Using Hammer (Only) Mode To Hammer in Expansion Bolts

Has anyone seen or tried to use their Hammer mode (Not Hammer/Drill Mode) on their Drills to hammer in an expansion bolt? Meaning Start it with traditional hammer then use your drill the rest of the way. Im asking because a friend recently saw a video with construction workers using the drill bit of their drill in hammer mode to hammer in a long expansion bolt. Of course he cant find the video. My thoughts are, if I were to do this, is to use an SDS adapter with a shallow socket. If you have never seen or tried it I don't really want your opinions. 

It doesnt take more than 5-15 whacks to get a bolt in depending on length. Why go through all the trouble when your hammer is already in your hand to set the bolt?

The scenario being proposed after the hole is drilled: pickup hammer, set bolt, drop hammer, pick up drill, change drill setting, change bit (by this time you'd likely be done with a hammer), start hammer mode hammering, change bit back, change setting back, tighten bolt and then move on. That's atrocious. Seems like a way to add time to the effort.

I read your post the same way as Mr Rogers.

https://setitfast.com/pages/how-it-works

Mr Rogers wrote:

It doesnt take more than 5-15 whacks to get a bolt in depending on length. Why go through all the trouble when your hammer is already in your hand to set the bolt?

The scenario being proposed after the hole is drilled: pickup hammer, set bolt, drop hammer, pick up drill, change drill setting, change bit (by this time you'd likely be done with a hammer), start hammer mode hammering, change bit back, change setting back, tighten bolt and then move on. That's atrocious. Seems like a way to add time to the effort.

Edit: Sorry, Rogers. Matt, I meant to quote your OP! Oof…

Works great, never done it myself while route developing but I’ve done it more times than I care to remember for work back in the day anchoring structural steel rack, conveyer systems, mezzanines,etc. to concrete floor. Some jobs would have anchors numbering in the thousands so we would only pin whatever we were building to the floor and then come back through after construction was complete and spend a couple of days doing nothing but setting expansion bolts and occasional two part glue ins. A couple of guys out front with rotohammers, followed by 2 guys brushing/vacuuming hole, followed by guy with small roto set on hammer only with oversized sds socket to set bolts. And finally impact torque driver. These were mostly larger than what you would find climbing though and we were hand driving with 2 lb mallets when we did…Big difference.

     Driving anchors this way is really efficient and will save you a sore elbow IF you are driving hundreds or thousands of them. You state in your post you potentially want to start the bolt with a hammer and then drive it home with the drill set on hammer only. I have to agree with the above response that it doesn’t make logistical sense, at least not in my experience placing bolts on climbs. Just drive the bolt home with the hammer already in your hand…more satisfying too lol. That having been said if you want to it’s not hard to drive a bolt with the tip of an sds bit, just don’t fuck the starting threads up. I guess I just don’t see why when the diameter for an expansion bolt for climbing purposes very rarely exceeds 1/2” and length is usually around the 4” mark. You’re barely swinging the hammer on a 3/8” 5 piece or wedge. Just my 2 cents. Do whatever gives you a boner, man…just use stainless please!!!

Seems like a needless drain on your battery pack.  

B Rad wrote:

Edit: Sorry, Rogers. Matt, I meant to quote your OP! Oof…

Works great, never done it myself while route developing but I’ve done it more times than I care to remember for work back in the day anchoring structural steel rack, conveyer systems, mezzanines,etc. to concrete floor. Some jobs would have anchors numbering in the thousands so we would only pin whatever we were building to the floor and then come back through after construction was complete and spend a couple of days doing nothing but setting expansion bolts and occasional two part glue ins. A couple of guys out front with rotohammers, followed by 2 guys brushing/vacuuming hole, followed by guy with small roto set on hammer only with oversized sds socket to set bolts. And finally impact torque driver. These were mostly larger than what you would find climbing though and we were hand driving with 2 lb mallets when we did…Big difference.

     Driving anchors this way is really efficient and will save you a sore elbow IF you are driving hundreds or thousands of them. You state in your post you potentially want to start the bolt with a hammer and then drive it home with the drill set on hammer only. I have to agree with the above response that it doesn’t make logistical sense, at least not in my experience placing bolts on climbs. Just drive the bolt home with the hammer already in your hand…more satisfying too lol. That having been said if you want to it’s not hard to drive a bolt with the tip of an sds bit, just don’t fuck the starting threads up. I guess I just don’t see why when the diameter for an expansion bolt for climbing purposes very rarely exceeds 1/2” and length is usually around the 4” mark. You’re barely swinging the hammer on a 3/8” 5 piece or wedge. Just my 2 cents. Do whatever gives you a boner, man…just use stainless please!!!

Thanks for this information... I agree with all of it. Just curious if anyone has seen or done this.

In construction you hope to have a precise hole where you start the bit, since you might then put a metal plate over it with bolts or some such application where alignment is critical. In concrete, I just start the bit out very slowly to avoid the bit walking. You want to take up the travel of the hammer stroke by just pushing the drill into the rock a bit at the start. When route developing, it's of no consequence if the hole is 1/4 inch off where you wanted it, so there's no reason to worry about where the bit eventually starts to dig in. 

Seen it,  yes.  Tried it,  yes. Works great for driving 8 foot grounding rods. To join all the unwarranted responses, no definitely not worth the hassle for climbing anchors.  

Found it… seems interesting… facebook.com/reel/152443385…;fs=e&s=TIeQ9V