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Finally picked a hammer drill after weeks of debating | Workshop Talk - nhfree.com

Finally picked a hammer drill after weeks of debating

I was stuck between getting a corded rotary hammer for my basement foundation or a cheaper hammer drill for general use. Talked to a guy at the local True Value who said if I'm drilling into concrete more than once a month, go big. So I picked up a Bosch Bulldog for around $180 and it punched through my wall in about 30 seconds flat. Anybody else find that cheaper hammer drills just bounce too much to be worth it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_blair4mo ago

Oh man, you're making me feel better about my choice lol. I went with a cheaper hammer drill at first and it vibrated so bad my hands went numb after like six holes. Returned it the next day and grabbed a corded rotary hammer. Night and day difference. That bounce you mentioned is real, it's not just you being impatient or weak. The cheap ones just don't have the right mechanism to actually break concrete, they mostly just rattle against it. You really do get what you pay for with this stuff, especially once you're drilling into foundation walls or anything harder than brick.

wyatt_shah854mo ago

My dad bought me a cheap Craftsman hammer drill twelve years ago for a patio project and I'm still using that thing twice a year with zero complaints. Six holes in a foundation wall and your hands go numb? That sounds like you're leaning into it too hard or your bits are dull. The real trick is letting the tool do the work and keeping the RPMs low enough so it doesn't just bounce off the surface. I've drilled through rebar on accident with that same Craftsman and it chugged right through like a champ, no numbness or vibration issues. Maybe you just got a lemon or you needed a quality SDS bit instead of blaming the whole price bracket.

noranguyen4mo ago

Same pattern with everything now, pay once or pay twice, tools, shoes, furniture, all of it.