Thread: Serious hammer drills

Got the Metabo ..have had it for about three years after the B&D went to that 'Drill shop in the sky'...hasn't let me down yet and it's had plenty of use with the hammer function.
Cheers

------------------
Johnno

I have a Metabo and have given it a hiding over a lot of years. A good, tough drill.

I have a Metabo drill with hammer function and it is great. I also have a Ryobi rotary hammer with a drill function and adaptor that changes it from the slip-in masonory bits to take ordinary drill bits. It is fairly light, drills and drives screws and drills concrete faster and easier than the Metabo. I think it cost around the $200 mark here in Port Macquarie.
Good luck

I have used most of the hilti rotary hammer drills in the smaller range and found them to be a great drill. It is amazing the differance between a normal hammer drill and the rotary hammer drill.
With the standard hammer dril you have to push to make it work but with the rotary hammer it has the hammer hitting the drill bit which helps push the bit through the concrete or whatever. A lot less stress on the user and easier to use overhead if need be.The drill bits are a better quality as they are getting a harder pounding . In the long run they do the job quicker and you can get adapters for your normal drill bits just remember to turn the knob to no hammer as you can make a mess of a normal chuck in the rotary position.Hilti are the better range to choose from as that is their main product and they know it well and their service is good.It sounds like I am pushing the hilti but it is just my opinion on a good product

------------------
Jim
One Good Turn Deserves Another

I'm having a good look arround the price for features seems to be prety close between brands.
Havn't spoken to hilti or ramset yet.

I had a love hate relationship with a well worn ramset dynadrill at one time. I havn't used what could be called a good example.

The price in the small rotary hammer market seems to be about $400 give or take.

Soundman,
Don't disregard the Ramset cordless hammer drill, my plumber swears by it and having seen it in action, it certainly packs some punch. Certainly for overhead and up ladder work eliminates the cord.

regards

Kev

Can someone explain the difference between a rotary hammer and a hammer?

I see heaps of el-cheapo drills with "hammer action", but not sure if that means rotary hammer or not.

A hammer drill has its main priority in going round & round.
A backwards ratchet thing is introduced into the works that makes the drill hammer.
Sort of an after thaught???

A rotary hammer usualy has a seperate & dedicated hammering mechanism (don't know details). Its main priority is hammering it rotates just to keep the hole round & the waste mooving out the hole.
All but the cheapest rotary hammers can be used in chissel, rotary hammer & rotary only mode.

Most rotary hammers take SDS bits which are sort of bayonet type fitting.
Most hammer drills have a conventional chuck.

Ahhh... So:
rotary = normal drill
hammer = normal drill with a bit of hammer
rotary hammer = serious hammer with a little bit of rotary
= best type but some take special bits and more expensive
chisel = not rotary action at all

Correct? Geez, learn a new thing every day.

Rotary hammers work like this, if I can explain myself well enough.

The drive from the motor is split into two parts one for rotation of the collet/chuck where you fit the splined drill bits into. The end of the drill bit is struck by a piston which is fitted inside a cylinder that reciprocates backwards and forwards. As it moves forwards it compresses air in the cylinder which forces the hammer piston forward against the drill bit.

The cylinder is operated by an eccentric/swashplate drive mechanism which is also powered by the motor.

By disengaging the various drives it is possible to obtain chiselling modes and plain drilling modes.

Here is an exploded parts diagram for an AEG rotary hammer http://www.aeg-pt.de/internet/aegexp...les/379391.gif


A little tip if you are using a rotary hammer drill, only use light pressure and let the drill do the work.

As far as the best drill to get, HILTI is very hard to beat!
AEG, atlas copco, kango and milwaukee are not too bad and are all basically the same and have a good warranty
The newer metabo's are supposedly made in china, not so sure about them but the older versions especially the 900 watt 28 mm rated one is bulletproof
Ramsets are basically Bosch in disguise with a bastard chuck system (which is supposedly more wear resistant than the SDS system

It all depends on what you want to get out of your drill. I have an AEG PN3000X2 which is a pretty good allrounder. It has taken wall tiles off, the occasional 65 mm core hole, regularly does 20 mm concrete holes and on low speed is good for screwing and unscrewing roof sheets (no clutch tho)and it also has high speed for normal drilling. But then I wouldn't go drilling core holes day in and out with it or it would burst, thats what hilti TE 25's are made for.

HTH

DArryn

I recently purchased a Metabo UHE28 Multi. I wanted a moderate-duty rotary hammer drill for light concrete, brick and general demolition work that also functioned acceptably as a general purpose drill around the home (eg wood, tiles, etc). I didn't want some 4-joule impact monster that was going to sit in my tool shed most of the time because it was too heavy or specific for light-duty work. If I had such a requirement I would just rent a serious jack hammer from Kennards.

I looked at other models available from DeWalt, AEG, Bosch before deciding. I have both DeWalt and Bosch tools at home so I don't think I am especially biased towards any particular brand. This is my first Metabo tool.

I picked the Metabo for a few reasons:
- two separate tool-free (keyless) chucks for both SDS-plus and standard bits. Switching between the two chucks is keyless, I might add;
- at least three drill modes, including a percussion stop for standard drilling and a "rotation stop" for light chiselling work;
- simple ergonomics;
- balanced and relatively light tool; and
- partly metal outer casing to resist chipping from accidental drops or flying materials.

I noted doorstop’s comment re failing switches on Metabo drills, but the local Glenfords rep said that he hadn’t heard of that problem before (is this a standard line from sales reps???).

I had an immediate task in mind when I bought the drill - taking about
200mm x 700mm off the top of some large moss rocks rock partly buried
in the ground in my back yard (the background is a long story...). It took me about 5 hours over two hot days to achieve the results with the drill, using just a 10mm bit and chisel bit (both SDS). I generally took a slow pace, but occasionally pushed the speed up given that I was in the warranty period and figured that if I was going to push it to breaking it may as well be now.

The drill performed well in both rotation stop and rotary hammer mode. Changing bits was very easy, as was changing chucks. It changed between these modes with a simple turn of a dial, which locked positively but was easy to switch between modes. I found it much quieter than my older impact hammer drill (an old B&D industrial drill which is slowly dieing). The aluminium casing did get quite hot after a while, but the overheating cut-out never kicked in. It is still early days with this drill, but I have found it to be a good performer so far.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ndru:
[B]I recently purchased a Metabo UHE28 Multi. I wanted a moderate-duty rotary hammer drill for light concrete, brick and general demolition work that also functioned acceptably as a general purpose drill around the home (eg wood, tiles, etc)

That one is the newer version of the old 900 watt one I was talking about, if it as good as the old one then you have a good piece of gear

I had an immediate task in mind when I bought the drill - taking about
200mm x 700mm off the top of some large moss rocks rock partly buried
in the ground in my back yard (the background is a long story...). It took me about 5 hours over two hot days to achieve the results with the drill, using just a 10mm bit and chisel bit (both SDS). I generally took a slow pace, but occasionally pushed the speed up given that I was in the warranty period and figured that if I was going to push it to breaking it may as well be now.

I think for drilling you will be better off going at full speed (in low gear of course) as that way the drill will still get full cooling, just don't push hard if you don't want the drill to work hard

Darryn

Originally posted by Darryn:
I think for drilling you will be better off going at full speed (in low gear of course) as that way the drill will still get full cooling, just don't push hard if you don't want the drill to work hard

Darryn[/B]

Thanks very much for that advice, Darryn. I want to make this drill last for quite a while, hoping not to have to purchase a tool like this again in, so taking care of it is important to me. I don't intend lending this tool to anyone (especially the father-in-law! ). Its useful comments like this that makes this BB such a useful (and entertaining ) resource.

I would add a couple more observations from using the UHE28. Rotary hammer owners would know this, but I noted the main difference between using a "impact" drill and a "rotary hammer" is the pressure required from the user on the drill when working through stone. There is very little pressure required from me when using the UHE28 as rotary hammer, while my old B&D as an impact drill required a lot of pressure. The difference in speed through stonework is also quite amazing and the reduced vibration is much easier on the wrists.

To anyone who is looking at a new drill for use around the home, especially if you are looking at anchoring in brick or concrete, I would recommend spending a bit extra and getting a quality (eg AEG, Bosch, Metabo, DeWalt) smaller rotary hammer if possible.

I work for an Air con company and we have just changed all our hammer drills to Battery. We use Hilti however we have had panasonic and they were also good. An option with Hilti is an interchangeable chuck that takes drill bits to 12mm. They are a very strong drill. The downfall is that if repairs are required then they have to be sent to Sydney.