SDS Drill - Battery or Corded for old stone walls?

[Mark Lewis]

New place has 300 year old THICK stone walls - and I need to drill through them to run internet, starlink etc cables from outside to inside. I will also need to put a load of raw plugs into stone in the garage/barn. I will also need to do occasional chasing, etc (So basically DIY stuff - but in thick stone)

I have a load of Makita battery stuff but given I'm always going to be doing drilling at the house is corded going to be better (more powerful) - alos, whats TOO much power? If I need to wack raw plugs in a wall I suppose I don't want a massive heavy lump best used for chewing up driveways and stuff?

[dvs_dave]

Given your situation having both types is probably worth the investment. Right tool for the job, etc.

[Djtemeka]

If you’re going down the battery route, 18v won’t be good enough.
I have the dealt 54v sds and that’s a monster!

[LooneyTunes]

Mark Lewis said:

I need to drill through them to run internet, starlink etc cables from outside to inside.

You might be into core drill territory for the starlink cable. The captive connectors on the ends necessitate quite a large hole.

The Makita 18v SDS is good. Haven’t used fhe corded one since buying one. Their 40v SDS is better still. Haven’t used the 18v since buying that… it’s happy punching 32mm holes through thick walls. Do need decent drill bits though, and avoid overheating them.

[smifffymoto]

I have always gone for mains power for SDS as battery life and power have left me disappointed ,cost is also a factor.

[Rough101]

Bosch 24V SDS can do these jobs, but they are very expensive.

A second hand corded one for £40 on EBay will do the job.

[DoubleSix]

Makita 18v SDS will be fine with that, and if you have already got the batteries etc….

If you were coming at it completely fresh and you have plenty of tasks ahead of you then 40v might be tempting for sure, but somewhat overkill for DIY i reckon.

Edited by DoubleSix on Monday 11th November 07:40

[bigmowley]

For core drill holes you will need a good quality mains drill with an SDS chuck. The chuck is the limiting factor here as most of the bigger more powerful stuff has an SDS Max chuck, you can step down from Max to std chuck but it’s not that successful. Furthermore the bigger SDS Max stuff sometimes does not come with the drill only function which is essential for diamond tipped drills (rather than the drill and hammer function).
My recommendation is a Makita SDS mains drill. Over the years we have had them all but the blue Makita is by far the most robust and it has the best clutch function of any of them, very important with a core drill.
We have the Dewalt battery hammer drills for the inside stuff, but anything will do for that.
Incidentally it’s a Rawl plug, not a raw plug

[Mammasaid]

It depends on what the walls are mode up from. Sandstone? then cordless should be ok. Granite? corded all day, every day.

Also if you're drilling lots of holes, then you'll need at least 3 batteries (5aH) to keep going, otherwise you'll be waiting for batteries to charge.

[Baldchap]

I've got the 36v (2 X 18v LXT) SDS and there isn't a wall out there it won't go through. Often with older brick (for example) I swap to a standard 18v non-SDS drill due to it being quite aggressive in hammer mode. Certainly never struggled with any wall type and in your existing battery system.

Coupled with the rapid double charger and a couple of spare 5Ah batteries, I can destroy all day.

[Mr Pointy]

Given that it' a tool you'll only use occasionally just go for a cheap corded SDs drill like this Titan from Screwfix one:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb631sds-6-3kg-e...

£90 & you can just park it on the shelf for the next ten years & take it out once in a blue moon rather than regret spending multiple hundreds on a 32/40V battery device.

If you do end up need to core drill through feet of stone just hire the right tool for the day.

[Djtemeka]

Mr Pointy said:

Given that it' a tool you'll only use occasionally just go for a cheap corded SDs drill like this Titan from Screwfix one:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb631sds-6-3kg-e...

£90 & you can just park it on the shelf for the next ten years & take it out once in a blue moon rather than regret spending multiple hundreds on a 32/40V battery device.

If you do end up need to core drill through feet of stone just hire the right tool for the day.

This option makes the most sense

[Simpo Two]

Mark Lewis said:

raw plugs

When cooked they become rawlplugs

[DoubleSix]

Simpo Two said:

Mark Lewis said:

raw plugs

When cooked they become rawlplugs

And occasionally wall plugs also…

[boyse7en]

Mr Pointy said:

Given that it' a tool you'll only use occasionally just go for a cheap corded SDs drill like this Titan from Screwfix one:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb631sds-6-3kg-e...

£90 & you can just park it on the shelf for the next ten years & take it out once in a blue moon rather than regret spending multiple hundreds on a 32/40V battery device.

If you do end up need to core drill through feet of stone just hire the right tool for the day.

That's what i did 20 years ago, and mine is still in the shed for the few occasions i need it now. Having a cord (rather than cordless) is rarely an issue, and it means it keeps going when using it as a breaker.

One word of caution for the OP, no matter what SDS drill he gets. If the house is a properly old one made of cob/lime and random hard stones sometimes the hammer action of the drill will vibrate the stone causing all the surrounding mortar, and then the stone, to fall out. Instead of a nice 10mm hole through the wall you've suddenly got a 2ft wide gaping hole and a pile of mess on the floor.

[alock]

Mark Lewis said:

...

As in the youtube hyrox guy who likes doughnuts and is always showing us picture of his girlfriend in a bikini?

Great channel if it is you

[Mark Lewis]

Thanks for the advice folks. Off shopping now!!!

[Mark Lewis]

alock said:

As in the youtube hyrox guy who likes doughnuts and is always showing us picture of his girlfriend in a bikini?

Great channel if it is you

Thanks!

[shtu]

Djtemeka said:

Mr Pointy said:

Given that it' a tool you'll only use occasionally just go for a cheap corded SDs drill like this Titan from Screwfix one:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb631sds-6-3kg-e...

£90 & you can just park it on the shelf for the next ten years & take it out once in a blue moon rather than regret spending multiple hundreds on a 32/40V battery device.

If you do end up need to core drill through feet of stone just hire the right tool for the day.

This option makes the most sense

And even more so - for such an occasional-use tool, save £15 and buy the refurb one, https://www.screwfix.com/p/refurb-titan-ttb631sds-...

I'd bet most have been bought, drilled a hole or two, then returned under their 30-day "unwanted item" policy.

For rawlplugs and the like, whatever hammer drill you already have will be man enough.

[bridge87]

boyse7en said:

One word of caution for the OP, no matter what SDS drill he gets. If the house is a properly old one made of cob/lime and random hard stones sometimes the hammer action of the drill will vibrate the stone causing all the surrounding mortar, and then the stone, to fall out. Instead of a nice 10mm hole through the wall you've suddenly got a 2ft wide gaping hole and a pile of mess on the floor.

I'd echo this, don't over-load the drill when going through. It will likely be a rubble infill in the wall, so depending on the hole size vs what is going through you may need to shore up the hole.

Having done similar for cables on mine, I used a 1m sds bit (only slightly larger than the cable) and didn't apply too much force.
Once it's through, feed the cable from the opposite side as the drill bit is removed. If the bit is loose, the cable can be taped to the bit and used to draw it through.
This should prevent too much of the infill collapsing.