Drilling concrete

Any secrets, as I have a bunch of holes to drill about 6" deep.

Hope this helps
JT

I was disgusted with the B&D performance and bought a Milwaukee (sp?) 1/2" hammer drill. This drill is AWESOME! It is variable speed with 2 ranges coupled with a 2 range hammer (x beats/min)

Needless to say I am impressed and have over time, as I can afford them I've been replacing all power tools with Milwaukee brand.

Now for the holes - I drilled a 1/4" pilot hole using cheap masonary bits, then graduated to 3/8" Bosch bits. Finally for the big holes I used 1/2" splined Bosch bits chucked in the MLWKE drill. I only lost one bit due to the aggregate. Hit it an nearly lost my wrist due to the "snap" of drill's torque. I just got some cheapo bits and pounded through the tuff stuff and finished off the job with the Bosch bit.

It was somewhat tedious but holes were straight and I had a drill that would handle the job. If I ever have the need to drill bigger holes in fixed materials I would rent something. For bigger holes in mobile stuff i.e. plow beams I hope to eventually own a drill press. Hear that family? - Today being Father's Day I could sure use a drill press. Hee-Hee

Best of luck and steady as she goes. . . that what has worked for me.

• Link to shop pics

You might try Home Depot for renting a Hilti T17. They'll drill holes really fast. You should get about 25 holes a bit before resharpen.

Sounds like your B&D is just hammering and not drilling(rotating) at the same time.

T_Bone

What it really comes down to is, specialty drills work better, not surprisingly, for the job they're designed than all-purpose drills. I bought a smallish Hilti SDS (only good up to 3/4") on ebay for $70. Pawn shops do a lot of marketing there. Probably find your percussion bits there too.

I wore out a Bosch drill similar to your B&D. I was drilling lots of 3/16" holes in our all-concrete house. Trips to the home center left them without any 3/16 bits. If I was careful to not let them get so hot as to soften the brazing (and lose the carbide), and resharpened, I could get maybe 5 holes/bit. Then I got a spline drive and found out those bits don't fall apart. But they don't come in 3/16" size. Now I have an SDS drill that works great. Immensely faster drilling than my Bosch and has a full range of bits available. With the faster drilling speed the bits stay cooler (and cost a LOT less).

My suggestion is to buy or rent a different drill. My rebuilt old Bosch went to a new owner at a yard sale. There's a world of difference in the quality of the bits for different types of drills.