Whats your opinion on core drills?

[mrlennie]

Hmm I see the advantages and disadvantages thanks guys very helpful

 

[Deleted member 25704]

I have spent over a grand on drills (1600 W boshe) and bits. The bosche purchase was led by local merchant rep, when I told of problem of drills burning out - this drill cost about £750 with VAT, but turned out to be a waste of time - it was so big that it was really one that required bolting to wall. It broke down, but after about two years I complained that it was unusuable - Bosche gave me a smaller drill, which is probably about £200 and its done the job since.

However, I stitch drill most of time, because I really don't think that core drills save you that much time, they are dangerous to use on ladders, and the bits don't last five minutes if your drilling in hard brick. My big drill had dust extraction connection which I connected to my Henry - not much difference.

Conclusion - Core drills ok if smaller, and for holes up to 50mm

 

[Halesowen1]

If you want a neat hole then core is a must, I reckon I get about 70 holes per core bit (5"). My Makita core drill cost me about £200, that was approx 8 years back and still as good as new.

 

[mrlennie]

If you want a neat hole then core is a mustQUOTE]

Thats the thing..is a neat hole a must?

 

[Halesowen1]

No a neat hole is not a must for some, I do try and do a neat job, if you stitch and hammer out a hole and a brick breaks etc, then you end up patching and making a mess.
But obviously sometimes neatness is not needed. But a good core drill and bit and I dont see much difference in speed to drill and hammer.
So its what you like and see best for you, no wrong or right answer only opinions.

 

[Deleted member 25704]

If you want a neat hole then core is a must, I reckon I get about 70 holes per core bit (5"). My Makita core drill cost me about £200, that was approx 8 years back and still as good as new.

I was advised to buy the Makita, wish I had.

 

[Puddle]

£ 200 for a core drill !! Wants to last for 700 holes drilled,I think I paid about £40.00 for my last one a few years back,still going strong ,mind you couple of the good things about London area,old brickwork is really soft/easy to cut through and floor boards are not tough and grooved.so easy to get up,can imagine if cutting through tough walls in the north more,would not last as well

With the flue systems we have now,heights and the tight spaces we have to work in ,think even if I wanted to,would not be able to knock holes through wall by hand on about 15% to 20% of flues I put in

A core drill must pay for itself in time saved making hole and the making good

imho

 

[Halesowen1]

Puddle what i meant was 70 holes per core bit, my drill has probably done 500 Core holes so far.

 

[julesverne]

the amount of time a core drill saves you, more than makes them worth there while and money.

 

[< 0.004 = :-)]

some of the stone up here is rock hard , old tenements with 27" thick walls .
sometimes worthwhile paying £50-60 to have it cored in 15mins by the pros rather than spend a couple of hours toiling through it myself. the pro cans are longer so require less stop-starting to remove cores and , and add extensions . they also seem to cut much faster wet or dry than the standard depth cans.watched them tapping and filing the tips when the core stopped cutting through the stone as quick, they said it was to re-expose the diamond edge, seemed to work anyway.

 

[tamz]

Craigleith stone:crazy:

 

[Phil]

I have a 127mm core bit and it goes through most brick and stone no problems from the inside out, but the pain is with a soil branch for example there always needs to be a 110mm elbow half burried in the wall so you need to go up the ladder with an SDS chisel anyway.

 

[< 0.004 = :-)]

Craigleith stone:crazy:

lol , was going to mention craigleith in last post tam, hard as a whoors hert . what do the boys in the the granite city use ? it s a place i v never been , plenty graft up there though , seems to be recession proof with all the oil money .

 

[tamz]

what do the boys in the the granite city use ? it s a place i v never been , plenty graft up there though , seems to be recession proof with all the oil money .

Was just talking to a mate in the pub yesterday about that as he was working up there for a while. 1st one he did they cored it their selves.....5hrs. After that they got a drilling guy in with the gun on the jig thing. Took him 25 minutes!

 

[< 0.004 = :-)]

5 hours .... ouch and a new can required ?