New hammer drill.

[soup]

My mains powered hammer drill is giving up the ghost (major sparking when on and horrible noises when in reverse.

So I have decided it is time for a new one (the old one owes me nothing as I have had it for about fifteen years).

Are cordless ones considered powerfull enough yet far hammer use (light use; brick/ building block etc, NO stone.).

Any recommendations on way to go, not looking for something all singing and dancing . Light-domestic use only .

Have a cordless drill. But it is non hammer equipped wouldn't have thought battery swapping was possible, it is SITE but it too is in the fifteen year old ballpark so would have thought the batteries for that were on their last legs.

Budget £75~£100 region but a little extra can be found if it is justified

TLDR So cordless hammer drill and battery/charger or Mains hammer drill? And which are recommended?

[Andy Burns]

I use my 18v cordless everywhere that SDS isn't required, can't remember when I last used my corded drill.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Hammer drills are rather yesterday. To drill all masonry easily, you need SDS. Hammer drills won't normally touch concrete, or engineering brick, etc.

If you have a mains SDS, a decent cordless will be OK for near everything else. And with the correct bit will drill ordinary brick etc with no hammer action.

[John Rumm]

Presumably the older design of Makita 18V NiMh / NiCd batteries. They are still available, but decent OEM ones are fairly pricey. (or you can get adaptors that will let the older tools run from modern LiIon batteries.

Depends a bit on what else you have and what you normally do...

I find that most drilling tasks I can do with a 18V combi, and a Bosch multi material drill bit. If that does not hack it, then the mains powered SDS comes out. Although I have hammer drills, I never have need to used them for hammer drilling.

So quite where you go from there?

A Makita 2kg class mains SDS with roto stop (i.e. chisel function) is a fantastic drilling and chasing machine and can be had inside your budget. However its not an ideal thing for screw driving, or as a general carry anywhere drill.

e.g:

A decent combi drill though will cost more if you need to buy the batts and charger at the same time. A bundle deal us usually the best bet, like:

I suppose if you really were looking for a budget deal you could look at their G series stuff:

But note that this is not compatible with the vast range of tools that take the LXT format batteries, or have many of the

[Bill Wright]

I've got one and it's very good. To get comparable performance from a battery drill you will have to spend £400. The fact is, lesser battery drills don't have the power that 800W gives you.

Bill

[John Rumm]

Yup a top end cordless SDS will be plenty pricey... Probably only worth it if you really need to tackle hard masonry without access to the mains. I find a decent 18V combi will do most jobs, and can often be had in a kit with an impact driver for £250 to £300 with a couple of batts and a charger.

[John Rumm]

Yup a top end cordless SDS will be plenty pricey... Probably only worth it if you really need to tackle hard masonry without access to the mains. I find a decent 18V combi will do most jobs, and can often be had in a kit with an impact driver for £250 to £300 with a couple of batts and a charger.

[Fredxx]

Might be worth considering a portable generator for those rare occasions!

My policy if to use a mains SDS for those times I want to drill or chisel masonry and cordless for other holes and screw-driving.

YMMV

[Jeff Layman]

I am afraid you are out-of-date. About 3 years ago I successfully drilled holes in a concrete lintel (with rebars) to put up a curtain rail using a corded hammer drill (20 years old 800W B&D). Ordinary TC drill bits just sat there doing nothing. The Bosch multipurpose drill bit (see Jimk's post and

) happily went through the hard concrete of the lintel and part of a rebar without problem.

Bricks seem to vary enormously in their hardness. Some ordinary ones seem to outdo engineering bricks, whilst others are so soft even blunt drill bits seem to penetrate without problem!

I do have an SDS+ drill, but I haven't had a need to use it to drill holes in masonry. I do, however, find it very useful in breaking up buried lumps of concrete used hold fence posts.

[Bill Wright]

That's my philosophy. A genny is useful for other things as well. I have a 1.7kW Honda and it doesn't flinch when I use the drill.

Bill

[tabbypurr]

SDS are hugely more effective than hammer, but i still use a hammer drill at times. They're much smaller & lighter, and if your cordless has hammer you don't need to go find another drill. Hammer drills will do a percentage of masonry.

Mains drills are much more powerful & don't flatten your battery. OTOH if you're only doing a small amount it's quicker to use the cordless to drill.

If you go the cordless hammer drill route, I saw Dewalts very recently for £99. Or if you want something lighter or don't use it often there are several much cheaper brands.

If you go mains, the nearest tool pawn shop always has mains drills for £5-10, some hammer, and used ones are normally no problem.

NT

[Bill Wright]

Check for engraved details of the real owner.

Bill

[tabbypurr]

When they buy stuff they make sure they get comprehensive ID, they're on video and police check there for missing tools, people don't get away with selling them stolen stuff.

[Bill Wright]

In South Yorkshire there are 'tool shops' operating in private houses and pub car parks.

Bill

[Jim K]

Some brick is harder than some stone... Even so i hardly ever fish out the mains hammer drill.

Makita 18v combi with Bosch Multi drill bits.