SDS drill

[Dave]

First of all, what does SDS stand for? Often wondered about that :o)

Secondly, I'm going to rewire my house and refurbish my kitchen and I'm looking to buy an SDS drill for chiselling chases, sinking socket boxes etc., etc. Problem is, I'm getting too old and knackered to be doing much more DIY in my life. There was a time when I really used to enjoy and take a great deal of pride in my DIY work but I'm not enjoying it much these days and look on it as more of a chore - in fact, I suppose I'm only doing it now to keep costs down.

So, given the above I reckon that my new SDS drill may see this one job and not much other action and, as such, I don't want to spend a fortune on one. Anyone got any specific recommendations for a beastie that'll do the job at a good price?

TIA

Dave

[John Rumm]

This is one of those cases where in spite of the limited ongoing use it will pay you to get a decent one. For neatly chasing out cable runs and back boxes it helps to have great finesse of control over the strength of the hammer action (i.e. good drill speed control). You also need a chisel lock that holds the bit at a rotation of your choice and not its, and finally a lightweigh tool is essential if you are doing more than a couple of chases etc. So with all that in mind you are looking at the £100 2kg class of drill.

Remember that you will be able to flog it for a fair amount on eBay once done if you no longer need it!

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You'd probably find it by Googling, but it's actually nothing to do with the drill, but in German means something like quick change bit system. It also applies to jig-saws, etc.

Trouble is I'd guess you'd be best off with one of the smaller, light, SDS drills for chasing, and those tend to be more expensive than some brute force and ignorance types at the bargain end.

[Andy Hall]

On Sun, 9 Jul 2006 19:51:23 +0100, Dave wrote (in article ):

Spezial Direkt System (invented by Bosch)

I would suggest a 2kg Bosch, DeWalt or Makita product.

These are obtainable with rotation stop which you will need for chases and box sinking, for under £100 if you shop around. Argos generally have keen prices.

The low end £20-30 jobs from supermarkets are better avoided because they tend to be considerably heavier and there are issues with reliability and the mechanics. OTOH, if you are time rich and don't mind returning one of these when it breaks and the weight isn't an issue (or you can work in short periods) then it may be a reasonable approach.

[Andrew Gabriel]

It's got a slightly complicated history -- look back on google rather than me run through it all here.

For this, I would strongly recommend a plaster chaser. I used to hire them when they cost £300 to buy, but I bought one when they got down to £100 to buy, and I've heard people say they're less than that now. If you can prepare and do all the chasing in a day, compare the price against the hire price (hire ones are better quality than the £100 ones), but if you're doing a whole house, you will probably be better off buying one.

You will also find an SDS drill invaluable, so it's not an either/or choice.

Make damn sure you get one with a safety clutch if you've never used one before, and you are thinking of drilling any large holes. Otherwise you may end up in A&E as a friend of mine did.

[meow2222]

Weight is all important, people have explained all that. The other must is a drill that has both rotostop and hammerstop, not all do. Argos has some in the 70-90 region. ISTVR toolstation havving a cheapie that was

2kg.

NT

[ARWadsworth]

Or maybe even buy one on eBay before selling it later. I have had a few good tools of eBay.

Adam

[John Rumm]

Yup, good point. I picked up a Makita belt sander for £40 the other day.

[Guy King]

The message from "Dave" contains these words:

If it's just for the one job, get a cheapie. Netto have one for £20. It has roto-stop and hammer-stop and comes with some bits. I'm sure it's in some ways not as good as the expensive ones - but it's £80 cheaper.

If you find you can't live without SDS once you've used one and if you find it suffers from dreadful shortcomings you're only £20 down on the deal - and can probably pass it on to someone else who needs it anyway.

If you decide it's wonderful - all well and good! I wouldn't be without mine, which has lasted several years of occasional use (probably drilled between 50 and 100 holes in various things if all the times the neighbours have borrowed it are added in) and still goes strong.

[Dave Liquorice]

Wikipedis seems to think "special direct system". Not a variation I've come across before...

Secondly, I'm going to rewire my house and refurbish my kitchen and I'm

The box sinking set will cost more than a good, branded, DIY, SDS drill. I wouldn't bother with the box sinking set but having a rotary stop SDS and a chisel is a good investment. Much less effort than swinging a lump hammer at a cold chisel...

[Steve Walker]

I agree - you'll find it's indispensable for a certain kind of hole, but also may be rarely used as they're simply too powerful for a lot of jobs (accidentally demolish what you set out to drill). A cheap job will last a modest DIY'er for decades.

[robgraham]

There is two schools of thought on tools and the answers in this thread shows typical examples of the approaches to tool buying - the 'you must have the tool that last a lifetime' school and the one that I belong to which is the 'buy cheap to see if it's any use to you' school.

As far as an SDS drill is concerned I bought a Lidl/Aldi one (can't remember which !) and have done nothing but rave about it ever since. One of my best =A325 buys. I've been drilling 10mm holes in dense concrete blocks and it's like melting butter with a hot knife, and that's a machine that probably is in the 2kg range - I'm not going out to the workshop to weigh it ! I haven't tried it on rotostop but the facility is there and I'm quite prepared to believe it works.

My recommendation is go the cheap route; I believe they are just as good for the DIY'er particularly if you are tending to see it for a one off job.

Rob

[John Rumm]

This is only true for the cheapies. The better ones are plenty capable of being delicate when required.

[Doctor Drivel]

The Wickes SDS for around £90-1000. Made by Kress in Germany and 3 yr guarnatee. Top quality. Or go for the £40 Argos effort.

[John Rumm]

You seem to be ignoring the requirements of the job the OP stated he wanted to do. He needs lots of neat chases and socket box cutouts, not a complete replastering job, and arms like popeye! If he were knocking down a garden wall or breaking up a floor screed then the 6kg cheapie would be ideal.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The OP's requirement is mainly for chasing, and believe me the weight of the drill is important if you've a lot to do into walls. As is adjustable locking position for the chisel.

[chris French]

In message , Andrew Gabriel writes

Yep, much better, easier to use.

however, OP might want to check if they will need to use machine to chase out.

In our old house (1930's ) the plaster was very easy to chase out. Score through the skim with a Stanley knife and you could literally scrap the plaster out of the chase by hand.

Only ever needed the SDS to chase when the plaster was thinner and had to go into the brick

[Dave]

Wow, thanks everyone - lots to think about there :o)

Dave

[Brian Sharrock]

I went through a similar do-I-don't-I mode some years ago .... basically I didn't understand the difference between 'hammer drills' and SDS drills - and the tool suppliers didn't help much when I went into their stores and looked baffled at an array of electric drills in serried ranks and files on the display stands. If I can help; - the SDS refers to the bits cum chuck arrangement.

If you examine a SDS bit's end you'll see that it has a long-ish slot (and a circular 'pit') this is to permit the bit to move back-and-forth whilst being rotated. A conventional masonry bit in a 'standard' chuck doe not have this facility. Secondly; the drill -that normally drives a SDS has two _different_ systems incorporated; - the rotating part and the 'hammering on the end' part. A conventional hammer drill -doesn't. In a 'hammer' drill, there's a rotating wedge that relies on your weight to provide the hammering action. An 'SDS' drill has an entirely separate system to bash the bit; hence one can disconnect the rotating drive and just use the hammering action. {It should be noted that this applies to 'up-market' drills - it should be marked; drill, drill+hammer, and hammer modes (some models also 'fix' the rotation angle in hammer-only mode. Normally the hammering action is produced by a pneumatic cylinder driven off a integral air pump. The pump speed is regulated by the trigger pressure and one can obtain quite 'delicate' bashes off the chisels. The pneumatic action is (on mine) activated only when a switch is enabled by pressing the bit backwards (towards the chuck); in other words - no load -no hammer. This is a slightly counter intuitive behaviour for anyone familiar with 'hammer drills'.

The main advantage of the SDS/pneumatic hammering system is that _you_ don't have to provide the oomph! The drill does it all for you. This is more of an advantage as one gets older - and I now find myself able to chase cable into walls that I couldn't three decades ago! An SDS bit will sink a precise diameter hole (say 5.0mm) in precisely the position you've marked in the hardest brick wall. With a hammer drill, IME, the dastardly bit used to bounce off the wall and sort'a drift into the wall producing a wobble shaped hole some distance off the mark - whilst causing sweat to roll off my brow into my eye's! No more! [I've actually heard myself saying; "this box isn't sitting flush - I'll just take another mill(imetre) off this side!"]. Buy an SDS system - you'll find your ability to produce precisely located sunken box, cable channels, and fixings enhanced so much that your joy and pride in DIY will be restored.

HTH

[Dave]

Cheers Brian, well explained - as were everyone else's replies, of course :o)

I'm leaning towards a Hitachi DH24PC3 - 3 Mode SDS+ Hammer Drill with Chiselling Function from Ebay at a total cost including delivery of £105. Anyone have any comments on this one, such as "don't do it, they're crap" or "yep, go ahead, they're great"??? :o)

Dave.