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Impact drill or hammer drill

The impact drill or hammer drill is a must-have tool for any handyman. It features an advanced motor and impact mechanism that delivers powerful and fast drilling. What's more, its unique design enables drilling in concrete, brick, and stone with remarkable ease. With a hammer drill, you can accurately control the speed, power, and torque for various surface materials. Additionally, it boasts a lightweight construction, making it highly maneuverable and portable as you work from one area to the next. With an impact drill, you'll be able to tackle any drilling job quickly and efficiently!

What to choose: an impact drill or hammer drill, what characteristics should you pay attention to?

Every day it became more distinct, and the need for it increased like a snowball. It was necessary to drill a couple of dozen holes in the wall, ceiling and floor, the available punch and hammer did not please with the laboriousness of the work. Who among us has not faced a similar problem? And when we come to the store, we have to make a “hard” choice between a hammer drill and a hammer drill.

Looking at the stands in large tool stores, we will see dozens of items similar in properties to “wall punching machines”. And which brands: “BOSCH”, “DEWALT”, “BLACK&DECKER “,” MAKITA “, and other no less worthy manufacturers. But what if we need one and, preferably, for all occasions.

Let’s talk first about the main technical characteristics:

  • rated power – it is clear that the more power, the easier it will be for you to do any job;
  • idling speed (number of revolutions);
  • hole diameter for different materials in impact mode.

But most of the impact drills and rock drills produced today have other interesting features:

  • regulation of the rotation speed – the speed depends either on the force of pressing the start button, or is set on a special dial;
  • there are also models with a processor that chooses and maintains the optimal rotation speed itself, depending on the type of material you choose and the diameter of the drill itself;
  • trigger lock button in working position;
  • reverse – the ability to rotate the drill in both directions, this is convenient if you need to unscrew the screw, as well as when the drill gets stuck in the material being processed.

How the hammer drill and hammer drill works

The principle of punching holes with an impact drill is that the rotation and impact action on the drills is transmitted from two ratchets in contact, while the impact amplitude is small, which significantly reduces its efficiency, the force with which you need to press on the tool and vibration.

There are two-speed impact drills, according to the principle of operation, their mechanism can be compared with an automatic transmission of a car, due to this, they use the power of the tool more rationally.
Inside the punch, there is an electromechanical or electro-pneumatic percussion mechanism, which itself produces a blow, you just have to press a button. When working with a hammer drill, you do not need to exert effort. The rock drill is more durable when working with hard materials.

Consider, for a start, an impact drill from all sides.

Everyone has a long familiar shape in the form of a pistol, a collet metal cartridge. The power varies from 400 to 1200W. Possibility to regulate the rotation speed up to 3500 rpm, the “drilling” / “chiseling” mode switch, the trigger lock button in the working position. Here is the “gentleman’s set” that you will find in all the famous brands of hammer drills..

What can be squeezed out of the above?

  • the ability to drill holes in metal, wood, masonry, and drilling in concrete requires the most powerful tool from the model range of almost any company;
  • at low speeds and the corresponding nozzles, it is convenient to wrap screws, screws, self-tapping screws;
  • with additional accessories, you can use an impact drill as a grinder, grinder, stationary drill.

Of course, the higher the power of the hammer drill, the easier it is to punch the hole of the largest diameter, but at the same time the mass of the tool increases. For example, from the same manufacturer, with a power of 400W, an impact drill can weigh 1.4kg, and at 900W it can already weigh 2.5kg.

In terms of reliability, the quality of the tools of the above companies is beyond doubt. With proper operation (constant short-term work up to 40 s, high-quality sharp drills, both for wood and metal, and for concrete and brick, taking into account weather conditions, for example, work with a tool brought from the cold, start no earlier than 1.5-2 hours) will serve you for a long time.

Now let’s turn our eyes to more powerful from 800 to 1500 W, heavy from 2 to 11 kg perforators. In contrast to impact drills, they are more overall, the motor of perforators can be located both horizontally (in the form of a pistol) and vertically (in more powerful models). They have an SDS chuck (to change the drill, just pull the chuck towards you) and the corresponding tooling.

You will appreciate a hammer drill if you need to drill holes in hard materials: for example, reinforced concrete or stone, it can drill large holes, with a hammer drill you can easily make a small hole in a solid wall or floor. And professional rock drills can also replace a jackhammer.

The technical characteristics of perforators indicate the force (energy) of the blow and the frequency of blows per minute. The first varies from 2.2 to 3J, and in professional punchers, for example, from 2 to 10J or from 5 to 18J. The second depends on the power and can be 4 4.5 thousand beats / min for less powerful and 2 3 thousand beats per minute for more powerful ones. There are usually two modes for drilling and chiselling, but sometimes there is also a combined mode. On hammer drills of low power there is a possibility of speed regulation, and, therefore, it is possible to use it as a screwdriver. But in view of the larger dimensions than that of an impact drill, this becomes more laborious.

It should be noted that due to the construction of the perforator, the passage of one centimeter deep into the concrete wall is several times faster than that of an impact drill. During work, it is not recommended to press on the tool, put it on the mark, press the button, and it will do everything by itself. In the case of a hammer drill, the expression “like a hot knife in butter” is very suitable.

So what should you choose? This largely depends on your desire and upcoming work. But, for example, if you yourself assemble and hang a kitchen and a couple of paintings at home, then, of course, we choose an impact drill. If you just moved into a new apartment, and you have to: chisel the walls, cut the jambs, hammer the floor, you definitely need a puncher.

The economic factor is also important, because a hammer drill is about one and a half times more expensive than an impact drill of the same company. Rotary hammer drills are also more expensive than hammer drills.
As for the choice of a professional or household tool, the main difference between them is that a professional tool is designed for constant serious loads, and a household tool is designed for periodic use..

Let’s take a look at the front of the upcoming work, look inside your wallet, and forward, for the tool you need.

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Comments: 1
  1. Josiah Mitchell

    Which drill is better for heavy-duty tasks that require drilling into hard materials like concrete and masonry, an impact drill or a hammer drill?

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