# Will a cordless drill be able to drill through brickwork?



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Most will work fine but, depending on the size of the hole your going to be drilling you will be limited on the number of holes you can drill before the battery goes dead. It takes a lot of torque and kills them fast.


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## dougp23 (Sep 20, 2011)

Joe is dead-on on that one! Most drills will do it, but the batteries will wear down fast.


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## ben's plumbing (Oct 6, 2011)

my dewalt hammer drill is awesome...like joe said if you drilling bigger holes or just alot of holes battery will die....I have 4 batterys and 2 chargers...:yes:


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## MNsawyergp (Jan 30, 2012)

The hammer action on a Milwaukee electric hammer drill is so much more aggressive that there is no comparison. I, too have a De Walt 18 volt. For any more than a couple of holes I grab the Milwaukee.


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

Homer,
what is it you are doing with the bricks? How big a hole, how many, etc. Fill us in and maybe we can provide more of an answer.
Mike Hawkins


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## Jay 78 (Mar 2, 2011)

ben's plumbing said:


> my dewalt hammer drill is awesome


As is mine ( 20V Max). I haven't drilled through brick with it yet, but I have no doubt it will plow through it as well as it does anything else. 

I also looked at the Milwaukee and Makita offerings before settling on the DeWalt. One of the things I didn't care for about the Milwaukee was the lack of a side handle. As a 150-some lb. dude and a victim of back surgery, I wanted one with a side handle so I could get that extra 'oomph' behind it. Although I must say, the hammer action is definitely something I'm still getting used to. It's counter-intuitive for me _not_ to really lay on it when drilling, but the whole point of a hammer drill is so you don't really have to. Let the drill do the work. :thumbsup:


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 25, 2011)

if your drilling a 3/16 or 1/4 " hole a cordless will do fine. anything over 3/8 you should really be running a corded model especially if your drilling several holes. 

honestly no matter what brand the cordless drill is, cordless is only goof for one or two holes every now and then. if im drilling quite a few small holes i use a corded hammer drill, if im drilling 3/8 or larger i use a hitachi sds rotary hammer


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## toolaholic (Jul 31, 2011)

How bout a cordless SDS rotary! I use Milwaukee 0856 V18 that I got for only $155 from heavydutytools.net! Beats a hammer drill hands down!


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## Homervanderjazz (Jan 18, 2012)

*Re*

Hi folks, thanks for all the advice, someone asked what I am going to be using the drill for, putting up shelves and anything else that may be required I guess but will be for domestic use. I am posting a link to an SDS corded drill below- any thoughts on the below? I also notice that SDS drill bits all seem very big, would they be suitable for fitting smaller items to a brick wall- i.e. curtain rail, fire alarm etc. Thanks for your advice



http://sdsdrillexpert.co.uk/makita-hr2470-110v-sds-plus-drill


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## PaliBob (Jun 11, 2008)

Homervanderjazz said:


> putting up shelves and anything else


 Homer, If the bricks are made of clay then I think that buying an SDS drill drill is overkill.
http://www.brick.com/whyacme/clayvconcrete.htm
I have a Bosch and a Metabo SDS drill and two corded hammer drills plus a DeWalt 18V hammer drill.
For drilling holes in clay brick I would just grab the 18V DeWalt unless I was going to drill a lot of holes at one time.
A battery powered hammer drill can also be used to in the drill only mode to drill holes in wood and then used as a drill driver
.
Hammer Drill Bit sets also come in many size's starting at 1/8"
Here is a set starting at 3/16":
http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW5207-7-Piece-Premium-Percussion/dp/B00004RHBF/ref=pd_sim_hi_2


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## Homervanderjazz (Jan 18, 2012)

*re*

Hi I have tried using my friends Makita 18v cordless, it really struggles to get through the wall so I think sds is the better option. Is there no sds drill bits that allow drilling of smaller holes, ie to fit a smoke alarm? I know that a chuck can be bought to allow the sds to use normal drill bits, is this an effective solution? Thanks


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 25, 2011)

you can get small sds bits. depending on the store they sometimes dont come in individual bits they either come in a set of differerent sizes or can even come in a bulk pack of 4 or 5. they might not be kept in the tool crib, sometimes a specialty bit such as this will be at teh contractors desk

the other thing with small diameter sds bits is that the sds drill can be too aggessive for the size of the bit. it can snap the bit or wear it out very quick as the bit will overheat and lose its tempering


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## PaliBob (Jun 11, 2008)

Homervanderjazz said:


> .....tried using my friends Makita 18v cordless....


Most of these 18V Makita Drills are Driver Drills not Hammer Driver Drills. They have a selector on the collar that is rotated from the drill setting to the Hammer position. You should have heard a distinctive hammering sound when you tried to drill a hole.
.
Drilling small diameter holes in clay brick should be fairly easy with any hammer drill.

SDS drill bits are available in 3/16" and up sets
e.g. http://www.toolking.com/milwaukee-48-20-7490-sds-drill-bit-set/
.
However most SDS drills are really SDSplus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_bit_shank


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## builttolast (Feb 9, 2012)

Homervanderjazz said:


> Hi all, I am new to DIY and am looking to buy a decent drill that can be used to drill through bricks so thought would seek advice from the forum. I like the idea of having an 18V cordless hammer drill but am worried this will not be able to get through brickwork, what are your experiences with this? Thanks for any advice



I swear by my Milwaukee 18v (My M18 hammer drill/driver works wonders). Use the XC batteries for ANYTHING masonry related (If youre doing a decent amount anyway), trust me - unless you want to keep charging and changing, Like joe said, brick and such kills em fast.

Ran new electrical service (new meter and had to drill for mounting the 200A service) with mine on one battery and still had plenty of life left to hang the 3 shelves in the basement the home owner wanted.


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