The technology of hammer drills has followed suit with other drill types where it is moving away from brushed motors to brushless and from AC powered to Battery-powered. There are 3 main types of hammer drills. A normal hammer drill, a rotary hammer drill, and a Slotted Drive System (or SDS for short) hammer drill. For any hammer drill no matter the style your focus should be on and blows per minute (BPM) rate.Normal hammer drills are pretty straightforward and use a vibrating motion to drill. They are designed for light to medium jobs such as shallow drilling into masonry or woodworking.SDS hammer drills allow it to be used on the biggest and toughest heavy-duty jobs. However, there are variations of SDS drills. Firstly there is the SDS and SDS+ types of tools. These use a 3/8 inch (10mm) shank bit and can be interchanged between each tool. Many of the models on the market currently let you switch between drill mode, hammer mode, or combo mode which utilizes both modes simultaneously. For the SDS Max hammer drills, you will need a larger shank bit. This is a 3/4 inch (18 mm) shank bit. Multiple types of bits are available for each drill. Everything from drilling bits, demolition bits, chisel bits, and coring bits up to about 6 inches in diameter. Rotary hammer drills differ from the other 2 types in their design. Rotary hammers have a drive piston that uses air to exert force on the fly piston which drives the hammering motion of the tool. Advanced timing mechanisms sync the drive piston motion with the electric motor that rotates the bit. Most rotary drills will have the ability to disable the hammering piston and some models have an option to use just the hammer only. Using the hammer-only mode turns your hammer drill into a great little chipping tool that can work wonders on tearing up linoleum or old bathroom tile. DeWalt, Makita, and Bosch all make both cordless and corded hammer drills. For big or tough jobs we absolutely recommend a corded AC-powered hammer drill such as the DEWALT Rotary Hammer/Drill Combination Kit, SDS MAX, 40mm (D25481K), or the Bosch 11255VSR Bulldog Xtreme. Both of these models actually give you the ability to choose between just rotary, just hammer, or a combo of rotary hammer functions with the turn of the dial.We haven’t discussed every brand of hammer drill on the market today so we would welcome any feedback on hammer drills that you might have. You can submit the feedback through the form at the bottom of the page.
