Drilling a hole

[biffvernon]

I need a hole in a brick wall, so I thought I'd buy myself a new toy.

Anyone got any advice about SDS drills. I notice there is a range of prices to chose from. From £39.99 to £650.

http://www.screwfix.com/cats/101377/Power-Tools/SDS-Drills?sortby=highFirst&source=aw&cm_mmc=AffiliateWindow-_-DeepLink-_-Na-_-Na

For the price of the dear one I could get a dozen cheap ones and throw them away after one use! What's the catch?

 

[JohnB]

For the price of the dear one I could get a dozen cheap ones and throw them away after one use!

But you wouldn't. Would you!

I bought a fairly cheap belt sander to do a specific job on my last house. I'd lived without one before, and didn't see a need for one in future. Just before I finished the job, and with it not showing any sign of wear, I let my tame builder borrow it. It came back half knackered, and fell apart just before I finished my job

.

 

[biffvernon]

Well no, I'm not going to buy a dozen but I'm just wondering how rubbish the cheaper ones are compared to the expensive. I'm not going to be drilling hundreds of holes everyday, just four next week. Buying a cheap one is about the same price as hiring a posh one for a day.

 

[JohnB]

Hiring one would mean resources aren't used to manufacture a new one for you, and the fuel you use collecting it probably wouldn't offset that saving. Drilling four holes isn't likely to reduce it's life.

On the other hand, if you buy one it will drill more than four holes, so you will have it for future use if you need it.

Or you could ask what a traditional builder without the benefit of an electric drill would have done .

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I bought the £50 one in B&Q the other week - that "Performance Power" brand.

You can tell it is fifty quid and not a Makita - but I'm rather pleased with it. It'll do what I need it to and if it dies afterwards I haven't spent hundreds, nor as much as I would have hiring for the same amount of use.

 

[citizensmith]

I bought a cheapie sds from screwfix (Titan) its very good, I've used it both to drill and as a breaker too. My Builder liked it so much he borrowed it for a job he had on to remove an old fire back (I agot some goodwill labour in return). The bits are cheap, and you are right, if it dies - so what? It only cost £40ish and has been abused on and off for 3 years. Last job i used it for was with the wide chisel for breaking up asphalt on the drive for postholes. The only difference i can see with the posher ones is they are a bit fancier and easier to hold/manoever about, but that hasnt really mattered to me.

 

[Bitstreams]

I bought a Bosch SDS drill - cost about £100 if I recall, about a year ago. It's a PBH 200 RE and it's been really good - have mainly used it for removing concrete tanking/pointing. I would think it's worth getting a reasonable brand.

 

[Feltwell]

I've got the slightly posher, but still cheap B&Q own brand - PP Pro. Apart from one strip down and re-grease that I had to do when the chuck release mechanism jammed, it's been trouble free for 5 years and has had a fair bit of use.

One tip though - get one with a clutch, which is recommended for most jobs and absolutely essential if you're going to use a core drill. Use one without a clutch and if your core drill jams (which they have a habit of doing) then you can easily break your wrist.

I was glad of the clutch just this week - using an auger bit in wood, I hit a nail (that I had no idea was there) that jammed the auger. With no clutch that would have hurt, they are powerful, heavy, low geared machines - with the clutch it meant it just made a loud ratchet noise.

 

[Feltwell]

Or you could ask what a traditional builder without the benefit of an electric drill would have done .

Had very sore wrists I reckon.

Did anyone see the Edwardian Farm programme where they quarried some granite and turned it into a (small) feeding trough, without using any power tools? The final product was about the size of a typical butler or "belfast" sink and took a professional an entire week of hard graft with a lump hammer and set of cold chisels to make.

Watching them drill holes in the rock with a hand drill and hammer makes you realise just what an incredibly hard job the quarrymen of old had. What would they think now, when someone working in accounts claims for RSI from using a computer mouse for too long.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Watching them drill holes in the rock with a hand drill and hammer makes you realise just what an incredibly hard job the quarrymen of old had. What would they think now, when someone working in accounts claims for RSI from using a computer mouse for too long.

A false analogy, since those quarrymen would have changed position and performed many other actions over the course of a day's work, whereas the average office-bound computer monkey will have a very limited range of movement.

 

[Feltwell]

True to a point, but the comparison was more the willingness to whinge / perception of hardship.

The closest I've experienced to what the quarrymen / miners had to put up with is the day after spending all day cutting chases into walls with a hammer and cold chisel, when the muscles in my wrists have well & truly cried "enough!"

Having seen the kind of work and conditions the Victoran slate miners had to endure, I'm not convinced on the "performed many other actions over the course of a day's work" for either quarrymen or miners. Many I reckon spent the vast majority of their time bashing hand drills into rock

I do also get shoulder pains if I spend too long deskbound with a mouse - but, like Penners with his back, I hate to mention it :wink: .

 

[Tom]

Did anyone see the Edwardian Farm programme where they quarried some granite and turned it into a (small) feeding trough, without using any power tools? The final product was about the size of a typical butler or "belfast" sink and took a professional an entire week of hard graft with a lump hammer and set of cold chisels to make.

I saw this and was surprised at their comment that it was an excellent way to give hard feed to the livestock, as it kept the feed off the ground and away from any worm eggs. Fair enough, but I wouldn't be too chuffed at finding it full of water on a cold, windy, wintery day and then having to manhandle the thing over to empty it before you could add the feed. Meanwhile, the livestock would be all over you like a rash, eating the feed straight out of whatever container you'd carried it across in!! Give me a metal trough, that can be rolled over easily, any day

 

[Flyfisher]

I broke a cheap (£40) SDS drill/breaker after about one year of reasonably heavy use, including demolishing walls and breaking concrete. I think I used it more as a breaker than as a drill as I mosty used my 'normal' hammer drill for making holes, unless I needed particularly large ones, e.g. for pipes through brick walls.

I think it was the concrete breaking that finished it off and, if I'm honest, it probably wasn't up to that particular job. It was the gearbox that broke. When I took it apart to see if it could be fixed, a bunch of ball bearings fell out from the broken ball-races.

If I was a professional builder, using the tool every day (well, weekly at least) and relying on it for earning a living then I'd buy one of the more expensive ones. But, as I'm not in that position, I bought another £40 one and will just be a bit more careful with it. I certainly consider that I got £40 of value out of the one I broke and, as long as the gearbox doesn't break on the new one, I have quite a few spare parts for future repairs.

 

[TomW]

Can't you borrow one Biff? You must know a builder or two .
The pricey kit is built to last longer, most builders work their bread and butter power tools pretty hard.
For 4 holes I would just buy the cheapest available. You can always take it back if it breaks.

 

[Nigel Watts]

For the price of the dear one I could get a dozen cheap ones

Selling the dear one for twelve drills? You heartless thing.

 

[biffvernon]

Thanks folks. So I decide to buy a Titan PDH26S6 6kg SDS Plus Drill for a mere £49.97 only to find they're out of stock.

I suppose you lot just bought them all before breakfast.

 

[robgil]

how big a hole do you need to drill? ive busted many a cheap drill drilling holes for sink drains etc, if you need a core drill you need a core drill and a cheap drill may not be up to the job. if you do need to drill big holes hire a decent core drill.

if you only need to drill little holes get a cheap hammer drill. if you are never likely to use it again hire or borrow one.

 

[skier-hughes]

I bought a cheap one when we first moved here, it didn't last long as my one off job became several. I bought a blue professional series Bosch one, can't remember the model number, but 4 years one it gets used all the time, it's so easy popping an sds drill bit into a chuck and it's range of uses is immense. Removing gypsum plaster becomes a joy rather than a chore.
I don't suppose though you'll be putting it to as much as myself though.

 

[Ixia]

We had some holes to drill in a concrete driveway, the concrete was full of rock hard little pebbles. A builder quoted us £100 :lol: to do it for us, we saw a 39 quid sds drill in Argos and thought if it only lasts the one job, then we've still saved money. That was 3+ yrs ago, the drill is still going strong, it hasn't had a massive amount of use, but I've drilled channels for electrics, lifted tiles, drilled holes in our rock hard manx stone walls. - so it's certainly earned it's purchase price.

 

[AMc]

I'd vote for a cheap but not the cheapest drill and work on the assumption that you can return it if it isn't up to the one job and the £50 is the same as hiring something proper for the day.
I bought a very cheap Nilfisk pressure washer, primarily to wash down my pamments before installing. Shortly after a full week of 8-4 running it made a grinding noise and started to smoke (always bad for you). I felt "a bit" bad about returning it, but there was no argument from CPC.
I would also recommend www.cpc.co.uk as you can generally order today for free delivery tomorrow.