SDS Drill... WOOOF!

[The Medway Handyman]

Maybe we should now call them RTB?

Rotate, Thump, Both?

[Doctor Drivel]

Have you only just found that out?

[somebody]

Hi Aidan,

Whilst you've had plenty of info in response to your post (some good, some just off the wall science), no-one seems to have actually explained it in simple "I'm a diy-er, what will it do for me" terms.

Do you remember the last time you tried your standard hammer drill into concrete or hard render/bricks? Umpteen melted bits, hours of tedium just holding the drill and hoping?

Well, SDS basically takes the 'hammer' action of your standard hammer drill and puts it on a massive dose of steroids. What used to be twenty minutes hoping and praying that your hammer drill and bit would last out one more hole is now 5 seconds of not even thinking about it.

With SDS, a 20mm hole through 200mm of brick/stone/concrete? Yeah no problem, don't even think about a pilot hole, it would just waste time.

As another poster here has said, "just try it". He's quite right. I'd heard about SDS for years but never thought I actually needed one. I borrowed one from my neighbour and that was that, I was hooked. I went and spent £140 on a light but powerful Kress jobby.

All the "roto stop/chisel mode/drill only" are *features* - albeit very useful ones. If you're unsure, see if you can try one out at your local tool shop[1] before you go buying one - but trust me, you'll be amazed.

Hth

[1] Quite luckily, my local independent tool shop actively encourages you to go out the back with any of their display models and try them for real[2]. [2] Quite unfortunately, my local independent tool shop doesn't sell arms or women :-) Someone

[tony sayer]

In article , somebody writes

Not 'arrff. remember years ago my dad trying to put a hole into his concrete house for summatt 'r other, only wanted it half inch in diameter and 4 inches deep and that took a whole weekend.

Did the same a couple of years ago with SDS and put a 3/4 inch one right through the wall in less than a minute.

These things have to be used to be believed!, believe U me!.....

[Aidan Karley]

This I had noticed.

OK, gotcha.

Ah, placing Hilti self-drillers into granite cliffs for the caving club training ground : full stretch to the left ; 3 hours of hammering ; install dodgy bolt ; transfer full weight across to new bolt ; reach sideways and start to drill new bolt. Bloody knackering.

Ohhh, sexy!

[Aidan Karley]

There's a FAQ? Does it cover questions of central heating system layout and decipherment ?

[Aidan Karley]

I don't have any jobs in hand that would need one ; I was asking so that I'd have a chance to identify any future situations where getting (including renting) an SDS would be worth the effort of walking to B+Q, searching the shelves, assessing prices, thinking "too much", walking round to the hire shop ...

[Aidan Karley]

Yes.

"hammer on steroids". OK, got where you're coming from.

Ohh, sounds like a job I'd avoid getting involved with if at all possible. And the wife certainly wouldn't let me get involved with anything like that.

That would probably rent a beast like that for a couple of months (including delivery/ collection. Someone else mentioned that there are only a small number of shank sizes available, so if I found a task that needed doing, I could confidently invest in the correct size bit and rent a machine that would fit it.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Since you're likely to be using it for masonry fixings, all the sizes needed for that are readily available. 5mm is the smallest commonly available.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Since you're from Aberdeen I can think of one likely use - drilling into granite, which it does with ease. For occasional use a cheap (30 ish quid) SDS drill is likely to be ok.

[Doctor Drivel]

The FAQ on CH is about 20 years out of date? What do you want to know?

[Doctor Drivel]

Aberdeen? You poor bastard!

[Bob Eager]

If you're new here, you should be aware that the person currently calling himself 'Doctor Drivel' is the resident idiot. He knows nothing, but thinks he knows a lot (and even more about combi boilers).

Others will no doubt give their opinion.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Has your new Littlewoods catalogue arrived, then?

[Weatherlawyer]

I borrowed a green Bosch battery SDS today at work and was very impressed with it. I would like to get one. The owner said they cost about =A370 from B&Q. Only one battery though.

One thing to remember with SDS drills is when using them on airoblocks, don't use the hammer action.

[Aidan Karley]

The only one? Surely not. This would be such a failure of normal USENET standards.

[Aidan Karley]

I asked my question in message

[Doctor Drivel]

This man is from Essex.

[Doctor Drivel]

Will you please off as you are an idiot.

[Doctor Drivel]

I borrowed a green Bosch battery SDS today at work and was very impressed with it. I would like to get one. The owner said they cost about £70 from B&Q. Only one battery though.

One thing to remember with SDS drills is when using them on airoblocks, don't use the hammer action.