What Hammer Drill do I Buy

[TyrantDesigner]

I've always found that the drill bit is your biggest concern with concrete ... i always have a small compressor to clean out holes, a container of water to quelch my tips so they don't anneal and dull and some really really nice tips to go through concrete. A hammer drill is just made to make sure your drill bit tip doesn't become part of the concrete ... it should take a while if you don't have a rotary hammer to do the right job.

as for drills ... i'm a dewalt man all the way.

 

[ddarlak]

we have a 15+ year old corded hammer drill from Milwaukee still is a beast!

+1, mine has parts falling off it and it still drills like a beast, it's beat, but it's old too...

I'm on my second Dewalt hammer drill, but it's been 15 years. If the dewalt can't do it - bring out the corded beast....

I've always wanted to add a rotary to the mix, but never had a hole I couldn't drill, although I have spent too much time on some holes and too many bits.....

 

[James Burke]

The rotary hammer bits are built totally different. They hit harder, get the work done faser and last a lot longer than regular masonry bits (heavier and thicker carbide) and are less expensive in the long run.

I have a small DeWalt rotary hammer I found at a pawn shop for $45. I use it for installing bronze plaques on granite memorials.

You won't find anything much harder than absolute black granite, but that little bugger zips right through. I don't skimp on cheap bits either.


JB

 

[fmg]

Hilti all the way out perform any other cordless hammer drill on the market.
One other good corded hammer drill to look at is Fein.

 

[OldPaint]

CORDED........any name brand............i dont care what they say about how great their BATTERY ONE is.............its still no match for a corded!!!!!!!!

 

[S'N'S]

Yup, do not confuse a hammer drill with a rotary hammer. If you want to drill clean holes in concrete a "Rotary Hammer" is what you need.

Rotary hammer = Drills clean holes in concrete effortlessly (like butter).

Hammer Drill = Absoloutly totally useless for drilling holes in concrete.

Love my Bosch Bulldog Rotary Hammer and shoot they are 20 bucks less than 12 years ago when I purchased mine.
A real work hores for only 200 bucks at any Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Don't think my home depot has any of those.:Big Laugh

 

[signage]

SNS here or here under $200

 

[FS-Keith]

for stud mount letters, tapcons, 1/2" expansions, 3/4" power holes a $200 dollar bosch bulldog will be your best most cost effective option. ours is a workhorse, we also have a hilti te76 and a big hitachi for the big boy holes. but for everyday use its the bosch

 

[Drip Dry]

Yup, do not confuse a hammer drill with a rotary hammer. If you want to drill clean holes in concrete a "Rotary Hammer" is what you need.

Rotary hammer = Drills clean holes in concrete effortlessly (like butter).

Hammer Drill = Absoloutly totally useless for drilling holes in concrete.

Love my Bosch Bulldog Rotary Hammer and shoot they are 20 bucks less than 12 years ago when I purchased mine.
A real work hores for only 200 bucks at any Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Do most agree that a rotary hammer is better than a standard hammer drill Are there any reasons why I shouldn't consider a rotary ?
The drill bits we are using come with the tapcon screws we buy. New when we start the job... old when we're done

 

[Sign Works]

Do most agree that a rotary hammer is better than a standard hammer drill Are there any reasons why I shouldn't consider a rotary ?
The drill bits we are using come with the tapcon screws we buy. New when we start the job... old when we're done

Do yourself a huge favor and pick up a quality rotary hammer that uses SDS bits. The first time you use it you will wonder just what in the hell the actual intended purpose of a hammer drill is. I had to learn this the hard way first purchasing a corded 3/8" Black and Decker hammer drill for about $70, I believe it took about 6 hours and $50 in melted masonary bits to get 12 holes drilled in concrete (and believe me they were not clean precise holes). Next I stepped up to the corded 1/2" Milwaukee hammer drill using Bosch masonary bits, although it's a rugged strong drill it's primarily still a drill and nowhere near efficent for drilling clean holes in cocrete. Did a bit of research and talked to many contractors and what I kept hearing was the term "Rotary Hammer". I purchased the Bosch Bulldog and was absoloutly amazed at the first use, after taping up two large patterns I drilled approx 200 clean precise 1/4" holes in maybe 20 minutes. I've put this thing through the ringer over the last 12 years and it still works great. Signage (post #27) has shown you where you can order this tool for like $137, how could you go wrong with that?

 

[Drip Dry]

OK Bosh Rotary hammer drill it is

Thanks everybody

 

[James Burke]

OK Bosh Rotary hammer drill it is

Thanks everybody

You'll likey likey.



JB

 

[charleskowen]

+1 for Hilti.

The contractor i worked for picked up a used hilti set at a flea market and both drills that came with it were beasts.

Currently, the company I am with uses dewalt 18vt, which are okay for a couple holes. Anything bigger and I bust out the generator and dewalt electric.

 

[Malkin]

We have a Milwaukee handheld hammer drill, it's awesome.... small little red drill that seems to go through anything. Has a nice case, and two batteries that came with it.

Same here, works great. Also have a corded milwaukee just in case.

 

[eforer]

We ended up with the trifecta: Cordless 18v Milwaukee, corded Bosch SDS Plus Rotary Hammer, and Hilti SDS Max Rotary hammer (for when you want to hang a bus from a concrete building). All of the above I am totally happy with. If you were only going to have one, the Bosch will do everything for a reasonable price.

 

[soniczed]

the new hilty 36 bolts are great and i would not change it for any other
worth the price.

 

[jasonx]

I just bought one of these:

http://www.ozito.com.au/sds-rotary-hammer-drill-1500w

About $109AUD its pretty awesome for the money. Corded of course but I've just put in 100 20mm holes in solid concrete with no sweat. Heavy beast though.

 

[Garbus]

we use Makita all the way...

hammerdrill 24V
regular driller 14V
grinder 18V
smaller hand drillers 14V

all on battery that can be charged within 15-20min. on the same 12-24V charger that we equipped in the van.

sweet!