What are your tips for drilling into concrete?

Jason

When drilling into a concrete wall, don't go too deep. There is no need to do this and it could compromise the wall structure itself.

The easiest way to prevent this from happening is to take your fixing, hold it against the drill bit, and wrap a couple of rounds of PVC tape around the bit. When the tape is against the wall, you have drilled deep enough.

Also, when you first touch the bit to the concrete wall and start the drill, if you go full speed at the start, the drill bit will wander all over the place.

Start with a very gentle touch on the trigger until the bit digs into the concrete, then you can start to drill at full speed. Also make sure the hole you are drilling is perpendicular (90 degrees) with the wall. - MikeTNZ

MikeTNZ

The worst thing you can do to a hammer drill, is to use it.....incorrectly.

When drilling through something as hard as concrete, you need to be gentle with the thing that is doing the work for you.

I've seen multiple people, even tradies trying to force a blunt masonry through a tilt slab, there is no need for this at all.

Tungsten tipped drill bits have a maximum operating temperature before you ruin the head of the drill bit, go above that temperature and the

head of the drill will become blunt and will no longer drill at all.

Whenever you drill into concrete, get the bit started where you want it to be and let the drill do the work it was designed to!!

There is no need to put anything but light pressure on the drill unit, the bit will drill by itself.

Also, don't try and cool down a drill bit by pouring water in the hole, that will wreck the temper of the bit itself and will cause it to fail prematurely.

The tungsten tip needs to run at a certain scope of temperatures between 1500 & 2830 C, above this the tip will be blunted.

Having a forced drill bit can cause the tip temperature to rise above 3000C, as this is often the single point of contact while a hole is being drilled.

That might seem like a phenomenal amount of heat, but it is easily achievable when a bit is spinning at 1450 rpm.

Be aware of this when working with concrete and TCT drills.

I have had the same set of these drills for the last 8 years and they have had a lot of use, it is about how you look after your tools and drill bits.

Cheers,

Mike T.