drill

[lou75]

Can anybody tell me what im doing wrong. Im not very experienced in diy. I have a curtain rail to put up. It needs to go into brick. I have a 710w power devil hammer drill with a new set of masonry bits. But Its just not making any impact at all. Is this drill useless ??? Or am i doing something wrong ???

 

[Trazor]

Is this drill useless ???

Basically, yes it is for drilling into brick.

You need an SDS drill, buy a cheap one from Aldi/Netto, about £30.00,
or borrow one for just a few holes.

 

[Deleted member 105431]

or your drilling into a lintel.

 

[Stivino]

If you're sure it's only brick you're going into, that drill should do the job. Proving you have the drill set to hammer and a good quality bit, you should be able to go into it easily enough.

 

[r896neo]

as dangermouse said your more than likely drilling into a concrete lintel and you need an sds to get through that.

 

[Stivino]

If he is drilling into a lintel, he doesn't need to get an SDS drill, he needs to reposition the curtain rail. And, even if the lintel is concrete, he should still be able to get into it.

 

[Trazor]

Concrete lintel or brick, it doesn't really matter, he/she is getting nowhere at the moment.

Unless its a steel lintel, SDS is the way to go.

BTW.... None of the bricks in my house can be drilled with anything other than SDS.

 

[Stivino]

I disagree. Using the proper technique combined with the machine set properly and a good bit, it shouldn't prove to be a problem.

 

[lou75]

Thanks for the replies. Well ive used this drill once before on brick. It was on a parity wall. I was drilling out brick to sink a socket box and had to drill lots of holes to a shallowish depth and then chisel it out. But the drilling then too was such a pain, it took me the best part of a day !
I suspected the drill bits then and bought a new set of masonry drill bits but no difference.

I mean how long is it supposed to take to drill, lets say, a 10mm hole in brick ? Maybe its supposed to take about an hour and im expecting it to be faster. I just thought it would be a hell of a lot easier and faster than that.

I plug it in, select the hammer setting (and have selected the non hammer setting) i place drill in position, press trigger fully and hold in position applying pressure patiently waiting to make an impact. After a good while ill look and drill seems to barely have made a crater. It takes an age to get to any depth at all. Ive tried slowing the speed a little, altering the pressure. At the moment ive given up and have loosely fitted one curtain rail and the other for the rear window has been shoved in the loft until i can sort out this drill problem.

Is my techique right ?

 

[Stivino]

10mm deep or diameter? Either way into brick, one minute should do it. Make sure you have a decent bit though.

 

[lou75]

10mm deep. 1 minute, you are jooooking ! haha. I think i need a new drill.

 

[Stivino]

I take it your diameter is only about 7mm? And there's definately no steel in there?

 

[lou75]

Yes 5mm diameter and definitely brick.

 

[xerxes]

None of the bricks in my house can be drilled with anything other than SDS.

Surely, there can be wide variations in the hardness even of common bricks, especially in older properties. I agree with others that if Lou can't make an impression on his bricks he needs to get an SDS drill. It's not a matter of using a different technique, but of using a different machine.

I don't necessarily agree, though, on the wisdom of buying a cheap one: but cheap and buy twice is my usual experience. Certainly, buy decent SDS bits to go in the drill.

 

[R5GTT]

Is this drill useless ???

Basically, yes it is for drilling into brick.

You need an SDS drill, buy a cheap one from Aldi/Netto, about £30.00,
or borrow one for just a few holes.

An SDS drill isn't designed for drilling into brick, it was originally designed for drilling concrete. If you use an SDS to drill brick all the way through (through an outside wall for example) it will blow half the brick out when it comes out the other side. Have a look on any outside wall where BT or Sky have run a cable through and you will normally see a big blob of silicon round the cable where the brick has blown out, rather than a small bead to seal the hole.

A good impact / drill will go through any brick, and will make a neater job of it. With a real top notch impact drill such as a Fein or Metabo, it will also be quicker than an SDS drill 9 times out of 10.