Which 2kg SDS drill?

[Triggaaar]

It seems I'm on a tool buying spree, so please forgive me for the second of these 'which tool' threads.

I have a 10 year old green bosch drill which I use for drilling in steel, and for mixing plaster etc. It gave up being very good at drilling in masonry some time ago.

I also have a 6kg Erbauer SDS drill, which I let others on site use, for either drilling in masonry, concrete etc, or for a bit of breaking. I'm quite happy with it, it was only £45, but I'd like a more subtle 2kg drill that will last for many years (and that I'll be capable of using on a ladder). I'd like it to be a 3 mode drill (should I want to remove tiles or similar with it) and have a clutch for core bits (not sure if they all have a clutch).

I think I'd be happy with bosch (blue), makita, dewalt or Hitachi (as well as plenty of other good makes). I think I should probably be going for at least 750W ish, and I'm not wanting to spend much more than £100, unless I like the free accessories. Talking of which, I'm tempted by the DeWalt D25113k which is available for £125 with a few useful bits and some safety glasses that I need to buy anyway. There's also a reconditioned makita seller on ebay I could check out.

Any recommendations/ones to avoid greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[neilyweely]

this is one I can answer without fear.

I have the 2k Bosch blue, think its the dfr, which is absolutely great. I have had (and still have some) loads of different sds drills, and the makita one is good, but the bosch just does what it does so well I have to reccommend it.

HTH
Neil

 

[RogerS]

Whichever one you go for, I recommend getting one with three settings ..drill, drill+hammer, hammer only. I've got the blue Bosch and it's been excellent. Only drawback is that there is no reverse gear.

 

[misterfish]

I've got the Hitachi and am really pleased with it. As Roger suggests it does the drill/drill and hammer/hammer.

When I was looking to buy I spent some time comparing drills and eventually went with the Hitachi as it had a bit more hammer power than other makes and also I have found Hitachi kit well made.

Misterfish

 

[matt]

I have a Makita. It's my first and only SDS so I've nothing to comare it to. All I can say is it's not disappointed me one bit. Simply can't fault it. FWIW - I bought it because my house is built with some sort of industrial grade brick that normal hammer drill will not touch. The SDS is like a hot knife through butter.

 

[Triggaaar]

Thanks guys.

I have the 2k Bosch blue, think its the dfr, which is absolutely great. I have had (and still have some) loads of different sds drills, and the makita one is good, but the bosch just does what it does so well I have to reccommend it.

I've got the blue Bosch and it's been excellent. Only drawback is that there is no reverse gear.

What power rating are the Bosch models you have? Unfortunately I've missed the nice screwfix offer of 720W 3 mode drill with useful free drill/driver for £91 (they still have it in 110V version No reverse would be an issue. I need all the help I can get recovering 22mm bits from the wall.

Whichever one you go for, I recommend getting one with three settings ..drill, drill+hammer, hammer only.

Yep, that's what I'm after, thanks

I've got the Hitachi and am really pleased with it. As Roger suggests it does the drill/drill and hammer/hammer.

The Hitachi DH24PC3 800W 3 mode is at tooled-up for £100, which is an option. The long lead they are said to come with is really useful when up a ladder (to save having a swinging extesion lead).

I have a Makita. It's my first and only SDS so I've nothing to comare it to. All I can say is it's not disappointed me one bit.

Yes, I used to assume hammer action was hammer action, but sds is very different from std hammer drills. I'd be happy with a makita, but haven't seen any great deals yet.

 

[chippy1970]

secondhand Hilti if you can find a good one and dont want to pay the money for a new one.

I have a TE10 that I have used for about 15 years do anything from 6mm plugs upto a 120mm core cutter and its only just starting to show its age.

 

[Karl]

I've got the Hitachi and am really pleased with it. As Roger suggests it does the drill/drill and hammer/hammer.

The Hitachi DH24PC3 800W 3 mode is at tooled-up for £100, which is an option. The long lead they are said to come with is really useful when up a ladder (to save having a swinging extesion lead).

I've got the Hitachi too. It's a great SDS, much better than a Makita I tested at around the same price (sorry, can't remember which one).

It does have a long lead, which is useful.

I don't use mine that much as I bought an 18v Milwaukee SDS to go with the rest of my 18v gear (cordless=more ladder friendly!). But I do still use the Hitachi occassionally.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Mr Ed]

The basic model 2KG DeWalt has done me a good 8 years service and no signs of stopping.

Definitely agree with the advice to get one with rotational stop so you can use it for chiselling masonry as well.

Ed

 

[Doug B]

I would definitely recommend the bosch.

I`ve had one about 10 years & it has been thrashed. It was used mainly for drilling 25mm holes & fetching up quarry tiles.

About a year ago the hammer action packed up on it, not that i was surprised, but i still use it for drilling 4" core holes even though its maximum core size is 1 3/4.

It doesn`t owe me a penny.

 

[Triggaaar]

Thank you for all the replies, much appreciated

secondhand Hilti if you can find a good one and dont want to pay the money for a new one.

I certainly don't want to pay the money for a new one (unless you have one for £130ish). My house is built entirely with engineering bricks, and when I had the cavities filled, the guys had a Hilti (not close to 2kg, admittedly) which drilled 24mm holes through the bricks effortlessly.

I don't use mine that much as I bought an 18v Milwaukee SDS

Milwaukee are another great make, but again too expensive I expect.

The basic model 2KG DeWalt has done me a good 8 years service and no signs of stopping.

Thanks

I would definitely recommend the bosch.

I think I'd be happy with about any of these, I just need to find a bargain.

 

[neilyweely]

What power rating are the Bosch models you have? Unfortunately I've missed the nice screwfix offer of 720W 3 mode drill with useful free drill/driver for £91 (they still have it in 110V version No reverse would be an issue. I need all the help I can get recovering 22mm bits from the wall.

Mine is an 800watt. It has reversible brushes, which apparently means it has as much oomph in reverse as it does forwards. I have used it for core bits, and for 1m long masonry bits, all no probs. I think I read soemwhere it is the most powerful in its class. I have hadno probs with it at all. It has hammer only too, so for me it does it all.

The makita is good. I picked up a perles coredrill t'other day too, for 30 odd quid, which seems great as well. Haven't used it yet though as the Bosch does the job jus' fine.

HTH

Neil

 

[Dibs-h]

I find myself in the same position oddly. My Dewalt DW566 - the motor fan seperated from the armature & I'm not shelling outing £35-40 for a new armature - when a new drill isn't a million miles away.

None of the Makita's seem to have 3 mode - those under £120'ish anyway. I've come across the Dewalt DW25003 on the Bay for around £80 delivered, which I might look into especially as it shares spares with the DW566 and seems it's successor.

I did come aross a Metabo but the chap hasn't come back to me. Mind you I may have a go and epoxy the fan onto the armature spindle and see if that keeps it cool. The current one still runs just realised it was getting a bit too warm after a few mins running.

 

[TEO]

Hi there, I have the Makita HR2450T it's 780W, three function with reverse, has a reasonably long lead and came with a 13mm quick change chuck. I think I paid about £115 four years ago and when I made noises about the price the guy threw in a load of bits . Think I lucked out, it's been perfect for my needs, fits well between 18V stuff and a 6KG sds. It's had a few years of moderate use and the only problem I've ever had has been a loss of power when it filled up with dust - easily sorted with an air line and shop vac.
Never used a Bosch so can't compare with that but have used Dewalt and Metabo. The DW seemed almost identical to mine but I didn't use it for long. The Metabo had a variable speed control which was nice but the 13mm chuck had to be bought separately (£30!!) and I've never missed the speed control.
Hope that helps, looks like you're faced with a load of good choices and I can't see you going wrong with any of them so may be better to buy on price. Good luck.

 

[FatFreddysCat]

Just to add to this thread I use a cheapo Ryobi ERH-650 2-function SDS+ drill which cosy me about £70 about 18 months back. It has variable speed and reversing, which can be quite useful when drilling timber beams, etc as it avoids the need to have a second drill. It's also much more powerful than any cordless combi drill I've ever used. About the only thing it's missing is rotation stop, which would be useful for those odd occasions when I need to do some light chiselling such as tile or brick/block removal or to chase-in some wiring, but a 2kg class SDS isn't really designed for continual chiselling work, so for now I'll do without. It didn't come with a chuck, so I bought a conversion chuck (£17.99), but for the most part I haven't needed one - all my long auger bits are SDS drive as are my masonry bits, so I doubt that I'd miss the chuck all that much. One thing it has got which can be an aid to level drilling when working in awkward spaces is a built-in spirit level at the back. A gimmick be sure, but one which does work. The most surprising "performance" add-on I've found to date, however, are the deWalt Extreme 2 masonry bits which are streets ahead of cheap drill bits and turn even this ugly duckling into a good performer. Whatever you do when buying a drill don't skimp on the bits.

 

[Triggaaar]

None of the Makita's seem to have 3 mode - those under £120'ish anyway.

I have the Makita HR2450T it's 780W, three function with reverse, has a reasonably long lead and came with a 13mm quick change chuck. I think I paid about £115 four years ago and when I made noises about the price the guy threw in a load of bits . Think I lucked out, it's been perfect for my needs, fits well between 18V stuff and a 6KG sds. It's had a few years of moderate use and the only problem I've ever had has been a loss of power when it filled up with dust - easily sorted with an air line and shop vac.

I've just found the makita HR2450 (which is 780W 3 mode) for £100, so that's another nice option.

looks like you're faced with a load of good choices and I can't see you going wrong with any of them so may be better to buy on price.

Indeed, all decent makes. I don't know if it's fair to compare the max figures (particularly concrete and core bit) between the different makes (deWalt has 26mm max in concrete), but those are the areas where I'll work the drills. I'd like to do > 100mm diameter holes, and 24 ish mm holes, but perhaps not often enough to bother these drills.

 

[FatFreddysCat]

I'd like to do > 100mm diameter holes, and 24 ish mm holes, but perhaps not often enough to bother these drills.

Try drilling 100mm+ holes with a 2 or 3kg SDS+ too often and you might just end up down at A&E. Most SDS+ drills can handle small cores up to about 70 or 80mm but even at that they'll sometimes give you a nasty kick in the right wrist if you get a stall. We had a plumber taken to hospital earlier this year - he'd been boring a series of soil pipe holes with a 127mm core bit on a smaller (2kg) SDS+ and had done quite a few holes before getting to the one where the core bit stalled and the clutch didn't work quickly enough. He was lucky in a way, he just got a sprained wrist and strained tendon. The material was common or garden grey cement block. Larger diameter bits really must be used in the appropriate drill - and an SDS+ drill really isn't that

 

[TEO]

I'm with fatfreddyscat on that one, wouldn't use these smaller drills for cores over 80mm.

 

[nutty66]

I to am with fatfreddys cat but i wouldn't use a 2kg sds hammer on a core any bigger than 68mm, i'd probably use a core drill to be on the safe side.

Have a look at the following link to give you a idea of the prices of 2kgs & core drills it shows most tool manufacturers & specifications.

Bosch are doing a GBH2-26DFR which cover most of the criteria you mentioned & they have a extended warranty of 3 years when tool is bought & registered within 4 weeks of purchase

worth a look

toolforce.com[url/]

 

[Triggaaar]

Try drilling 100mm+ holes with a 2 or 3kg SDS+ too often and you might just end up down at A&E. Most SDS+ drills can handle small cores up to about 70 or 80mm but even at that they'll sometimes give you a nasty kick in the right wrist if you get a stall.

Interesting, thanks. When you hire 100mm core bits with a drill, the drill (from memory) is a fairly light SDS drill of some type, what's the difference?

Is a cheap 6kg SDS going to be any better (as I have one)?