very basic drill question

[xyz321]

hi

complete DIY novice here. i have a 12V black and decker drill.

i was trying to drill some holes for following:

1) on outside (front of house) brick faced wall for security light
2) on the original back of house (now part of conservatory) wall for another light.

both places the drill went in little bit and then it wouldnt go any further. based on location of these holes i am pretty sure i am not heating any plumbing or anything.

is it due to drill not being very powerful. any advise appreciated?

ta

 

[Deluks]

Does the drill have hammer action? (prob not tbh)
If yes...
Are you using new good quality masonry drill bits?
If yes...
You need a more powerful drill. Minimum 18v combi or an SDS.

Wanna spend some money?

 

[SimonH2]

Drilling is one of those things you get the feel for eventually.

Chances are, your brick has a softish face and is harder in the middle - or has hard inclusions in it. So the drill goes in so far, then appears to stop when it meets something hard.

The trick with masonry drilling is to use the hammer action, not the drill action. The point of a masonry bit is a chisel - as the bit goes round, the drill hammers, and each blow takes a bit out of the material. You need relatively slow speed, and often quite a high pressure - unless it has a two speed gearbox, it's unlikely that your battery drill can go slow enough and provide the power needed to do the job effectively.

If you run the drill too fast with too little pressure, you will grind the edge off the bit (or just burn it off) and you'll end up with a knackered bit.

EDIT:
Have another go. Keep the speed down, and the pressure up - and make sure you are on the hammer setting. Only do it in short bursts, and let the drill cool down in between. If it starts slowing down, then stop immediately and recharge the battery - continuing will just knacker the battery very quickly.

 

[hotrod]

Simon, he's trying to drill brick with a 12V B&D, I'm not surprised he's struggling it's got nowt to do with 'having a feel for eventually'.

OP you either need to get/hire a min 18V / 24V SDS drill, or a mains SDS (240V) drill. Probably best to hire one if you won't get much use out of it. If you want to buy you won't go wrong with either Makita or Blue Bosch - should be able to get a deal for under £100.

hth

 

[481]

Whatever drill you use, bear in mind that some walls are just complete b******s, and can reduce even the most experienced professional builders to screaming wrecks. There's usually no way of telling in advance.

 

[SimonH2]

Simon, he's trying to drill brick with a 12V B&D, I'm not surprised he's struggling it's got nowt to do with 'having a feel for eventually'.

BS
It will do it* - but you need to understand how to make it work. I regularly drill stuff with a (very old) 9.6V drill - but I don't plan to do that if it's more than one or two small holes.

* But as 481 says, sometimes the brick is just f***ing hard.

Mind you,, he hasn't said what size holes he's drilling. Drilling (say) a 10mm hole for a cable is a different matter to drilling 5mm holes for mounting screws.

 

[JohnW2]

BS. It will do it* - but you need to understand how to make it work. I regularly drill stuff with a (very old) 9.6V drill - but I don't plan to do that if it's more than one or two small holes. [[* But as 481 says, sometimes the brick is just f***ing hard.]] Mind you,, he hasn't said what size holes he's drilling. Drilling (say) a 10mm hole for a cable is a different matter to drilling 5mm holes for mounting screws.

I largely agree. However, everything you said about technique relies upon him having a hammer-action drill, which he may well not have, in which case the goalposts move a fair bit - life could be very difficult with a 12V non-hammer drill.

Mind you, I'm old enough to have been brought up in an environment without 'electric drills' of any sort! When I wanted to make a hole in masonry for a Rawlplug, I had to use a 'Rawlplug tool' (a thin cold chisel with a concave side to it - I think I still have some!) and a large hammer!

Kind Regards, John

 

[SimonH2]

My memory doesn't go that far back, but I remember my dad had this big drill (made a full size SDS look small) with two big lumps of pipe sticking out the sides of it for handles. It was definitely a two hand job just to hold the thing. I never used it, by the time I got to doing any drilling, the old metal Black and Deckers were around (I think we might still have that !).

 

[JohnW2]

My memory doesn't go that far back, but I remember my dad had this big drill (made a full size SDS look small) with two big lumps of pipe sticking out the sides of it for handles. It was definitely a two hand job just to hold the thing.

A Rawlplug Tool (from 60s) plus 'associated equipment'! ....

Untitled

• JohnW2
• 6 Dec 2012
• 1

Kind Regards, John

 

[xyz321]

Thanks for all your replies.

to answer couple of questions, current drill does not have hammer action and i was trying to drill screw holes to fix outside security light.

re the construction of wall, i was fixing the light on front wall outside the house. However the week before i had the same problem while trying to fix a pin board on the utility room wall (which was the original outside wall at the back of the house). so again one could argue both walls should be of same spec but i think i need to probably spend some money to buy a decent drill.

will probably get a wired one as they might be cheaper and i should be able to get to the places to drill with an extension cable! one more thing to add to post christmas sale!

many thanks to all you.

 

[JohnD]

damp brickwork can be especially difficult because the dust becomes sticky and jams the bit.

A weedy drill will probably do it if you keep putting it in and out of the hole, but will be slow.

A corded hammer drill will last far longer than the batteries in a rechargeable, and is good value. You don't need to splash out on an SDS+ unless you are expecting to drill lots of walls, or any concrete.

 

[Tipper]

My memory doesn't go that far back, but I remember my dad had this big drill (made a full size SDS look small) with two big lumps of pipe sticking out the sides of it for handles. It was definitely a two hand job just to hold the thing.

A Rawlplug Tool (from 60s) plus 'associated equipment'! ....

Untitled

• JohnW2
• 6 Dec 2012
• 1

Kind Regards, John

Can you still get those Rawlplug 'drills'? They work well when necessary particulalry for concrete.

 

[JohnW2]

Can you still get those Rawlplug 'drills'? They work well when necessary particularly for concrete.

I have no idea - I still have 2 or 3, but all are 40+ years old. It's not a drill, it's just a particular shape of cold chisel - it's a case of 'bash, rotate, bash, rotate .... - a sort of 'manual drilling'! (Rawlplug did do 'star drills', but I haven't seen those for decades, either). It wouldn't surprise me if you could find similar cold chisels these days - or maybe a 'vintage' Rawlplug tool on eBay!

Kind Regards, John

 

[maltaron]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-R...lectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item3ccd446fb1

 

[JohnW2]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Rawlplug-Tin-and-2-Punches-with-accessories-/261141852081?pt=UK_Collectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item3ccd446fb1

That's more-or-less the fella. The one I have do not have removable 'bits' like that one, but are otherwise much the same.

Kind Regards, John