Drilling into sheetrock or concrete produces a lot of fine dust. Most of us drilling a single hole to add an anchor will clean up with a dustbuster and call it a day. But for a professional tradesperson drilling dozens or hundreds of holes in a client's space, the dust produced would be unacceptable.
To capture this dust at the point of creation, Festool offers a Drill Dust Collection Nozzle:
This clever device exploits the suction power of a vacuum to not only extract all of the dust produced, but to hold itself in place as well, allowing you to keep both hands on your hammer drill:
Milwaukee and Bosch have similar products that run $50 and $60, respectively. Festool's is uncharacteristically cheaper at $23, and I just ordered one. Partially out of curiosity and partially because I've got some concrete drilling in my future; the house I'm now living in has thick, energy-efficient concrete walls. I'll report back on whether or not the device is effective and was worth the money.
By the bye, I'm also looking into picking up a corded hammer drill, and Bosch's 8-amp 11255VSR Bulldog is looking good to me, for both price and reviews. If any of you have any reliable hammer drill recommendations, I'm all ears (as long as it's corded; I can't afford the cordless ones).)
https://www.protoolreviews.com/tag/shootout/ These guys have really solid tool reviews, aimed at construction trade professionals. The "shootouts" compare nearly every brand on the market in side-by-side testing, ranking them on various criteria. The one-tool reviews mostly ask, "good enough for a full time pro?", and the the answer is usually yes. By the way, you mentioned thick concrete walls, and then hammer drills. Make sure you are clear on when a hammer drill is good enough, and when you need a rotary hammer. For solid concrete, depending on what you are doing, you very likely want a rotary hammer. Concrete laughs at hammer drills. Rotary hammers laugh at concrete, go through it like butter. Renting a rotary hammer is easy and a whole lot cheaper than buying. Even the big box stores rent them out, including a bit.
Hilti makes amazing products. They are light weight, durable, properly supported by the company. They offer great dust collection as well. They are not cheap though. But I was just at a store yesterday and they are offering for 1000 that you can pick 5 of their tools. Just their cordless hammerdrill and vacuum is 800 by itself. I can't find the deal on line but just saw the flier at the store close to my work. If interested call them and ask. I am buying a set for work.
New OSHA laws have driven progress considerably. Makita one-upped Festool with an on-board HEPA vac so you don't need to manage a hose. It's nearly as light as the Festool BHC and it will let you run a chisel in it when you need to bust a tile out of a tight corner somewhere. https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/XRH01ZVX
I might be wrong but the festool’s dust collector is probably made for their 27mm vacuum hose and will not fit a typical 1-7/8 or 2.5” hose typical to our shopvacs. You might need to buy an adapter, or 3d print one. Or buy the 350$ festool vac!
I admit to not having done any research, but I have the Makita HR2641X1 and it's pretty awesome. For the same specs and price as the Bosch, you get a free beefy angle grinder!
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
Test it out; it only takes a single click to unsubscribe
Don't have an account? Join Now
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
Test it out; it only takes a single click to unsubscribe