Drill for concrete: choose the tool and master the method of

What a drill bit on concrete looks like, only those who are systematically confronted with this tool will be able to clearly answer. For most of us, almost all drills look very similar, and therefore we have to carefully study the characteristics and recommendations in order to find the right part.

In our article, we will tell you how to drill concrete best and how to do it correctly.

Tool overview

Products for work with a drill and perforator

Making holes in concrete is a rather difficult task due to the high density and mechanical strength of the material. Attempts to use the usual tool will not bring benefit: the maximum that we will receive is a drill bit melted from friction and a small hollow on the surface.

Note! It is for this reason that the masters to the question whether it is possible to drill concrete with a metal drill, give a uniquely negative answer. The tool "kill", and the result is not achieved.

However, today there are several ways to drill this material:

• For making holes of small diameter, percussion drills and perforators with installed drills can be used.
• The formation of large holes in the concrete is carried out using cylindrical diamond crowns.

Below we describe the characteristics of both types of instrument.

• The drill for concrete is different in shape than usual: for effective destruction of a material, its working part is made T or X-shaped, with hardfacing of a material.

• The most popular pobedit drills for concrete. The win (composite material that includes atoms of cobalt and tungsten, forming an almost monolithic lattice) does not allow the steel base to collapse due to friction, and effectively breaks off the concrete particles.
• The drill - the drill on concrete can be intended both for a drill, and for the puncher. In the first case, the shank is made cylindrical, which allows you to clamp it into a cam cartridge.
• Punch drills (they are marked with the SDS index) have a long-slotted shank, into which the chuck fasteners snap into place. At the same time, there is a thickening on the tail section, which makes it possible to make the movement of the drill more stable.

• The maximum diameter of the drill for the impact drill is 12 mm, while models under the hammer drill can make holes with a cross section of up to 30 mm and a depth of one meter.

Note! If you do not have a perforator, a long concrete drill with a SDS shank can be adapted to work with a drill. To do this, clamp the tool in a vice and grinder saw off part of the grooves. Of course, you can’t punch a lot with such an ersatz-drill (the percussion mechanism will not survive), but a dozen nests in the wall for hanging shelves - completely!

Diamond crowns

In some situations (for example, when installing plug-ins or laying pipes) we may need to make a hole with a diameter of more than 30 mm. Of course, you can make several slots, and then knock out the lintels with a chisel, but in this case, smooth edges will not work.

To solve such problems, diamond drilling of holes in concrete using crowns is used:

• The crown is a cylinder of hardened steel, to the rear end of which is attached the rod for installation in the cartridge of the drilling tool (special installation or punch).
• The working edge of the crown, which can be both smooth and serrated, is sprayed with diamond powder. The high hardness of this material allows even the hardest concrete to be cut through quite cleanly.

This technique has both advantages and disadvantages:

However, these disadvantages do not usually play a decisive role, because this technique, as well as cutting concrete with diamond circles, will not lose popularity for a long time.

Domestic or foreign?

Deciding which concrete drill bits to choose, we first need to decide on a range of tasks. It is important to distinguish between professional work and domestic use.

For the professional processing of concrete, when you have to drill often and in large quantities, it is better to purchase either foreign branded products or domestic products from the premium segment. Of course, the cost of such tools will be quite high, but both the speed of work and the quality of the holes, and most importantly, their service life is immeasurably higher.

Among the notable brands are:

• Interskol.

With household use, everything is easier.

If you exclude frankly disposable products from manufacturers from China, then there remain low-priced models of already listed brands, as well as budget brands:

• Mplus.
• Zubr.
• Enkor, etc.

Features of use

Sharpen the cutting edge

When performing this type of work, it is necessary to remember: it is not enough to choose which drill to drill the concrete wall, the tool must also be properly used. And in the first place will be the effective preparation of the drill, consisting in its sharpening.

If necessary, a drill with a carbide tip can be sharpened on a corundum grinding stone.

The technology of work in this case is almost the same as when restoring the cutting edge of other tools, but there are also nuances:

• First, performing sharpening with your own hands, we try to prevent overheating of the weld. This is due to the fact that when exposed to high temperatures, adhesion wins to the steel base decreases, and the strength of the connection decreases.
• Secondly, if we still missed the moment, and the drill was heated, it should slowly cool. It is forbidden to lower the drill into the water: inevitably there will be cracks due to temperature differences.
• Sharpening the drill bit on concrete can be either conical or screw. The first method is the most common, since it can be implemented without additional devices.
• With the conical shape of the cutting part, it is necessary to try so that the edges meet exactly in the center of the drill.. If the intersection of the edges will shift, then, firstly, when working, the tool will lead to the side, and secondly, one of the edges will get blunt much faster.

• Screw sharpening is most often used in the event that the tool will work on a relatively loose material - foam or aerated concrete. For its implementation it is best to use a special grinding machine.

Drilling tips

Instructions for working with the tool described above is quite simple.

To achieve the result, it is enough to follow some recommendations:

• Before starting work, carefully select a drill or a crown. As a rule, a perforator at the expense of lateral beating somewhat expands the hole, because the tool can be taken of a smaller diameter. But the diamond crown cuts through the concrete with minimal tolerances.
• Select the tool, go to the object. We put clearly visible marks on the surface that will serve as reference points for drilling.
• To clearly position the tool in the center of the future hole, you can mark the starting point with several blows of a pointed metal rod (piercer on concrete) or a bolt.

• Then proceed to the drilling process itself. Having established the drill in the planned deepening and having firmly taken the perforator by the handles, we begin to drill concrete.

Note! During the work as the shock drill and the puncher a large amount of dust is formed. For this reason, you need to drill in protective glasses and a respirator. Gloves will not be superfluous either.

• In most cases, for the formation of the hole you need to make enough serious efforts. Clicking on the handle punch, gradually moving deeper.
• If we need to make a sufficiently deep nest with a low-powered impact drill, then it is better to do it in several stages, periodically cooling the drill (not in water, but in air, as noted earlier) and blowing out concrete chips from the hole.

• To make large nests, you can use this trick: first, we pass through the center of the future hole with a smaller diameter drill and then expand the cavity with a thicker drill bit.

After processing is completed, it is worth examining the cutting edges of the tool and, if necessary, sharpen them. It is better to do it right away, otherwise you risk the next time doing urgent work with a blunt tool.

Conclusion

Tips on the choice of a drill, as well as how to sharpen the drill bit on concrete and how to work properly with this tool will be useful not only for beginners. Even an experienced master, having studied the above recommendations and watching the video in this article, can find very valuable information. It is not easy to drill concrete, and therefore it is better to approach this task “fully armed” from both a theoretical and a practical point of view.