SDS Bits

You have to match the bit to the chuck. They are different sizes.

Much obliged, sir. A clear and understandable reply.

Welcome. " A clear and understandable reply." doesn't always come at this time of day. I should be sleeping.

Cheers!

A hammer drill with a SDS chuck is quite large for the application you described. A drill with straight chuck which has a hammer feature can be acquired.

You're right. A rotary drill would be too much for what I need at the moment. But I am in China on the outskirts of Shanghai and have to prowl and dig through little shops in the back lanes to find something suitable. It's not yet like going to Home Depot and having a nice selection of power tools laid out in front of you. There is a real language barrier for me as well, so lot of sign language is usually involved. Try saying "small hammer drill for light duty use" in sign language. But I will be taking your advice and hunting for the elusive hammer drill in the next couple of weeks. I might be able to find Bosch around here somewhere. The Germans have a good presence here.

All the best, and thanks !

Morning Happyfish,

You are on-line, go on a translation site e.g. bablefish (appropriate eh!) and type in what you want, hammer drill, rawplugs carbide drill bits etc get it translated into Chinese, print it along with some pictures and " the world is your Lobster". Good luck.

merlin-100

You have an internet connection. You could buy a small one on line and have it shipped to you using either Fedex of one of the other shipping companies.

Of course you may just be looking for an excuse to buy a larger drill.

If you don't own the apartment, I'd suggest paper hooks, double stick tape or that peel away stuff you can hang stuff with. 3M makes it.

I have been trying all kinds of stick-on hangers and they just don't seem to hold up for long. I clean the area with the little alcohol swabs that come with the hangers, and buy 3M products, and stuff still falls off after a few weeks. So it's come down to drilled inserts. My landlord will like the paintings, and I will buy him a can of spackle when I leave.

Cheeries to you !

.....or Blu Tack, perhaps?

Toothpaste works better than Blu Tack, for light stuff, but wouldn't hold a shelf up.

For holding up posters ect, its the muts........

If you are drilling into block you probably won't even need a hammer drill, just a carbide tip drill. Depending on the concrete, it will even work for that. I recently drilled 1/2" holes in solid concrete without a hammer drill, just the carbide bit.

Cheers

Hmmmm . . . carbide bits, eh? The holes will be fairly small (5 to 10 mm), so a carbide bit may be worth a try. Now I have to find one, which is always the challenge here.

The same problem exists for Blue Tack which has been sought in every office supply store in the municipality without success. The best substitute we have found is minty flavored gum peeled fresh from shoe soles. Still only good for light duty applications, and will not support the weight of a large painting or live cat.

Carbide bits will work. Hopefully you will have a variable speed drill. Don't run the drill full speed. Start off slowly and find a speed where the drill does the most work, without excessive heat buildup. Clean the hole out often. Take your time.

I'd think a star drill and hammer would be more culturally correct. And easier to find.

Good luck

If you can't find a place which sells over the counter drill bits and other machine tools, try the big hardware chains they should have what is called masonry bits. These come as small as a 1/4 in, which is the size of the plastic blue anchor. You also can buy the anchors and screws together.

Duct Tape! It works on "The Red Green Show"!

Been here two years. Haven't seen a roll of duct tape yet. Red Green is desperately needed here. Along with duct tape, good cheese, decent bread, and a thousand other hallmarks of western civilization that might prove useful. So far we have contributed Microsoft, jeans, sneakers, and mobile phones. I don't know if they will ever forgive us.

And do not forget splines.

Actually, Bosch makes an awesome tool.

So go with the sds if you can't find a percussion drill and bits.

I have used a Bosch hammer drill with SDS bits for many years. For working around your home, it is way too large. Your best way would be to use a small to medium size battery drill. They are a lot easier to handle and you can use them for many other tasks. Buy a couple of carbide tipped bits and drill away. Buy some regular drill bits and some screw bits to expand the use of your drill.

Many thanks to all who have replied to this question. Your advice will be useful in the very near future as the perfect drilling implement is hunted, bagged, and brought back to the cave. You will soon be able to recognize my home with ease. It will be the one that looks like a Swiss cheese with light radiating from every hole at night. It will be a beautiful thing, but of questionable thermal efficiency.

Thanks again, folks.

All the best.

I was recently in Costa Rica looking for a certain tool, my Spanish is nil, so I found a picture of what I needed on the internet. A quick download and print and then off to the store. In less than five minutes, I had my tool. A picture is worth a thousand words in more than one language.

I am heading for my printer.

I can feel the approach of a new hammer drill. Soon. Soon.

TY mate !

hi Happy Fish,

an alternative method of hanging objects on the wall are wall hooks - those types which have small nails behind them that you can lightly hammer into the wall, such as these:

no need for noisy hammer drills. :D

HTH!

Previous posts have suggested that a SDS hammer drill maybe too large for application. I think what is more correct to say is that an SDS drill will not do the job. The drill has way too much hitting power and will simply shatter the wall. I agree that this is a hole, technically, but a plastic plug won't fill it. Some SDS capable drills can be operated without hammer and they would do the job if you drilled the hole without hammer. Masonry bits usually come in sets from China ( 4mm to 10mm ) for just a couple of bucks, but beware, they don't match the size requirement for the plugs. Many plugs come with a drill guage attached to the pack to make getting the right size easier. It is important to use the right size; too big and the plug won't grip, too small and it won't go in the hole, just right and you and Goldilocks will be happy together.

I think this could be overkill for what you want to do.

For normal "home" use, a standard drill with a carbide tipped bit will work fine 95% of the time. It just won't be as fast as a standard drill with a hammer mode.

The lack of a hammer mode only becomes a problem when drilling into poured concrete with large aggregate. If you hit a stone (aggregate), the carbide will get through EVENTUALLY. But it is painfully SLOW going.

I like BOSCH power tools, but they are usually more (quality and cost) than I need for general home use. Aren't the BOSCH power tool factories located in China?

This outa work for ya.