hammer drills

[mechanic]

You guys that have hammer drills and like them, can you tell me which is better. Lowes has the hitachi hammer drill on sale for $79.00 and comes with a case. I also see the milwaulkee hammer drill for $139.00 and The dewalt hammer drill for $139.oo. I'm looking at quality not so much price. A lot brand new drills have run out and I want to stay away from that. Later I plan on getting a drill press, probably the ridged drill press from home depot.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Are you talking about the cordless drills with the hammer drill feature? If so they are ok but not great hammer drills. Drill wise I have always had great luck with Dewalt tools and have a ton of cordless Dewalts we use on the jobsite. If you want a real hammer drill then buy a Bosch, they are not the best but they are up there and as far as a hammer drill goes they will put all the little wanna be cordless hammer drills to shame. We also have a Makita Hammer drill that was reduced at Home Depot. It came with hammer drill bits and a 4.5" grinder for $139 so we bought it. It does the job and has a longer cord then the Bosch but other then that the Bosch is a tad bit more refined.

 

[johnray13]

I second Robert. The Bosch hammer drill ( 7.5 Amp, 1-1/8" SDS Rotary Hammer With Case ) at lowes is a very good drill. It is far superior to any of the cordless drills. This will make short work of all concrete drilling and you will never regret buying it. It uses standard SDS bits

 

[MikePA]

You guys that have hammer drills and like them, can you tell me which is better.

What are you going to be using it for?

A cordless hammer drill seems like an oxymoron. If what I am drilling into is hard enough to require a hammer drill, I'd reach for the corded hammer drill.

On the other hand, if it's primarily going to be used as a drill/driver and occasionally as a hammer drill, cordless makes sense. Unless the 18v drills they have now last longer and have more 'punch'.

 

[Egon]

I have a Makita sds hammer drill that came as a package with a 4.5 in. grinder. I'm happy with it. It's drilled quite a few holes in rock so far.

I have been told that Metabo is also a very good quality drill.

What price range are you looking at. That can make a big difference in a hammer drill.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have a Makita sds hammer drill that came as a package with a 4.5 in. grinder. I'm happy with it. It's drilled quite a few holes in rock so far.

I have been told that Metabo is also a very good quality drill.

What price range are you looking at. That can make a big difference in a hammer drill.

Was it one of the Home Depot specials and came with the drill bits also? If so we bought that kit also for a second hammer drill. It does a good job but you can see it is just a tad below the Bosch in quality but was a lot cheaper then the Bosch in price (plus you got the grinder and bits all for less then the Bosch equivalent). For the average user the Makita would be a good choice.

 

[Bird]

If what I am drilling into is hard enough to require a hammer drill, I'd reach for the corded hammer drill.

The young fellow next door recently remodeled a bathroom in their house. He was out in the front yard using a hole saw and his Ryobi cordless drill trying to drill through the tile he was using. He burned up his Ryobi cordless drill, returned it, and they gave him another one under warranty. He probably would have burned it up, too, but I took pity on him and loaned him my Craftsman half-inch hammer drill to cut all the holes for the water pipes. My Craftsman may not be the best, but so far it serves the purpose.

 

[mechanic]

Thanks for the replys but but I'm talking about corded drills. My makita is worthless. The chuck wobbles over the place and battery never lasts.

 

[Skyco]

There is a big difference between a hammer drill and a rotary hammer in my experience. A hammer drill does a lot of drilling with a little hammering while a rotary hammer does a lot of hammering with a little drilling Tried to use a hammer drill on some high strength concrete floors once and made very little progress. The hammer drill had always worked ok before in regular concrete, but it was almost useless in the high strength stuff. Had to buy a rotary hammer to do the job, around $400 IIRC. BTW the true rotary hammers take those $25 bits with the flutes, they don't just tighten into a chuck like a regular drill.

 

[ultrarunner]

Any drill that uses the SDS style chuck or the heavier duty splined bits is far superior to those with only a Jacobs chuck.

If your only doing a few holes... anything will work.

The foundation retrofit guys here in California seem to use Bosch and Hilti.