hammer drills

[RobertN]

You guys that have hammer drills and like them, can you tell me which is better. Lowes has the hitachi hammer drill on sale for $79.00 and comes with a case. I also see the milwaulkee hammer drill for $139.00 and The dewalt hammer drill for $139.oo. I'm looking at quality not so much price. A lot brand new drills have run out and I want to stay away from that. Later I plan on getting a drill press, probably the ridged drill press from home depot.

Hilti. Expensive, but works well, can be repaired/rebuilt.

Used Bosch previously, when the Hilti was in for a rebuild(after thousands of holes). Lasted maybe a hundred holes. 1/2" bit, putting 4 holes in at a time(used to install USPS group mailboxes), into 6-8"concrete. Easy stuff...

Bosch may be ok for homeowner and infrequent use. And the other Home Depot/Lowes/OSH brands...

One of the local Home depot's carries Hilti now.

 

[reb]

I have a Hitachi that is probably the best 3/8" drill I have owned. No detectable play at the end of the bit. It has been used for moderate concrete drilling and general steel work. The only reason I quit using it is that the last time I did a considerable amount of concrete drilling the switch fouled with the concrete dust. After replacing the switch once before (for somewhere around $50), I decided that it was probably not worth it. I bought a Bosch. It is a great tool for my purposes.

 

[Buckeye_Jim]

My company installs conduit straps with red head type bolts. I am guessing a few hundred holes per year is all. We have 3 Bosch drills which use the SDS bits. Had them for about 10 years. Drills concrete, rock, etc., like it's butter. We also use cordless 18V Dewalt hammer drill, but limit it to stucco or concrete block. The Bosch has a hammer only setting which is good for driving ground rods. Been very impressed with the quality and reliability of the Bosch SDS drills.

Jim

 

[hazmat]

You want SDS, SDS Max or splined if you intend on actually making a hole in concrete.

JLC hammer drill article

thread from tbn - hammer drill vs. demo hammer

I have a bosch 1" SDS hammer drill. It has worked flawlessly for the few times I've needed it. I think it was low $200's

 

[GaryM]

Get a Rotary Hammer, not a Hammer Drill. As stated previously there's a whale of a difference. I have a Bosch 7/8" SDS and it's very good, for homeowner use. Hilti is supposed to be the best, and that's probably the case. If you use a rotary hammer once you'll never go back to a hammer drill.

The foundation in my old house was a bear to drill with a hammer drill. I'd sometimes have to start 3-4 holes to get one deep enough for an anchor. Bought the rotary hammer and never had another problem.

 

[YanmarFever]

Get a Rotary Hammer, not a Hammer Drill. As stated previously there's a whale of a difference. I have a Bosch 7/8" SDS and it's very good, for homeowner use. Hilti is supposed to be the best, and that's probably the case. If you use a rotary hammer once you'll never go back to a hammer drill.



Gary, good advise !

I used to have a job drilling holes all day in concrete, ROTARY is definitely the way to go. That drill was so heavy, it was a workout in itself. No need to push down it did all the work.

Dont forget safety glasses, and a dust mask that grit is awful stuff after a while.

 

[AlanB]

What do you actually see yourself drilling, doing with this drill?

 

[EddieWalker]

This has been a great thread with allot of helpful information. Thank you.

I've just burned out a Bosch hammer drill and before that, I burned out a Dewalt hammer drill. Both got the job done, but it was a battle. I have a pair of Makita 18v cordless hammer drills, but they are just for small stuff like drilling tile and plastic anchors.

I've got a pretty big job coming up that I'll have to do some serious drilling and even some chipping of the concrete to give me more access. It's not a big enough project to need a jack hammer. In fact, I was planning on using my air chisel for this part of it if my Bosch drill was still working.

I read that article that Haxmat posted to JLConline that was very helpful. Plus everyones comments have me convinced to buy a Rotary Hammer. I do allot of remodels in my business, so having a good drill is important. $400 is more then I had planned on spending, but for a good, powerful, heavy duty drill, that seems to be the price range.

The article compared most brands, but didn't mention Milwaukee. Of the ones they tested, the Hitachi drilled the fasted by a large margin. For me, that's the most important test. I've never had any Hitachi tools, so I'm curious if anybody has any experience with them?

I'm seriosly looking at the HITACHI DH40MR 1-9/16" SDS MAX ROTARY HAMMER wich is selling on Ebay for $320 plus $25 shipping for brand new.

Any thoughts, advice or recomendations??

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[schmism]

i have a milwalkee hammer drill, its been great for smaller stuff, puching holes in cinder block for hangers, tapcons etc, mounting flag poles, the sat dish etc.

for drilling real holes youll need an SDS drill.

it all depends on your intended use.

 

[EddieWalker]

Another question.

The Rotary Hammer's have two types of shanks to chose from.

The DH40MR has a SDS Max Shank

The DH40FR has a SDS Spline Shank

The Spline Shank model cost about $40 more then the Max Shank. Is there an advantage to it? Is one better or more common then the other?

Thank you,
Eddie