What is the BEST drill bit for drilling into brick

[Harry Bloomfield]

My go to for drilling anything harder than breeze block, is always SDS. I started my working life with Rawldrill bits and a lump hammer, moving on to hammer drills - better, but still slow in anything hard. SDS, when that came along, was a revelation and they are not expensive now, for a cheapy one.

 

[Burnerman]

Me too...if I recall, mine was basically a handle with a selection of bit diameters.
Every job took forever - in fact it was usual to knock out the mortar and whack a timber plug in.
John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Me too...if I recall, mine was basically a handle with a selection of bit diameters.
Every job took forever - in fact it was usual to knock out the mortar and whack a timber plug in.
John

A wood plug where there was mortar, but no choice with concrete structures. I would sometimes go home with a completely useless arm, from drilling with Rawlbits, oh and the star drills for Ralwbolts.

 

[Burnerman]

A right arm like Popeye and a left wrist and thumb smashed to a pulp
Aye, them were the days.
Stardrills! Great - 4 holes an hour, and that was going some.
John

 

[Nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice]

Thank you all for your replies. Taking photos on my old camera and trying to upload has been a nightmare, for me anyway.

I’ve had to wait until my son was here and he’s sorted these for me. Here’s the garage brick, inside and out, a single brick layer doubling up at the corners and halfway down the inside.

 

[SFK]

@Nicetoseeyou

Forgot to ask - and might be useful to know with regards to us spending your money.

1) How many holes do you need in this wall (1, 5, 10, 50, >100)?

2) How often are you likely to use a drill again (never, yearly, monthly, weekly)?

3) What's you budget (skint, DIYer, Looking_to_get_into_trade, Want_Lots_of_tools)?

SFK

 

[Nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice]

I’ll need to drill another 8 holes.
I probably use the drill a couple of times a year.
Just your average DIYer.

 

[Burnerman]

Have a look at Screwfix / Toolstation offers for a corded SDS plus drill.....all you’ll need for £50 or less.
John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Or Lidl have a very capable battery version, complete with a set of bits, for £24.99. Hammer/no hammer, forward/reverse, variable speed, but single speed gearbox. You cannot hammer without rotation, which is sometimes useful. That comes without a battery, or charger, so another £20 / £25 for that. Manomano has the same drill only unit priced at £104.

 

[Nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice]

Thank you John and Harry, maybe a Christmas present from someone.

I have a really big drill, had it many years, only used when it was bought, I got that out and tried but when I attach a bit and set it to hammer, the bit, shakes like crazy. I think this is an SDS drill. I’m useless with pictures so I’ll get the name from the box it’s in.

 

[Burnerman]

SDS drills have a spline arrangement to secure the bit into the chuck rather than the parallel shank plain round drill bit, where you may use a key to secure it.
SDS plus is a refinement of the original design, SDS Max is a big diameter version.
If you are leaving the drill unused for long periods I’d go for corded, but that’s just my opinion.
John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I think this is an SDS drill. I’m useless with pictures so I’ll get the name from the box it’s in.

SDS drills and bits are unmistakable for any other type. The shanks of the bits are all the same (SDS+), with a groove in the shank to latch the bit in the SDS drill. The chuck is completely different too - An SDS chuck is pulled back to insert or remove the drill bit and the bit simply clicks into place. No chuck needing tightening.

SDS is the much larger, heavy duty size, SDS+ is the smaller most common size, but what most people use. When say SDS, they are usually referring to SDS+ size.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

If you are leaving the drill unused for long periods I’d go for corded, but that’s just my opinion.
John

I now have three SDS+ and many bits, a really heavy mains Aldi special I paid £30 for 20 or so years ago, then Lidl offered a lighter mains one with more bells at around £30 ten years ago, so I treated myself to that and yet more bits.

I had no shortage of ordinary mains and a couple of battery drills, but Lidl began offering a range of 20v batteries, chargers, drills and etc. so I bought a drill/driver, a couple of batteries and a charger, then waited for a matching hammer drill to turn up. I spotted a matching, used SDS on the local market for £50, but thought no - then a couple of weeks ago Lidl had the same one in stock for £24.99, so I grabbed one.

You can never have too many boys toys

 

[JohnD]

Thank you John and Harry, maybe a Christmas present from someone.

I have a really big drill, had it many years, only used when it was bought, I got that out and tried but when I attach a bit and set it to hammer, the bit, shakes like crazy. I think this is an SDS drill. I’m useless with pictures so I’ll get the name from the box it’s in.

It's possible you have not locked the bit in. Can you pull it out?

 

[HERTS P&D]

With 3 pages on 'how to drill a hole", my advice would be to call someone in to sort this out for you.

Andy