Don't have a drill.. Sds drill?

[Bluecube]

Not a problem with a half-decent cordless hammer drill and a good masonry bit.

True. I’ve a basic Dewalt and it’s never been an issue drilling into masonry so long as the right bit is used.

 

[dlockers]

Cordless drill through brick? most cordless drills I have had barely touch the surface of a brick.

Enter the 21st century, they are light years ahead of where they were. I was messing about with a gifted Dewalt of 8 years vintage - useless. Upgraded to a brushless M18 milwaukee and the thing goes through brick light butter.

OP - a new cordless, Milwaukee M18 in kit, would be a god send in general. Don't do what I did and upgrade AFTER most of your major jobs are done

I did however get a wired SDS for two reasons:
1. I needed to drill a 6" hole for an extractor fan through 2 layers of brick
2. I replaced some fence posts and chiselling the old fence-crete out was a right ball ache. I got an SDS with Chisel action.
Think I paid £99 quid delivered and £18 for a pack of bits from Amazon. Makita.

I almost bought the cordless Milwaukee M18 SDS but I understand they are still a million miles off a corded SDS. So corded all the way for SDS.

Edit: key point is if you do get an SDS double up and get one that can operate as a chisel too. Super useful for removing tiles/breaking concrete up. But it certainly isn't an everyday drill.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d fill my Dream Man Cave with the entire M18 range.

 

[fobose]

Cordless drill through brick? most cordless drills I have had barely touch the surface of a brick.

Yup - with hammer function I should say. Like I said, I had a SDS corded that I used now and again but after getting the milwaukee M18 as a few others mentioned above, I never ever used the corded again.

If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d fill my Dream Man Cave with the entire M18 range.

Hah, I have a lot of milwaukee kit.

 

[dlockers]

If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d fill my Dream Man Cave with the entire M18 range.

absolutely. My Soniworx from donkeys years ago was playing up. Opps.... better pop off and get the M18 multitool... Random orbital... well I may as well put the extra 20 and get the M18 RO. Typically hate buying into a particular eco-system but so far it has been a joy!

Edit: OP, this was the SDS I mentioned. It has chisel and drill so serves all the purposes in my original post. As others have said, you need the special SDS bits and it isn't an everyday tool.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Makita-HR2...d=1&keywords=makita+sds&qid=1614181956&sr=8-5

This is the Milwaukee we are creaming over:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/milwauke...-li-ion-redlithium-cordless-combi-drill/451gf

I think I paid £230 but it included another battery and the impact driver.

 

[koolpc]

A decent cordless hammer drill would suffice. Just make sure you have decent drill bits too!

 

[cheesyboy]

I bought an SDS for getting up a tiled floor, about 4 years ago. I've only used it for drilling twice since then (and only used one other time - for breaking up the concrete under a fence post).

A combi drill is all you need for drilling into bricks, generally.

 

[Hotwired]

You could always just rent a SDS drill seeing as they're heavier bulkier and less practical for majority of home use.

 

[koolpc]

You could always just rent a SDS drill seeing as they're heavier bulkier and less practical for majority of home use.

Thats what i have done in the past.

Never needed one to drill into stone or brick etc.

 

[200sols]

Rental isnt that viable, its like £20 a day you only need to use the £60 on off screwfix 3 times to recoup the cost.

 

[Hotwired]

Ye the titan is stupidly good value and has a high user rating.

Drilling at 5:26

 

[Bug One]

A basic cordless hammer drill will go through virtually anything in a typical household. SDS is only really required for very heavy duty jobs - and for a DIYer, overkill.

Trying to drill through masonry without a hammer function will just overheat and blunt the drill bit.

Oh, and this worked fine. It's more about the battery capacity than the drill power - I just ran it on the lower gear.

 

[Gav_r26]

Decent drill bits with a cordless hammer drill should be fine for anything short of core drilling.

I use the Bosch Multi material on a Ryobi One+ Hammer Drill and they fly through almost anything. Just don't be an animal and burn them out.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-straight-shank-multipurpose-drill-bit-set-4-pcs/95958

Only use the SDS for 25mm upwards or if I'm using it to break up concrete. I have the Titan one and it weighs a ton if you are up a ladder trying to drill a hole. It will also snatch, whip around and crack you in the face!

 

[nst68]

Cheapo Titan one in screwfix.
It’s heavy, but for occasional use it’s awesome.

This 1000%.

I bought this one to drill through external walls for ethernet cable.



Goes through brick like a knife through butter.

The one I bought that included 22 bit accessories isn't in stock, but this one is https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-tt...us-drill-9-piece-accessory-kit-230-240v/97533

Yes it's heavy and I wouldn't want to use it all day, but for occasional use it's brilliant.

If you haven't got any cordless drills, then get the SDS and a decent 12v drill/driver (Milwaukee/Bosch/DeWalt/Makita) and they will be suitable for almost anything you need.

 

[DXP55]

I think that what people don't realise is there are bricks and there are BRICKS - The FIL had a council house and even with a electric hammer drill he would wear out a drill for each hole - Use a SDS drill and it was fine - - I have electric drills and 18v battery drills but if I am drilling hard bricks or concrete the cheap Lidl SDS drill is the one to go for - it also has a standard chuck with the kit.

Everything depends on the hardness of your bricks and I think a lot of people today haven't really come into contact with very hard engineering bricks or the ones used in my old house on gable end buttresses that had been fired a few times.

The outer brickwork on my 1972 bungalow has very hard bricks so SDS every time.
The Titan above is over kill - just get a SDS that looks like a normal electric drill.
My Lidl drill is same as this.
http://offers.kd2.org/en/gb/lidl/pgiKi/

 

[Gredawarha]

I would recommend buying an SDS to supplement a combi. Bought our second (as in second lived in house I don't have two!) and often found the combi would struggle on our walls, not all but some. Bought an SDS and it has made my life so much easier. I bought into the Ryobi brand and I think the One+ SDS was somewhere between £60-£100. I get that not everyone can or wants to spend that sort of money on a tool but it's such a miniscule fraction of the cost of my house I can justify it. The Titan set above looks like a bargain for the average DIYer.

The combi does most jobs but it really is handy to have.

I have been expanding my tool range and if I was buying from scratch I do wonder if I would prefer a nice 12v hammer drill combined with an SDS as the light weight is appealing. Tempted to get myself a Bosch or Milwaukee 12v drill, the GAS is painfull!

 

[theone8181]

I tried hammer cordless on my bricks and gave up and broke out the sds. This was an 18v bosch, not some poxy little thing. My bricks are quite tough, as I bought a challenge sds drill years ago for doing a tumble drier hole (105mm or something like that), the drill had flames coming out of it before I'd gone halfway through the brick.

 

[Peerzy]

I've got one of those Titan's from Screwfix and it's brilliant, it'll take down walls and hang pictures. It's heavy and noisy but I only use it a few times a month so who cares? Excellent value and with lots of handy bits.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Buy an SDS AND a good quality cordless hammer drill.

It's all about the right tool for the job - sometimes that's an SDS, sometimes a cordless.

Get a cordless impact driver as well while you're at it. You can thank me later.

 

[Mysterae_]

That poor drill! I wonder how much life it's clutch has left if you were coring with it. Brave man though, I much prefer having the power for that kind of job.

I agree with many that a good cordless combi will satisfy most diy'ers and small jobs around the house, but there'll be times when you're farting against thunder with the wrong tool.