hammer drills

[johnray13]

I've been in commercial construction for 16 years and we use rotary hammers all day long. Every day. So I'll give you my 2 cents.

An SDS is good for holes up to about 1/2". You can drill a bigger hole with it but it starts to bind more and more. The Bosch I linked to above is about the best bang for the buck. It is a very good drill at a very good price. It is about equal in performance to a Hilti which cost over a $100 more. As some have pointed out, this is a rotary hammer even though the guys that use them still call them hammer drills. I do agree that a true "hammer drill" has too little ummph for me to ever want to use.

For anything bigger we use an SDS Max. The guys that use them call them demo hammers since we use them for a lot of light duty jack hammering. They are great for large holes (over 1/2") too. Over the years we have had several splined drills but always tend to favor the SDS MAX. Part of the reason may be better availability of bits.

Every time I go to the supply house I see more innovative bits for the SDS MAX- from (impact) tile scrapers, tampers to my favorite, a clay spade. Every one that uses the clay spade loves it. Right now we are using a Milwaukee, although I have used a Hitachi and it had slightly more power than the Milwaukee.

John

 

[CurlyDave]

I have a Bosch rotary hammer, which has worked well for me over the years.

It is SDS which is all a homeowner really needs.

I recently drilled 100 1/2" x 5" deep holes, to set a railing on top of a concrete retaining wall. Worked like a champ. I bought two Bosch 1/2" bits, but got the whole job done in an afternoon with just one of them, and it was still going strong after 100 holes.

I have drilled holes up to 1-1/4" in solid 6-sack concrete without a problem.

The trick is to drill a 3/4" hole to start, go to 1", and then 1-1/4". This is not a fast as a bigger, more powerful drill, but it works for a few holes.

 

[caver]

I have a Milwaukee 1/2" chuck, two speed gearbox with variable speed.
You can disengage the hammer for regular jobs. I worked for an electrical contractor a long time ago that bought nothing but Milwaukee corded drills. I was always impressed by how much abuse they could take.

 

[Egon]

I have a makita 1/2" rotary hammer drill that uses SDS bits So far its done well by me drilling holes in granite rocks.

I also tried out a Metabo drill that worked well but was advise by the hardware staff that Makita was coming out with a promotion that had the drill [ rated at 100 % duty cycle] and a 4-1/2 " angle grinder at a very reasonable price.

Were have you been Dave??

 

[kenmac]

I have 2 B&D Hammer drills & 1 Dewalt that I have had for years. No problems out of either. I have 3 18 volt cordless drills one of them being a Makita. I will not buy another. The Makita battery drill 1 have is junk

 

[CurlyDave]

Egon:

Thanks for noticing I came back.

I retired last April, and moved up to Oregon to keep tabs on construction on our new house.

Well, just about that time the contractor got busy with a couple of other houses. So, as things worked out I took over most of the supervision of the construction myself.

This is not a negative for the contractor, I enjoyed the whole process, and got a house which is almost as good as if I had built it all myself.

Anyway, I was living in a 30 foot Class C motorhome, with my two labradors, and possibly two square feet of table space for my computer, all the construction records, and all my banking. Just to make it fun, I am still using my old credit union in CA, about 500 miles away

I just didn't get a lot of time to read TBN, much less actually post anything.

We got our occupancy permit in mid-December and I am living in the house, so I have some more time to post.

My wife is up here in Oregon about half-time and in the SF Bay area the other time. She still has 3 years to go before retirement. Maybe 4 considering the cost overruns on the house...

I am finishing off a lot of details in the house and when it quits raining, I will start landscaping and doing some tractor projects.

Dave

 

[rox]

Egon:

Thanks for noticing I came back.

I retired last April, and moved up to Oregon to keep tabs on construction on our new house.

Well, just about that time the contractor got busy with a couple of other houses. So, as things worked out I took over most of the supervision of the construction myself.

This is not a negative for the contractor, I enjoyed the whole process, and got a house which is almost as good as if I had built it all myself.

Anyway, I was living in a 30 foot Class C motorhome, with my two labradors, and possibly two square feet of table space for my computer, all the construction records, and all my banking. Just to make it fun, I am still using my old credit union in CA, about 500 miles away

I just didn't get a lot of time to read TBN, much less actually post anything.

We got our occupancy permit in mid-December and I am living in the house, so I have some more time to post.

My wife is up here in Oregon about half-time and in the SF Bay area the other time. She still has 3 years to go before retirement. Maybe 4 considering the cost overruns on the house...

I am finishing off a lot of details in the house and when it quits raining, I will start landscaping and doing some tractor projects.

Dave

Hey welcome back! Just wanted to let you know that you were missed. I have the same symptoms as you, i will be quite active on TBN for a while, then I get all swept up in farm work and I am MIA for a while. Now is a bit of sown time for us, been raining quite a bit lately, but if it stays warm and dry I'l be back outside pruning soon. Then if i have the energy to visit here I run out of umph to post. Can you give us the TBN link again to your building project? I must confess I did chuckle when you said about how your wife ight need to work and extra year do to cost over runs. Sigh... happens to the best of us.