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Time for a proper drill.


epsilonGreedy

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I understand that I will need a serious drill for a slow paced diyMax selfbuild. My initial thoughts about buying a delux battery powered model were squashed by my part time building adviser who is always trying to save me money. He flipped open his Toolstation catalogue, pointed at a mid range brand drill and said "all you need is a 700w to 800w 240v model with an SDS chuck".

 

The first serious job of the New Year is to cut a 75mm hole through dense concrete blocks so that I can feed an insulated mains water conduit through the foundations. I might progress to cutting 110mm drainage pipe holes in masonry later.

 

Reading through this forum I reckon I should be looking for a model with the following modes: rotary, hammer and chisel. Given my intention to cut some large holes through concrete blocks I will also need a safety (overload) clutch.

 

Is the following decent a option?

 

Bosch Professional GBH 2-24 D Corded 240 V Rotary Hammer Drill with SDS Plus

790w 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Professional-Corded-Rotary-Hammer/dp/B007P15O9E

 

Or a bit more oomph

Bosch Professional GBH 2-26 Corded 240 V Rotary Hammer Drill with SDS Plus

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072J3KXDV/ref=psdc_1939340031_t4_B007P15O9E

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I have been using one of the cheap generic "no name" SDS drills for 15 years, I got mine from Screwfix called a Titan but the same thing is on sale with any number of different names on it.  I have changed the brushes twice otherwise it just keeps on going, and put a longer flex on it (which I do to most of my tools as the originals are always too short)

 

 

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I have had numerous cheap SDS drills in the past, some lasting longer than others but with my new build I treated myself to a de Walt and cannot fault it. Also I bought a DeWalt cordless for this build and I am very glad I did. You get what you pay for. 

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Yes you will need an Sds drill and any will probably last the entire job, personally I use Makita but thats just because it was on sale and I like the brand. But if you intend to do anything over a 50mm core I would highly recommend hiring a dedicated core drill for the job. Coring is a very quick way to ruin even the very best Sds drills 

 

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By chance I have the very Bosch SDS+ (note the +) 

The key thing to look for is soft start - sometimes called a clutch I think. The Bosch has a switch built into the handle (marked 75%). It spools up slowly and disengages instantly when ( for example) you hit a bit of rebar. 

 

For that one feature alone I am eternally grateful. Other makes have the same feature, but it tends to be on the slightly more expensive versions.

Your wrists will thank you one day.....

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1 hour ago, epsilonGreedy said:

I understand that I will need a serious drill for a slow paced diyMax selfbuild. My initial thoughts about buying a delux battery powered model were squashed by my part time building adviser who is always trying to save me money. He flipped open his Toolstation catalogue, pointed at a mid range brand drill and said "all you need is a 700w to 800w 240v model with an SDS chuck".

 

The first serious job of the New Year is to cut a 75mm hole through dense concrete blocks so that I can feed an insulated mains water conduit through the foundations. I might progress to cutting 110mm drainage pipe holes in masonry later.

 

Reading through this forum I reckon I should be looking for a model with the following modes: rotary, hammer and chisel. Given my intention to cut some large holes through concrete blocks I will also need a safety (overload) clutch.

 

Is the following decent a option?

 

Bosch Professional GBH 2-24 D Corded 240 V Rotary Hammer Drill with SDS Plus

790w 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Professional-Corded-Rotary-Hammer/dp/B007P15O9E

 

Or a bit more oomph

Bosch Professional GBH 2-26 Corded 240 V Rotary Hammer Drill with SDS Plus

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072J3KXDV/ref=psdc_1939340031_t4_B007P15O9E

Just a small point 

Don’t core drill with any drill that hasn’t a slip clutch 

So easy to brake a wrist or worse 

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5 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said:

I understand that I will need a serious drill for a slow paced diyMax selfbuild. My initial thoughts about buying a delux battery powered model were squashed by my part time building adviser who is always trying to save me money. He flipped open his Toolstation catalogue, pointed at a mid range brand drill and said "all you need is a 700w to 800w 240v model with an SDS chuck".

 

The first serious job of the New Year is to cut a 75mm hole through dense concrete blocks so that I can feed an insulated mains water conduit through the foundations. I might progress to cutting 110mm drainage pipe holes in masonry later.

 

Reading through this forum I reckon I should be looking for a model with the following modes: rotary, hammer and chisel. Given my intention to cut some large holes through concrete blocks I will also need a safety (overload) clutch.

 

Is the following decent a option?

 

Bosch Professional GBH 2-24 D Corded 240 V Rotary Hammer Drill with SDS Plus

790w 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Professional-Corded-Rotary-Hammer/dp/B007P15O9E

 

Or a bit more oomph

Bosch Professional GBH 2-26 Corded 240 V Rotary Hammer Drill with SDS Plus

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072J3KXDV/ref=psdc_1939340031_t4_B007P15O9E

If you not going battery then go 110v --then you won,t get dead when you cut through the cable 

there is a reason all site tools have to be be 110v  by law  you know 

240 is DIY  .

even my  cement mixer is 110 v 

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1 minute ago, scottishjohn said:

If you not going battery then go 110v --then you won,t get dead when you cut through the cable 

 

 

I suppose the resale value would be high because pros might be interested. The downside according to a poster on another site is lugging the yellow transformer around.

 

My 240v secondhand cement mixer came from a small pro brickie team offloading their remaining 240v gear because they had been spanked during a health & safety inspection for using 240v on site.

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3 hours ago, nod said:

Just a small point 

Don’t core drill with any drill that hasn’t a slip clutch 

So easy to brake a wrist or worse 

 

 

This danger will be high on my attention list as I cut any cores. Are the terms "slip clutch", "overload clutch" and "mechanical safety clutch" all references to the same thing?

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5 hours ago, Construction Channel said:

Yes you will need an Sds drill and any will probably last the entire job, personally I use Makita but thats just because it was on sale and I like the brand. But if you intend to do anything over a 50mm core I would highly recommend hiring a dedicated core drill for the job. Coring is a very quick way to ruin even the very best Sds drills 

 

Thanks for the warning, is the damage caused by the leverage of a wide (say 120mm) cutter on the gears or motor?

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26 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

Thanks for the warning, is the damage caused by the leverage of a wide (say 120mm) cutter on the gears or motor?

 

27 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

Thanks for the warning, is the damage caused by the leverage of a wide (say 120mm) cutter on the gears or motor?

You can even injure yourself drilling a 50 mil waste

With a drill that has a slip clutch It simply stops and make a grating sound when the bit snags

Its a pain when drilling But makes it safe to dril any size hole without clamping 

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Ave did a good video on how the clutches work a while ago and annoyingly I can't find it. Essentially all modern drills will have some form of clutch to stop you from damaging the motor or yourself. (Depending on your strength, any drill could break your wrist if you are not holding it right). The problem with coring or even using a large bit on a standard Sds is the clutch will kick in a lot ( sounds like it is breaking the gears). Once it starts slipping the gearbox heats up which thins the grease in it and wears the parts. Which makes it do it more. eventually the grease will leak out ( usually all over your hands) and then you have a drill that will wear out super fast. 

AFAIK the dedicated core drills not only have a slower rpm but also use a different type of clutch so that this doesn't happen. 

By all means buy a standard Sds and stick a core bit on it. It will be slow and frustrating, and assuming you have got a good grip on it you should end up with the hole you desire. 

 BUT having killed numerous drills on the wrong job through laziness. I still strongly recommend just hiring the correct drill for coring larger holes. 

 

Even with the correct drill coring big holes is not a fun task. 

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I had quite a lot of drilling into reinforced concrete.....1st cheap sds died after circa 150 100mm deep 12mm holes.  Now have a beefy 110v Bosch that feels bulletproof.  For the price difference I’m not sure I won when the cheapo broke leaving a paid labourer scratching his arse while I went to buy the Bosch......although I got refunded the broken value against it.

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5 minutes ago, bassanclan said:

I've got a Screwfix titan 6kg sds drill.

It's got a two year guarantee and I'm now onto my 5th drill over a period of 7 years, all for an initial  £50 odd

Are you saying it failed withing the guartantee and they replaced it, with a new guarantee, 5 times?

 

I will bet it was just brushes. I just replace mine but if SF are daft enough to keep replacing it why bother?

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18 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Are you saying it failed withing the guartantee and they replaced it, with a new guarantee, 5 times?

 

I will bet it was just brushes. I just replace mine but if SF are daft enough to keep replacing it why bother?

They sure do.  I am on my 3rd titan electric chainsaw.  All replaced with no questions asked. 

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Ha, I did this with cordless drills, they just refund you and give you a new one with a new quarentee ?. I even dropped one once and the gearbox snapped, all the gears fell out. I super glued it back to gether and took it back showing that the motor ran but the Chuck didn’t move , cheeky eh!.

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1 hour ago, ProDave said:

Are you saying it failed withing the guartantee and they replaced it, with a new guarantee, 5 times?

 

I will bet it was just brushes. I just replace mine but if SF are daft enough to keep replacing it why bother?

Yes, I expected them to repair it but they actually refunded me and sold me another at the old price.

I haven't bothered to investigate the problem each time, it could have been anything 

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1 hour ago, ProDave said:

Are you saying it failed withing the guartantee and they replaced it, with a new guarantee, 5 times?

 

I will bet it was just brushes. I just replace mine but if SF are daft enough to keep replacing it why bother?

 

Where do you get the brushes out of interest? 

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2 hours ago, Onoff said:

 

Where do you get the brushes out of interest? 

CPC

 

It was a bit hit and  miss as I bought them without dimensions. As it happens the replacements were too large, so I just filed them down to size.

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23 hours ago, scottishjohn said:

If you not going battery then go 110v --then you won,t get dead when you cut through the cable 

there is a reason all site tools have to be be 110v  by law  you know 

240 is DIY  .

even my  cement mixer is 110 v 

depending on the condition of your heart, 110v can still kill you, 240v run through a circuit breaker is far safer as you cannot be electrocuted.

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