Just popped into B&Q at lunchtime and noticed that they had a stak of their own brand SDS drills, priced at just under £30. Had a look at the box and they are 620W, with roto-stop, hammer stop and a safety clutch.
So, are they any good? I don't want to spend a lot, as I don't do a lot of drilling, but is this just too good to be true?
Regards,
Colin Swan Nildram Operations
Good for a one off job until it packs up, or a few frustrating replacements under guarantee. So if you are doing an extension it may be worth it for just a year.
The better is the B&Q PP Pro 3 year guarantee range. Not sure if they have an SDS in that range.
Please note - I am not an expert!
I bought (and used for the very first time) an SDS drill from Homebase not very long ago. Price was £70-ish, for an 850w.
I'd say you can't really go wrong at sub £30 - some of the drill bits can cost more than that.
Obviously not a professionals tool because I doubt something at that price would keep pushing holes thru walls for very long.
Go for it - if nothing else it will get you into the idea of what an SDS is all about.
Andrew
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I've just bought, 2 weeks ago, the 750 watt one from Argos (710-5362). It was in the sale at £29.99 but just looked and it's back at £39.99. I've used it twice for breaking concrete and it's 'paid for itself' already in the time saved. It comes with a flat chisel, pointed chisel,
10/12 and 22mm SDS bits (IIRC) and a SDS chuck adaptor and keyed chuck. It's a heavy beast so wouldn't like to be holding it all day, but they all seem to be similar in size etc. After using it I would definately recommend it to anyone. I bought it with these two jobs in mind and thought if I get these done I'll be happy, I still have the drill for future use so "job's a good un".HTH
John
It only seems that way. If you'd paid 3 times as much, you'd have a Bosch or a DeWalt, which would be more powerful, lighter, easier to use, and last *a lot* longer.
I'm talking from experience here. I had one of those £30 B&Q machines, and it broke within a few weeks. Replaced it under warranty (1.5 hours return drive), and the replacement broke in a similar time scale. Bought a DeWalt, found it was a much better machine, and have so far used it for at least 50 hours with no probs.
With SDS, the cheap machines just don't cut it. You'll be happy with it to start with, because it's infinitely better than any drill you had before. But when you buy a proper SDS, you'll realise how crap the cheap one was.
Probably from the same factory in China as all the others; Argos, Challenge, Blackspur etc. Price seems dependant on how many extras in the box, an identical £40 drill may have £10 of bits, a £50 drill may have a regular chuck adapter. Very heavy compared to the Bosch and DW types, but good for occasional battering of merciless objects. At least with B&Q you'll get the perpetual 1 or 2 yr guarantee - it wears out, get refunded, buy exact replacement, repeat.
Toby.
Mine didn't even last that long, and it isn't much of a job either, but it did convince me that it's a useful tool so lashing out (ha!) on a Ferm is justified.
I pulled mine apart just in case it was a simple problem (it wasn't) and found it does suck dust right into the body of the tool, coating the electrics and switch mechanism. The 90 degree gear at the front is clean, but all the grease is on the inside of the case, not lubricating the mechanism in any way. If you want to tinker with the switch, undo the screw at the rear end, peel off the label and the case separates easily.
They didn't want mine back either. Without any prompting the lady hinted that I could upgrade to another model if I was willing to pay the extra. I took the hint.
W.
I would recommend finding a hole that needs drilling, just to try it out. Something around waist height ought to be about right whilst you get used to the weight of the beast.
The reason I say that is because when I got my SDS drill several weeks ago I offered it up to a wall made of bricks which had always been problematical with my black and decker hammer drill. The SDS drill dived into the wall like it was made of butter!
You have to experience it to see what I mean.
Andrew
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I bought the Power Devil SDS drill from Argos a year back and got a 3 yr warranty with it for about £10. I paid about £50 for the drill but it's much cheaper now. So far I've done plenty with it and no problems at all. It's a bit heavy to handle but has been excellent, especially in removing plaster/concrete off walls. Just check the grease fill point regularly and you will have no worries. It's easily paid for itself over and over again. It comes with a set of SDS bits as well that are worth the money alone.
alt.sexual.fetish - down the corridor, third on the right.
Andrew
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No nipples, just a grease fill point you open with the spanner supplied.
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