Time to upgrade my drill (drilling into brick etc)

[EggsBenedict]

Simpo Two said:

For drilling small holes in brick, eg for rawlpugs, I use a normal hammer drill. Fordrilling proper holes right through, like for a water pipe or extractor duct, I use something like this:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-6-3kg-electric-sd...

It goes through brick like a normal drill goes through wood, and is relatively cheap.

A vote for this. Although I do use mine for putting plugs in walls - got incredibly hard brick in our house for some reason.

Got other drills too (Makita LXT 18V hammer job, and a DeWalt 14.4V one, which is really strictly for wood and another big 1300W DeWalt core drill), but the Titan is the goto in general.

[BrokenSkunk]

You need two drills.

I have a corded Titan SDS from Screwfix. Cheap as chips and came with a set of SDS bits to get you started. It will drill holes in concrete that my mains powered hammer drill wouldn't even touch. With the chisel attachments you can use it as a mini jack hammer, It will break up concrete no problem, as long as you don't try to take too big a chuck off in one go. You can attach masonry core drills to easily drill holes for large pipes. It's a versatile piece of kit.

Yes there are far better SDS hammer drills on the market, but this one is cheap, solidly built and mine has shrugged off six or seven years of fairly heavy DIY use so far with no issues.

But it's a bruiser. It's too big and too heavy to use for many jobs. Using a low setting to Drill some 8mm holes in a single skinned brick wall the percussive shock was enough to blow the (fresh) plaster off the other side. Mrs Broken was not impressed.

So drill number two. Get a battery powered hand drill. Small, lightweight, usable as a powered screwdriver. This is the drill I use most often. Not being corded is a huge advantage for a small drill. With a hammer function expect it to do small holes (up to 10mm) slowly in soft masonry. Forget concrete, & engineering brick. You may even struggle with normal bricks if there are flakes of stone in the clay. I use mine with up to 110mm hole saws in wood, but that's abusing it, it doesn't really have the torque and using it this way really uses up the battery quickly.
What this drill will give you over the SDS is accuracy and the ability to use it in spaces that the Titan just too damn titanic to squeeze in to.


Drills three, four and five that you need are hand drills. A couple of woodworkers hand drills one with a standard chuck and the other with a chuck for tiny drill bits. And finally a brace drill, every man needs a brace drill, I have two. Never used them, not sure if I even have any bits that fit the chucks, but hey: brace drill!

[UTH]

Thanks for all the tips guys, still not quite sure the route to go as there are lots of very good opinions for all options!

[BrokenSkunk]

Dammit, I forgot the pillar drill. How can any man even exist without a pillar drill?

[guitarcarfanatic]

For drilling into brick, I would get a corded SDS. £80 for a bosch blue, or £60 for a hikoki.

For more general purpose, grab an 18v drill with hammer function. I've got by for 90% of what I do with a little 12v bosch hammer drill, including drilling into concrete and brick. But my 18V Milwaukee has 120nm of torque so has a lot more punch.

SDS is the answer though - and corded is a more powerful tool for the money.

[UTH]

Thanks again guys.....SDS does sound the way to go, but I am wary of some people who have mentioned the lack of finesses/smashing bricks etc apart? I might be drilling fairly small holes to hang things etc, so don't need something that's going to obliterate stuff?

[S13_Alan]

BrokenSkunk said:

Dammit, I forgot the pillar drill. How can any man even exist without a pillar drill?

Forgetting a mag drill?

One of them too, never know when you need to drill a 30mm hole in a bit of steel upside down!

[Sford]

BrokenSkunk said:

You need two drills.

I have a corded Titan SDS from Screwfix. Cheap as chips and came with a set of SDS bits to get you started. It will drill holes in concrete that my mains powered hammer drill wouldn't even touch. With the chisel attachments you can use it as a mini jack hammer, It will break up concrete no problem, as long as you don't try to take too big a chuck off in one go. You can attach masonry core drills to easily drill holes for large pipes. It's a versatile piece of kit.

Yes there are far better SDS hammer drills on the market, but this one is cheap, solidly built and mine has shrugged off six or seven years of fairly heavy DIY use so far with no issues.

But it's a bruiser. It's too big and too heavy to use for many jobs. Using a low setting to Drill some 8mm holes in a single skinned brick wall the percussive shock was enough to blow the (fresh) plaster off the other side. Mrs Broken was not impressed.

So drill number two. Get a battery powered hand drill. Small, lightweight, usable as a powered screwdriver. This is the drill I use most often. Not being corded is a huge advantage for a small drill. With a hammer function expect it to do small holes (up to 10mm) slowly in soft masonry. Forget concrete, & engineering brick. You may even struggle with normal bricks if there are flakes of stone in the clay. I use mine with up to 110mm hole saws in wood, but that's abusing it, it doesn't really have the torque and using it this way really uses up the battery quickly.
What this drill will give you over the SDS is accuracy and the ability to use it in spaces that the Titan just too damn titanic to squeeze in to.


Drills three, four and five that you need are hand drills. A couple of woodworkers hand drills one with a standard chuck and the other with a chuck for tiny drill bits. And finally a brace drill, every man needs a brace drill, I have two. Never used them, not sure if I even have any bits that fit the chucks, but hey: brace drill!

This made me chuckle to myself, 'you need two drills' nodding to myself, yeah that makes sense. Then read the rest. I've got 4 battery drills of varying power. Dewalt battery drill for normal every day use, couple of Aldi Activ Energy drills for when it things get bashed around a bit (these were replaced by the Dewalt) and an SDS. Then also realised I have a pillar drill and a hand drill. Just because. Then also remembered I have an old corded black and decker somewhere. And an old Makita one pre li-ion but battery still.

So yeah, you only need two. Think I want one of those drills Colin Furze has, the pillar one that magnets onto things.

For drill bits, the Bosche Blue masonry bits are my favourite.

PS, I have a friend with the Titan SDS who works in the trade. He swears by these, he bought one and funnily enough it breaks near the end of the warranty and he gets a new one. Uses and abuses it, says they're great.

[guitarcarfanatic]

UTH said:

Thanks again guys.....SDS does sound the way to go, but I am wary of some people who have mentioned the lack of finesses/smashing bricks etc apart? I might be drilling fairly small holes to hang things etc, so don't need something that's going to obliterate stuff?

You can turn hammer off and off. With hammer off, it works like a normal drill

The Bosch GBH 2-20 is a great option - about £80. Or just grab any cheap one TBH . SDS needs different bits, but they are cheap. Or you can buy a normal chuck that fits as well.

[Promised Land]

UTH said:

Thanks again guys.....SDS does sound the way to go, but I am wary of some people who have mentioned the lack of finesses/smashing bricks etc apart? I might be drilling fairly small holes to hang things etc, so don't need something that's going to obliterate stuff?

SDS will not obliterate bricks unless you’re trying to drill into the top course of a wall and then a standard hammer drill will do the same.

I have been using SDS since the 80’s, hammer drill is fine for thermalite blocks but anything above those an SDS is the tool as you’re not giving yourself a hernia forcing it through the masonary, hammer drill will not touch concrete either, you’d end up burning out the bit and drill sooner.

I fix number 8 and 10 screws with a 5.5mm SDS bit and red plugs all day every day, so a small drill bit won’t smash bricks apart as I’ve said.

[UTH]

Promised Land said:

UTH said:

Thanks again guys.....SDS does sound the way to go, but I am wary of some people who have mentioned the lack of finesses/smashing bricks etc apart? I might be drilling fairly small holes to hang things etc, so don't need something that's going to obliterate stuff?

SDS will not obliterate bricks unless you’re trying to drill into the top course of a wall and then a standard hammer drill will do the same.

I have been using SDS since the 80’s, hammer drill is fine for thermalite blocks but anything above those an SDS is the tool as you’re not giving yourself a hernia forcing it through the masonary, hammer drill will not touch concrete either, you’d end up burning out the bit and drill sooner.

I fix number 8 and 10 screws with a 5.5mm SDS bit and red plugs all day every day, so a small drill bit won’t smash bricks apart as I’ve said.

Ok thank you, I think I'm sold on SDS then, I don't need mega power either, so will this do the job - just double checking as it doesn't say SDS in the title, but does in the description?
https://www.toolstation.com/einhell-pxc-18v-cordle...

[dublove]

SDS is great. certainly for the big stuff.

However decent masonry bits make a world of difference. Years ago when Toolstation first came about (when they stocked quality branded items instead of cheap tut) I bought a set of Heller branded masonry bits optimised for cordless drills. Life changing. Up to 10mm with an 18v akita there is no need to get the SDS out. Not even in hard brick.

They seem to be called Heller Prostone nowadays.
https://www.hellertools.com/en/products/concrete-m...

[guitarcarfanatic]

UTH said:

Ok thank you, I think I'm sold on SDS then, I don't need mega power either, so will this do the job - just double checking as it doesn't say SDS in the title, but does in the description?
https://www.toolstation.com/einhell-pxc-18v-cordle...

This will do the job, but do you need cordless? Less power and more to go wrong. I have a 25 year old SDS within my collection that still works like new.

Cordless is great for smaller everyday drills, but I would always go corded for occasional SDS use.

[guitarcarfanatic]

guitarcarfanatic said:

This will do the job, but do you need cordless? Less power and more to go wrong. I have a 25 year old SDS within my collection that still works like new.

Cordless is great for smaller everyday drills, but I would always go corded for occasional SDS use.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Professional-Corded-Rotary-Hammer/dp/B004FITJVE?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=AATXTYU4T6GKL&th=1

[R6tty]

Cordless is fine. Haven't used my corded SDS since I bought my cordless.

[UTH]

guitarcarfanatic said:

UTH said:

Ok thank you, I think I'm sold on SDS then, I don't need mega power either, so will this do the job - just double checking as it doesn't say SDS in the title, but does in the description?
https://www.toolstation.com/einhell-pxc-18v-cordle...

This will do the job, but do you need cordless? Less power and more to go wrong. I have a 25 year old SDS within my collection that still works like new.

Cordless is great for smaller everyday drills, but I would always go corded for occasional SDS use.

I don't NEEEED cordless, but I do already have the Einhell batteries for other things, so thought it might make sense.
Corded no real issue either though, so probably best go that route.

[R6tty]

That one you're looking at doesn't look like it has the chisel facility. Not essential, but very handy.

[guitarcarfanatic]

UTH said:

I don't NEEEED cordless, but I do already have the Einhell batteries for other things, so thought it might make sense.
Corded no real issue either though, so probably best go that route.

Crack on if you already have the battery system. Apologies, in isolation, cordless doesn't make sense! But if you are invested in the system, it's a no brainer.

Edited to add: 1.3j is pretty weedy mind...This one comes with batteries, more power and chisel if sticking to einhell...

https://www.toolstation.com/einhell-pxc-brushless-...

[UTH]

guitarcarfanatic said:

UTH said:

I don't NEEEED cordless, but I do already have the Einhell batteries for other things, so thought it might make sense.
Corded no real issue either though, so probably best go that route.

Crack on if you already have the battery system. Apologies, in isolation, cordless doesn't make sense! But if you are invested in the system, it's a no brainer.

Edited to add: 1.3j is pretty weedy mind...This one comes with batteries, more power and chisel if sticking to einhell...

https://www.toolstation.com/einhell-pxc-brushless-...

Oh, nice one, that looks great, think my search is done, thank you.

[Baldchap]

guitarcarfanatic said:

You can turn hammer off and off. With hammer off, it works like a normal drill

But not like a normal hammer drill.

I renovate old houses.

SDS for hanging a picture is massive overkill.

SDS for a 7mm Rawl Plug in very old brickwork is outright the wrong tool.

A piston smashing backwards and forwards Vs a ridged chuck is the difference. An SDS will damage old brickwork and mortar and even shake bricks loose when used gently if the wall is sufficiently old, where a hammer drill will not.