Switched from a hammer drill to a rotary hammer for concrete anchors and wish I did it 6 months ago

Tried drilling into a parking garage wall for a camera mount last week and the hammer drill just bounced off the rebar, so I borrowed a buddy's Bosch rotary hammer and it went through like butter. Has anyone else made that swap and noticed a big difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.patricia25d ago

Ngl, the real difference nobody talks about is how much cleaner the holes come out with a rotary hammer. With a hammer drill you're basically chiseling your way through, leaving a ragged mess that makes anchors sit crooked. The rotary hammer's mechanism actually pulls the dust out and gives you a perfect bore every time, so your concrete anchors seat dead straight. That alone saved me from having to re-drill half my mounts.

the_rowan25d ago

Yeah that bit about the dust really hit home for me. I remember this one time I was putting up shelf brackets in my garage and the hammer drill just clogged up halfway through every single hole. I was out there with a shop vac blowing dust in my face for an hour. Ended up having to go buy a rotary hammer the next day and it was like night and day difference. The holes were smooth and the anchors actually sat flush without any wiggling. Made me wonder why I waited so long to switch over honestly.