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Please excuse my ignorance, I'm fairly new to DIY.

I keep reading how masonry drill bits wear down quickly. As I'm preparing for a day of serious hammer drilling dozens of holes into concrete walls at a remote location, I'm wondering how many drill bits I need to bring. How many holes can a single masonry drill bit realistically be expected to make before needing replacement?

I have searched the web and YouTube for all kinds of phrases and terms, but can't seem to find any quality assessments the same way as for example screwdriver bits are often tested.

I realize the answer relies heavily on the quality of the bit, proper usage, etc. But I really have no idea right now. I'm intending to buy Irwin SpeedHammer bits, which I believe are a reasonable quality. I will try to prevent bits from getting too hot.

Should I expect 10 holes? 100? 1000?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Rob de Jonge
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3 Answers3

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I can't give an exhaustive scientific answer, but I have plenty of hammerdrilling experience, both with SDS bits and smooth shank bits. I have a Bosch Bulldog and seeing that you'll be drilling for hours into concrete, would strongly encourage you to be using this or some other SDS handling tool:

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It depends on the diameter of your bit and how deep each hole is - I have drilled hundreds of holes with my half inch SDS bit without any sign of weakening (though moderate wear on the tip is apparent). But whether SDS or smooth shank, a 3/16" bit such as is used for drilling for 1/4" masonry lags can be expected to drill, oh, my best guess is maybe 200 3-inch holes before becoming significantly dull (breaking is almost always user error). This is assuming concrete without foreign objects.

Perhaps due to your remote location, you are stuck with a non-SDS battery hammerdrill. Those Irwin bits should work okay in that case, just at least twice as slow as the SDS system (which is why I would really encourage you to get your hands on the SDS drill).

In the final analysis, I would calculate one bit per hundred holes if you're using 3/16" bits. You will probably break some.

Daniel
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I would say it’s heavily dependent on how hard the brick is. Not all bricks are the same. Obviously softer bricks lengthen the lifespan of a bit and really hard Bricks will really take a toll on the bit even after one or two holes

Michael Margolis
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I just drilled 3.5 holes in brick and used (up) THREE bits to do it. And yes the 4th hole is unfinished. Unbeliveable!

MikeB
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