Drilling in hard concrete possibly into rebar.

[Duramen]

Any thing with diamonds to cut/drill sounds great , and there is no doubt it will do the job. It would be an expensive exercise to buy diamond tipped or core bits, hence cost benefit analysis needs to be done with all possible options.

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I generally correlated drill speed to bit diameter, less than 10mm use highest speed. Applied this rule to drilling in timber, steel and yes concrete . I had learned the hard way that plastic does not like drilling at high speed but didn’t know about concrete. Low speed would not have improved the drilling with the impact drill since it lacked the punching power required to penerate into the concrete, but could have saved the bits.

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I bought the AEG PN2200R (600 watts) for $269. It comes with an extra chuck for normal drill bits and 2 years warranty. It will drill up to 22mm in concrete and has a punching power of 2.7 joules. Does not have chisel function and sds plus bits have to be bought separately . Weighs 2.4 kg

I did read the tread in this forum that mentioned the cheaper rotary hammers by GMC and Dynalink. Apart from the fact that the cheaper drills could be unreliable, the weigh of the GMC (6.3 kg) is not useful for prolong drilling. I am all for buying tools cheaply that do the job, are reliable and safe. If you’re on a tight budget, go for the cheaper ones but be prepared to take them back if you get a faulty item. I don’t think cheapys have a safety clutch. :mad:

Rotary hammer drills that you may consider: (From Glenford and ISG junk mail)

Makita HR2020 ---$199

AEG PN2020R ----$269

BOSCH GBH 2-26 DRE------$379
• 800w • 3.0 joules • 4-26mm cap.in concrete
• SDS+Hammer stop for drilling in steel & wood
• Rotation stop for chiselling • Variable speed • Reverse
• Carry case • 2.7kg • Includes 7piece Drill set + point + chisel
+ 13mm keyed chuck and SDS+ adaptor

I think the drill bits, chisel and extra chuck make this the best buy .


Hitachi DH24PC2--------$339 editor’s choice on toolsoftrade-rotary hamer review (Did not read at the time I bought the AEG)


Buy a quality drill and it will probably last over 10 years and safety features will reduce any chance of a mishap from day one.

[Dan_574]

I bought the $99 dyna link drill from bunnings with 2 year replacement warrant. I havent had a problem at all. Drilled 70 16mm holes over 200mm deep in one hit and it worked a treat, I bought another chuck(it was almost the same price as the drill) and its great for drill hex head bits into timber, again I used it for drilling 75mm batten screws into the battens for the house. The only gripe is as mentioned the weight and no reverse but hey for $99 who cares.