I’ve been meaning to write about Irwin’s impact-rated masonry drill bits for some time now. They’re currently available at Amazon and presumably elsewhere – I haven’t checked – and seem like a great idea.
Think about it: hammer drills are great if you need to drill just a few holes in masonry materials. But for more than that, they kind of suck. For lots of holes or larger holes, you want a rotary hammer, which as you probably know is a completely different kind of beast.
Impact drivers can deliver a lot of torque, and they also have reactionless torque transmission. If you’re using an impact driver and a bit binds or jams, the tool won’t twist your wrists, or at least it shouldn’t. If the same happens in a drill or hammer drill, the tool will counter-rotate.
Or at least that’s what happens with most drills. Bosch makes some heavy-duty drills with wrist-saving anti-kickback safety sensors.
I recently noticed that Dewalt has just come out with impact-rated masonry drill bits of their own. I kept putting off a post about just the Irwin bits, but seeing Dewalt come out with their own drill bits of this style was enough to finally push my pen to paper.
Impact drivers typically offer higher speeds, reactionless torque, and greater max torque limits compared to drills.
If these bits take off, hammer drills might eventually lose their appeal. But I don’t think will happen.
Rotary-only masonry bits are lousy, at least the couple of ones I’ve used. Hammer drills deliver a vibratory-type of impact motion which, while nowhere near as effective as the piston-style hammering of a rotary hammer, should perform better than rotary-only action. If you use these bits in an impact driver, which do not provide any chipping-away-at-masonry-materials vibratory or impact motions, wouldn’t they perform worse than perhaps the same bit in a hammer drill?
Impact drivers are not hammer drills. Sometimes hammer drills are called impact drills, but they are still inherently different than impact drivers.
It’s like the difference between stirring a pot of sauce and mashing potatoes. One provides rotary impact pulses, and the other pulses in a perpendicular direction.
Part of me is psyched about these new impact-compatible masonry drill bits, but a bigger part of me wonders whether they’re any good. My feelings would be less mixed if these were impact-rated multi-material masonry bits.
Maybe I shouldn’t be so hasty to judge. Dewalt says their new Impact Ready masonry drill bits have an innovative flute design leading to faster material removal for easier drilling. They’re also sized for common Tapcon anchor installation.
Do you really need a rotary hammer or even a hammer drill for 1/4″, 3/16″, and 5/32″ hole sizes?
You can buy a 3pc set of the Dewalt bits for ~$14, and individual sizes are currently priced at ~$10 each. The Irwin bits, which are already shipping, are priced at ~$29 for a 6-piece set, and ~4-6 each. There’s also a smaller 5-piece set for ~$18.
Buy Now(Dewalt bits via Amazon)
Buy Now(Irwin bits via Amazon)
I probably wouldn’t hesitate to buy a pack of impact-rated masonry drill bits the next time I have to install a couple of smaller masonry anchor sizes. They sound convincing enough, but I still have my hesitations.
Although an impact driver lacks the vibratory action of hammer drills, which helps to break up masonry materials, this should also mean reduced vibration, and this a better user experience. So even if they don’t perform quite as well, they might be easier on your hands and arms.
Unrelated, but while we’re talking about masonry drill bits…
A while back someone asked for my opinion about masonry drill bits for hammer drills. Sorry, I have your email starred and flagged as unread, but haven’t finished the full Reader Question post about it yet. If you’re reading this, I’m going to have to say Bosch all the way – something like their 7pc set which is $24 via Amazon. I bought that set, or one very much like it, and added in one or two other sizes. Keep in mind that this and other sets often have duplicate bits of more delicate bit sizes.
In terms of impact-compatible masonry drill bits. Dewalt has worked hard to refresh their Impact Ready, FlexTorq, and MaxFit (what’s the difference?) impact-compatible lineups in recent years. Irwin also launched a new impact-compatible bit lineup in recent years. And while we’re on the subject, Milwaukee’s new Shockwave drill and driving bits are also coming out soon. But there hasn’t been much buzz from Bosch.
So while I tend to favor Bosch masonry drill bits, and of course SDS masonry drill bits as well, I don’t think that would stop me from wanting to try the Dewalt bits mentioned above, or maybe even the Irwin ones.