Which Drill

I´m buying mi first drill.

have some Milwaukee tools so thinking on buying that brand as i already have some battery's.

which one wild you recommend? milwaukeetool.com/power-too…

The type of rock i have in my surroundings is granite and marble in some places.

What is the important specifics in a drill? i read the specs but couldn't decide.

Tks

BOSCH!!!!!!!!!! Lithium Ion Batteries are a must! Bulldog is a bit big and heavy... The smaller is pretty sweet... Can't go wrong with either one. Check out TylerTool website....

I use a Hilti 2a. Works great on sandstone, I get about about 15 half inch holes. Bought it on eBay and then got an aftermarket battery replacement. If you are going to be drilling hard rock you might consider a 36v.

Spider Savage wrote:Rawl hand drill: Bit's don't fall out and you don't fuck up the rock with 10 second holes. You think, plan carefully, choose a nice hard spot that rings when you hit it with a hammer. You spend up to an hour drilling that 3-1/2" hole in granite. You make damn sure it's a worth the effort before you drill.

+1 if you are going to do it, do it right, something you will be proud of when you are old and grey.

beensandbagged wrote: +1 if you are going to do it, do it right, something you will be proud of when you are old and grey.

Except it might also induce you not to put as many in as you should or not in the best place because it is awkward to hand drill there. You also are unlikely to use 1/2" bolts. Some might find it more fun, but the whole hand drilling makes it better thing is BS. It might help you think again about bolting another mediocre line because of the effort, but if you are thoughtful, and have a modicum of self restraint, using a power drill is better for most.

How about this one: Bosch 11536C-1 36V Cordless Lithium-Ion Compact SDS-plus Rotary Hammer. its cheaper tan the 11536vsr. and lighter but the impact force is 1.25 ft/lbs. (the VSR is 2.2 ft-lbs). will it work?

The rock type where i live is hard granite.

M Sprague wrote: Except it might also induce you not to put as many in as you should or not in the best place because it is awkward to hand drill there. You also are unlikely to use 1/2" bolts. Some might find it more fun, but the whole hand drilling makes it better thing is BS. It might help you think again about bolting another mediocre line because of the effort, but if you are thoughtful, and have a modicum of self restraint, using a power drill is better for most.

Always a voice of reason... and for great deal on a Bosch Refurb 36V. This is the one you want... hands down and comes w/ two batteries.

Factory Reconditioned Bosch 11536C-2-RT 36V Cordless Lithium-Ion Compact SDS-plus Rotary Hammer

cpooutlets.com/factory-reco…

Morgan Patterson wrote: Always a voice of reason... and for great deal on a Bosch Refurb 36V. This is the one you want... hands down and comes w/ two batteries. Factory Reconditioned Bosch 11536C-2-RT 36V Cordless Lithium-Ion Compact SDS-plus Rotary Hammer cpooutlets.com/factory-reco…

And I own the 11536vsr. Its amazing and super strong but VERY heavy. If I had to do it again I'd go with the one I linked above and go with extra of the fat batteries.

Morgan Patterson wrote: If I had to do it again I'd go with the one I linked above and go with extra of the fat batteries.

the impact force decreases from 2.2 to 1.25. that said, how important is that?

I mean if with the VSR takes me 20 sec. per hold. and the C2 takes me 50 sec. per hold. i wouldn´t mind.

my concern is: will the 1.25 be useless for granite?how many holds per one battery charge? if i can open 7 holds with one battery it will be ok. the routes here can hold a max of 4 bolts plus the anchor.

Sanllan wrote: the impact force decreases from 2.2 to 1.25. that said, how important is that? I mean if with the VSR takes me 20 sec. per hold. and the C2 takes me 50 sec. per hold. i wouldn´t mind. my concern is: will the 1.25 be useless for granite?how many holds per one battery charge? if i can open 7 holds with one battery it will be ok. the routes here can hold a max of 4 bolts plus the anchor.

having used both in traprock which, is as hard as granite if not harder, it works about half as slowly but its just that much lighter and easier to use and carry. It doesn't have a chizel mode which can be helpful for placing glueins but the drill mode can still 'do the job'. The lighter one is significantly cheaper as well. I would say with the fat pack batteries you shld be able to get 5-7 holes on a charge? Does that sound about right to others?

I think we have done to death what a good $450 hammer drill is. I've had a Hilti TE-6A and loved it. But what I want to know is how the cheapest POS drill works for the odd bolt here and there. Has anyone tried using a Chicago Electric 18V from Harbor Freight on granite?

harborfreight.com/18-volt-1…

I have drilled a bit with a Milwaukee 12v in some volcanic type stuff...mmmm..it works, but,,,my 18v Makita is WAY better in the same rock (12x3") holes per battery at least
It was $180 w/o batteries

john strand wrote:I have drilled a bit with a Milwaukee 12v in some volcanic type stuff...mmmm..it works, but,,,my 18v Makita is WAY better in the same rock (12x3") holes per battery at least It was $180 w/o batteries

do you have both references? want to check the specs.

Stich wrote:I think we have done to death what a good $450 hammer drill is. I've had a Hilti TE-6A and loved it. But what I want to know is how the cheapest POS drill works for the odd bolt here and there. Has anyone tried using a Chicago Electric 18V from Harbor Freight on granite? harborfreight.com/18-volt-1…

the ones at 450 are rotary hammers, not hammer drills

Sanllan wrote:I´m buying mi first drill. have some Milwaukee tools so thinking on buying that brand as i already have some battery's. which one wild you recommend? milwaukeetool.com/power-too… The type of rock i have in my surroundings is granite and marble in some places. What is the important specifics in a drill? i read the specs but couldn't decide. Tks

My climbing partner demo'd three different Milwaukee rotary hammers this past fall. One M12 and two M18s. I have a 11536C, and we compared all of them using a variety of 3/8" drill bits in two types of quartzite. One was gog quartzite, and we were getting two to four holes per bit (!) and the other had more sandstone-like qualities and we would get ten to fifteen holes per bit. In the end, he bought one of the M18s, but I forget which one. He uses the 18V batteries at work, which was why he was looking at the Milwaukees.

I did not write any of the results down, but from what I recall:

In the hard quartzite, the M12 got 1 hole per (tiny) battery and took quite a long time. The M18s were a bit slower than the 11536C and the number of holes per pound of battery was comparable (the 11536C getting more holes, but having a bigger battery.)

In the soft quartzite, the M12 got 2 or 3 holes per battery. The M18s were still slower than the 11536C, the number of holes per batter was roughly 6 or 7 IIRC. The 11536C was getting ~11.

I have a corded *hammer* drill: it is not fun to drill concrete with. It takes at least about 4-5 minutes a hole, from what I remember. It isn't even especially fast in brick.

You really want a *rotary hammer,* unless you are super desperate (in which case, try a hand drill?).

If you are having problems with bits getting shreaded, switch to glue ins. Glue ins dont require precise holes. I have been using the same bit for years.

20 kN wrote:If you are having problems with bits getting shreaded, switch to glue ins. Glue ins dont require precise holes. I have been using the same bit for years.

These seem like two unrelated things to me... Going through bits at the rate of one bit per 10-20 holes likely means something is off and switching to bigger bits and fatter/deeper holes isn't going to fix that... They sell bits for high pressure concrete and those should last well over 100 holes. I would also ensure one is using rotary hammer as Miike noted above...

i use only Bosch branded bits for both hand and power drilling..they really last.

By far the best bits I have ever used are the cross tipped dewalt solid rock bits. homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-3-8-… They've changed the design this year (once again back to a straight rather than cross tipped carbide) and I've found their new bits to be about 1/3 less fast in drilling in hard granite. The bosch bits are about 1/2 as fast.

I don't need 25 of them but if folks wanted to go in on the 25 pack, I'd be down.

Also, on the Drill front. This may sound strange but watch eBay for the expensive drills. I've been through two (now a 2nd gen Bosch 36v Compact that I won on eBay for $148 with two batteries) that were purchased for less than $200. Both times, I've bid on drills that were basically new with $140+ starting prices, but that have had end times between 4pm and 6pm Pacific on Friday. There isn't a climber or construction guy worth their salt that isn't at the bar then...