# Drilling holes in concrete slab



## epson (Jul 28, 2010)

Use a hammer drill to drill into concrete with a concrete bit. If you are using a standard drill you will wear your bits out faster and takes a lot more time. The hammer drill drills and hammers the drill bit into the concrete which makes the job a lot faster.


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## spaceman spif (Jul 28, 2009)

Looks like I can get a decent one for under $100. Might be time to bite the bullet and buy one!


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## epson (Jul 28, 2010)

The hammer drill comes in handy. You will be glad you purchased one. Makes life so much easier…:yes:


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

You can buy one at harbor freight for about 20.00 that will do the job.

I bought one and have used it on all kinds of jobs.


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## spaceman spif (Jul 28, 2009)

I think I am an official DIY geek. I stopped at Lowe's and bought one, brought it home just in time to watch it suddenly start to rain hard. And I felt disappointment because I couldn't try out my new hammer drill.

What kind of person gets disappointed when rain cancels their work???


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

if you need 1 for work, ebay - bosch bulldog - 3/8" hole 3" deep in 4,000psi conc - 2 min IF you need 1 to make a living,,, it you want a throwaway ***** knockoff, northern hydraulics/freight will do fine, i guess,,, for the price of the bosch, you could buy 4 chinaman's replicas,,, bear in mind there's generally no repair for those, no parts ( parts ? ), & no getting someone to svce them - that's PRICELESS :laughing:


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

i have a Makita SDS-Plus hammer drill, which makes it a piece of cake. doing it with a regular chucked drill head system is no way to go, even if you use supposed "masonry bits" ...

takes me probably 15 sec to drill a 5" hole in the floor or maybe 30 to drill one horizontally in my foundation footer (setting anchors when i was dropping the floor). that machine is friggin potent, well worth the $$ (i think was $200)


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## spaceman spif (Jul 28, 2009)

I've never used a hammer drill before. I just plugged my new one in to test it out, and I can't tell any difference between the regular drill setting and the hammer setting. Is the "hammer" motion of the drill so slight you can't really tell? Or should I be able to easily tell a difference?


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

1st, we NEVER use an electric tool that's NOT gfci protected,,, there's a rotating switch on most,,, some drills are 2-way - rotation & hammer/rotation,,, others are 3-way - hammer, rotation, & hammer/rotation,,, we guys have gender impediments so do what our wives do - READ THE DIRECTIONS :thumbup:


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## spaceman spif (Jul 28, 2009)

itsreallyconc said:


> 1st, we NEVER use an electric tool that's NOT gfci protected,,, there's a rotating switch on most,,, some drills are 2-way - rotation & hammer/rotation,,, others are 3-way - hammer, rotation, & hammer/rotation,,, we guys have gender impediments so do what our wives do - READ THE DIRECTIONS :thumbup:


Heck, I read the directions in all 10 different languages!

But I switched it to "hammer" mode, spun it a bit, then set it to "drill only" mode and couldn't tell any difference at all. Switched back and forth a few more times, and saw no difference. I thought I'd be able to see/feel the chuck rapidly moving up and down in the "hammer" setting, but I don't.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

then why do you have spare parts left over ? :laughing:

go out in the garage, put in a bit, & drill a hole under the beer fridge,,, you need to put pressure on the pawl inside the drill to actually ' feel ' it hammer unless you bought the ' northern ' brand - they rarely work :no:


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## epson (Jul 28, 2010)

spaceman spif said:


> I've never used a hammer drill before. I just plugged my new one in to test it out, and I can't tell any difference between the regular drill setting and the hammer setting. Is the "hammer" motion of the drill so slight you can't really tell? Or should I be able to easily tell a difference?


When you switch the drill to hammer mode put a concrete bit in and start drilling into concrete you will feel the drill actually hammering the bit into the concrete as its drilling it in. That’s how you will tell the difference.:wink:


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