SDS drill or standard Hammer drill

mart45 · Post by **mart45** » Sun May 11, 2008 5:54 pm

which is best a SDS drill or standard Hammer drill?

I have seen a cheap Bosch sds hammer drill on screwfix and it looks great, but I only have standard drill bits.

Am I better off with a new basic hammer drill or are sds drills better than a normal hammer drill?

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Sun May 11, 2008 6:04 pm

depends what you will be using it for really.

IMO - If you are intending to buy just one drill, get a conventional Drill with Hammer action.
A decent one will be able to cope with masonry to a pretty good extent, and also useful for metal, wood, screwdriving, etc.
SDS Drills tend to be much more cumbersome as by their very nature they are for heavy duty work

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Sun May 11, 2008 6:51 pm

SDS drills will wipe the floor with a standard drill if being used on masonry.

I did a comparison of the two a few days back, but have not managed to upload it yet. I'll do it later and then you will definately buy the sds drill

skiking · Post by **skiking** » Sun May 11, 2008 7:09 pm

SDS is the new hammer drill. It produces more energy per 'hammer' than the normal hammer drill.

If you can afford a little extra go for the SDS Plus this allows you to stop the rotation but keep the 'hammer' action. This allow you to chase out for cables and electrical boxes. You can also use it for light demolition.

Make sure its got a safety clutch

Gadget · Post by **Gadget** » Sun May 11, 2008 8:35 pm

Yup, SDS every time!

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Sun May 11, 2008 9:22 pm

Here you go-

<embed src="http://www.ultimatehandyman.org/flvplayer.swf" quality="high" width="450" height="367" name="VideoPlayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="file=http://www.ultimatehandyman.org/uploads ... r=0xFFFFFF" wmode="transparent" border="0"></embed>

Rich-Ando · Post by **Rich-Ando** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:11 pm

actually i agree with Hoovie, it really depends on what functions it is to serve. if you intend to use hole bores, masonry diamond tipped core cutters, then an SDS drill is the wrong one. they do not have the torque of a standard drill.

for most situations an SDS drill will out-perform a standard drill but not in all.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon May 12, 2008 5:44 pm

You need both drill types really, the test is how much you spend on them. I have had a couple of cheapo SDS drills from BnQ for £20 each. I killed the first, the second is still going. SDS tend to be heavier and therefore they are a bit more difficult to heft so there is a power to weight issue.

Evaluate the use you will put each drill type to and spend accordingly.

DWD

chippymike · Post by **chippymike** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:27 pm

don't forget you can get sds chuck adaptors for you'r hss drills and auger bits.

stevemastic · Post by **stevemastic** » Mon May 12, 2008 9:04 pm

true story..... a good frield who lives over the road asked to borrow a drill & bits... I never lend my gear, old but he is ok, he took my sds , 18v combi & bit case
he came back to return them red faced, he had sds ed into the next room

. I could not go over to see for fear of messing my pants

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon May 12, 2008 9:11 pm

stevemastic wrote:true story..... a good frield who lives over the road asked to borrow a drill & bits... I never lend my gear, old but he is ok, he took my sds , 18v combi & bit case
he came back to return them red faced, he had sds ed into the next room . I could not go over to see for fear of messing my pants

They are so fast in masonry that I can believe that.

I know a few people that have had bricks knocked into their rooms from electricians working next door

Rich-Ando · Post by **Rich-Ando** » Tue May 13, 2008 11:05 am

ultimatehandyman wrote:
stevemastic wrote:true story..... a good frield who lives over the road asked to borrow a drill & bits... I never lend my gear, old but he is ok, he took my sds , 18v combi & bit case
he came back to return them red faced, he had sds ed into the next room . I could not go over to see for fear of messing my pants
They are so fast in masonry that I can believe that.

I know a few people that have had bricks knocked into their rooms from electricians working next door

bad ones yes maybe, plumbers are far worse from what i have seen.

the trouble is people don't do pilot holes & drill both sides, they tend to just blast all the way through from one side. anybody who knows how to use an SDS drill will tell you that you should drill both sides because they knock bricks in half.

i normally spend around £250-300 on a "ROTA Stop" SDS and about £100 on an ordinary drill.
my battery drill gets far more use than the pair of them put together though.

thescruff · Post by **thescruff** » Tue May 13, 2008 12:32 pm

Talking of true stories

I set my apprentice a job of drilling a hole through the wall for an overflow pipe.

All morning I could hear the drill going, and at 1:00 I shouted up it was food time, I then thought what the ferk has he been doing all morning

Only drilled about a dozen holes in the wall, goes outside and can't see where he's come out, so drills another etc etc.

Through the back wall of the cupboard into next door

Rich-Ando · Post by **Rich-Ando** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:06 am

i've seen one drilled from outside to inside and ended coming straight through the glass of the electric meter.

Jaeger_S2k · Post by **Jaeger_S2k** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:22 pm

Rich-Ando wrote:

i've seen one drilled from outside to inside and ended coming straight through the glass of the electric meter.

SPARKS!!!!! See bloody useless