How and what to drill

What, why and why we drill

Sometimes a seemingly simple task confuses us. Let’s say that all you need is to drill a hole in the wall. Hang a shelf there, or attach a hook useful in the household. But no, the nasty hole is not made as it should – it does not come out smoothly and neatly, your favorite kitchen cabinet hangs crookedly. Grandfather’s hammer and a nail will not save the situation – a nail with concrete will not cope. You cannot do without special tools in this process. We have conducted “field trials” and we authoritatively declare that drilling a beautiful hole is not an easy task at all. And it’s not even the drilling process itself, although some skills are desirable here, but the choice of a suitable drill and its sharpening. I will not try to describe all the subtleties here – you cannot grasp the immensity, but I will tell you about the most important points.

Never forget the basic rule: the cutting tool must be harder in structure than the material to be cut. This is understandable. Imagine that to drill a concrete wall, you use a drill that takes a material no harder than plastic. I can say one thing: you had a good drill … Now throw in the trash what is left of it, and immediately stop mocking the drill. Because in this case, nothing good will come of your venture: the drill must be chosen for each specific case.

For drilling wood, chipboard, soft and hard plastics and metals, an ordinary drill made of high-strength steel is suitable (roughly speaking, a simple “piece of hardware” without any “bells and whistles”). For stone, brick or concrete – a carbide drill. These drills have plates of hard (harder than concrete and stone) alloys soldered on the tip. As such, the win is usually used – hence the name “win drills”.

The drills are produced with a diameter of 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 mm. The shank of the drill is round, and for drills with a diameter of 12, 14, 16 mm – hex (for better fixing in the chuck). Price – from 26 to 130 rubles.

The serrated cutting edge design allows for fast and efficient drilling in concrete, even if the drill hits a rebar. The cutting edge is not afraid of high temperatures (they arise just in contact with the reinforcement). The improved groove design (shaped like a jug extended upwards) effectively removes dust. Tungsten carbide inserts are fastened using a solder that is more resistant to overheating (using a special technology and with the addition of copper) than conventional victory drills. The hole is practically chipped free at the edges.

Collection for stone work from “Bosch”

Blue Granite series for granite and other hard stones

Drill diameter from 3 to 20 mm. Price from 4 to 17 German marks (from 52 to 221 rubles) for one drill. The drills are designed for impact drills, extremely bending strength, more resistant when drilling concrete than simple winder drills. Precisely ground carbide insert; Helix shape with a deep U-shaped flute significantly reduces clogging of the drill bit.

And here is the paradox! The drill really famously cracked down on the imported granite facing slab, but for some reason it stumbled when drilling our ordinary domestic brick. No, I, of course, still “won” the brick and drilled it. But at the same time the drill howled so hysterically that even crying – before that, my dear, I felt sorry for her.

Series “Silver Percussion” – Impact drills designed specifically for work with masonry and the toughest concrete.

Diameter from 3 to 20 mm. Price from 2.5 to 60 German marks (from 32.5 to 780 rubles) for one drill. High bending strength, fast removal of drill chips. I don’t know what kind of concrete the wall I was practicing was made of, but the drill coped with it easily. By the way, my favorite brick was drilled faster than I could say: “Wow!” This has a certain disadvantage: it is difficult to control the final diameter of the hole – the drill instantly “breaks” it.

Impact series ideal for processing natural and artificial stones, brickwork.

Diameter from 3 to 25 mm. Price from 3 to 55 German marks (from 39 to 715 rubles) for one drill. I had no stones at my disposal – neither natural, nor any other, so I tried the drill again on a long-suffering brick. It turned out well, but the previous one “liked” my drill more: she practically “did not notice” the drilling process.

Drills series “Karat” – universal, suitable for almost any material (except for concrete and artificial stone – here the use of these drills is undesirable: blunt the drill and overload the drill).

Diameter from 3 to 14 mm. Price from 5.5 to 25 German marks (from 71.5 to 325 rubles) for one drill. Beautiful, neat holes are produced by sharpened cutting edges and centering sharpening. In principle, not bad (for universal) drills, but I am having some problems. When my drill was struggling with granite, judging by the heart-rending howl, she was very unhappy and experienced great overload. And when drilling an ordinary brick wall, the drill periodically clogged with crumbs and went as if in jerks.

What I really liked was that the hole in the tile really turned out to be perfectly clean, without chips. True, this hole turned out only the third time – apparently, here you also need to be able.

Drills series “Black Quartz” great for the treatment of roof tiles, ceramics or tiles.

Diameter from 3 to 14 mm. Price from 3.5 to 13 German marks (from 45.5 to 169 rubles) for one drill. Withstands heavy loads and makes extremely accurate and “correct” holes – clean, no chips. I can’t add anything from myself, except that all of the above is true. I checked it myself – the drill “gnaws” well on ceramics and tiles (I didn’t have any tiles). By the way, there are chips at the edges, but very small, they are practically invisible.

So, in general, my opinion is this: working with “highly specialized” drills is much more convenient. However, buying a “separate” set of drills for each specific material is quite expensive. So it all depends on how often you drill the walls: if once a year, then this series is the best option for you..

In addition to those listed and personally tested by me, in our stores there are other interesting collections of drills. But I didn’t work with them, so I don’t know any details. But in the future I will definitely try and tell you, dear readers.

In the following, we will definitely talk about what else you can do with a drill using various attachments. For example, I’ll show you how to use a diamond bit to cut a hole in a pipe. Or how to prepare a wall for painting with a drill. Or what and how else can be done with a drill (and its companions, attachments) necessary and useful in the household. Until then, good luck!!

Alexander Rubin