one I lent him was by then second hand, and bought me a second hand one instead. Legally, I suspect, he was correct.