I need to do some heavy drilling into concrete and brick and am
looking to buy a good quality SDS drill. It has to be light and take
conventional drills bits so I can use it for general DIY jobs later.
I had a demo of a Metabo BHE24 in a shop and I was very impressed, but
the drill with percussion and rotataion stop is very expensive (over
220GBP) and I figure as this will be a drill for life I might as well
get one with all the features. I know there's a Makita 2450X that has
everything I want, but I heard using the conventional chuck mounted on
the end of the SDS chuck makes it awkward to use as it makes the drill
longer, heavier and it's not very precise. I've now found two Bosch
models that might suit; the green PBH240re for around 130GBP with an
alternative conventional chuck and some extra drill and chisel bits,
or the nearly identical blue GBH2-24dfr for around 160GBP which only
comes with an alternative conventional chuck.
My question then is this... can anyone tell me their experiences with
any of these drills. I know there are other models available in the
US that I might be able to get in the UK too. I have no experience
with any make. What I'm most interested in is the drill performance
with conventional bits especially drilling into wood (they all have
lower rotation speeds than normal drills), and for the Bosch drills if
there is any real difference between the green and blue models.
Many thanks,
Ken
"Kooky45" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I need to do some heavy drilling into concrete and brick and am
> looking to buy a good quality SDS drill. It has to be light and take
> conventional drills bits so I can use it for general DIY jobs later.
> I had a demo of a Metabo BHE24 in a shop and I was very impressed, but
> the drill with percussion and rotataion stop is very expensive (over
> 220GBP) and I figure as this will be a drill for life I might as well
> get one with all the features. I know there's a Makita 2450X that has
> everything I want, but I heard using the conventional chuck mounted on
> the end of the SDS chuck makes it awkward to use as it makes the drill
> longer, heavier and it's not very precise.
I've had a moderately priced (100 quid) Wicks SDS drill for several years
( manufactured by AEG I believe) . It's both longer and heavier than
typical conventional drills, even without a normal chuck in the end of the SDS
adaptor.
Another thing to bear in mind is that with a normal chuck on an SDS
fitting, it can slide back and forth (turning hammer off doesn't lock it in place).
I've seen an Atlas Copco (also AEG) which has a removable SDS
chuck to eliminate that problem (FIXTEC?).
I've bought a chuck with an SDS fitting, but would only use it when
I don't have another drill handy.
I wouldn't be without hammer or rotor stop (don't use reverse much though)
Very handy with a chisel for chasing walls and fitting sockets (especially when
I hit brick or concrete). I use hammer stop when drilling soft materials like
breeze-block.
One problem with mine is that the air outlet tends to blow the dust about.
As mentioned in another post a safety clutch is a must (this may
now be standard in the UK, but I'm not sure) I also know someone
who had a bit jam while up a ladder, but he narrowly avoided falling off.
Green Bosches are diy/home use grade, and blue ones are for pro use eg
building sites. I had a green Bosch battery drill which lasted six years on
site, but the batteries finally died of old age.
I don't like Metabo as the one we have at work has no safety clutch for when
the drill bit jams up. A mate of mine was thrown of a ladder and broke his
arm when his Metabo jammed up, and I hurt my wrist a few weeks ago with one.
Garry