Rotary hammers are used primarily for drilling through concrete. Compared to regular drills or hammer drills, rotary hammers are designed to deliver large amounts of impact force at a high rate, and this action makes them very effective for drilling through even aged concrete.
The hammering force they can put out also makes them especially suited for drilling into similar materials like brick, masonry, stone and dirt.
Many rotary hammers also have a setting that lets you select a “hammer only” mode. This mode let you use a rotary hammer as something similar to a jackhammer, and with the right chisel, spade or tamping attachments, you can do more than just drill.
You can do a bit of surface prep by removing grout, tile, and excess concrete. You can chisel into concrete sections to split them up and speed up demolition tasks. You can even use a rotary hammer to dig into hard clay, or make uniform sized holes in the ground.
1. Rotary Hammers Drill Through Concrete...
Rotary hammers may not be the fastest tools in terms of RPM, but their focus on impact force makes them especially suited for drilling through concrete. Rotary hammers are the tool of choice for quickly making holes into concrete with a half inch diameter or more – conventional drills and hammer drills simply don’t have enough impact to efficiently drill holes like these in concrete.
Rotary hammers, when equipped with extra long concrete drill bits, can also be used to make through-holes through concrete walls. Rotary hammer drill bits can go as long as one and half meters long, or up to two inches in diameter. The carbide tips on these bits, plus the relatively low RPM that a rotary hammer puts out, makes these concrete drill bits remarkably efficient (and cost effective) at what they do.
If you are drilling through concrete with rebar, there are rotary hammer bits for that, too. Rebar cutters, as these bits are sometimes known, can quickly eat through steel rebar and clear the way for your regular concrete bits to do their job.
2. Try A Rotary Hammer for Drilling Through Brick
Rotary hammers are also effective at drilling through brick and masonry walls. Drilling small 1/4 inch diameter holes into brick with a regular drill can be done, but for mounting larger objects that need to be anchored deeper into the wall, a rotary hammer is simply the more efficient way to go.
A rotary hammer with a carbide-tipped masonry bit can quickly cut through brick and mortar, but you may have to take steps to ensure that your brick will not crack during the drilling process. Starting pilot holes before following through with a drill bit of the appropriate size is always a good option.
If you have old, brittle brick, you may opt to place your fasteners into the mortar joints instead – that way, the fastener flexes against intact bricks.
3. Rotary Hammer for Drilling Through CMU Block
Just as you would expect, a rotary hammer works on walls made of CMU blocks just as effectively as it does with concrete. CMU, which is short for Concrete Masonry Unit, refers to the standard sized blocks made from cement and aggregates.
Cinder blocks are similar products that include other aggregates like coal cinders or ash, which make them lighter and less dense.
A rotary hammer with a carbide tipped concrete or masonry drill bit will efficiently drill holes into walls made of CMU blocks, even ones filled with concrete. A rotary hammer and will make installing wood studs and brackets a much faster job.
For installing fasteners and brackets on a wall made of concrete (not cinder) CMU, you usually want to put them into the CMU section with the solid “stud” part for added strength.
4. Rotary Hammers Are Good for Breaking Up Concrete
Rotary hammers, especially the bigger ones that can accept SDS Max or Spline shank bits and tools, are especially handy for breaking concrete. A rotary hammer with a chisel attachment lets you make precise breaks in a concrete slab if you ever need to remove a small portion of it.
If you are trying to find a broken water pipe under a concrete floor, a rotary hammer lets you chip away at a precise spot and take off just enough of the concrete slab to be able to make repairs.
To make a clean cut in concrete, most professionals use a concrete cutoff or demolition saw to start the cut while leaving a clean edge that can be neatly patched later. The cutoff or demolition saw is used to dig a clean line into the concrete for the rotary hammer to follow later.
Then, you can attach a breaking chisel attachment to your rotary hammer, and use it to chip away at the concrete next to the line. Stay inside the area that you want to break off, and work in small patches until you get to the bottom of the slab. Once you have made a gap in the slab, then you can use the rotary hammer to chip away at the rest of the area you want to break up.
Rotary hammers also have an extra versatility to them compared to tools like mini jackhammers and breaker hammers. Since they can drill as well as chisel, you can also use your rotary hammers to make starter holes to help the task go faster.
5. A Rotary Hammer for Brick Removal
Rotary hammers also let you safely remove one or two bricks from a brick wall with little to no damage to the surrounding bricks. There are brick removing chisels specially made for precisely digging into mortar, and you can use those along with the “hammer only” setting of your tool to cut around the brick you want to remove.
Since a rotary hammer can drill as well as chisel, too, you can also make a cleaner job of it by first drilling some starter holes in the mortar corners before you chisel the brick out.
6.Will A Rotary Hammer Work for Tile Removal?
Rotary hammers can be used for tile removal, and you have a few options with your tool. You can use a rotary hammer and a chisel bit designed to cut grout, and you can use it to remove just a tile or two to make room for an oversized drain.
Or you can put a chisel on your rotary hammer, set it to “hammer only” mode, and rip up all the tiles from the floor starting from an edge. The same tool also lets you clean up any grout remaining, and do a bit of surface preparation too for the floor you want to install in the place of the tiles.
7. Rotary Hammers for Climbing
Mountain and rock climbers have a limited time to make a leg of their route, and a rotary hammer can significantly help speed up the process of installing bolts and harnesses. A cordless rotary hammer is the perfect tool in situations like these. They’re easy to use, low RPM and will not kick back, and can deeply drill into solid rock efficiently.
8. Using A Rotary Hammer for Demolition
Rotary hammers are handy tools for any demolition job that deals with concrete, grout, tile or masonry. Put on a chisel bit on a rotary hammer, set it to “hammer only” mode, and you have a compact tool that lets you chisel and chip away. The rotary hammer can drill, too, which helps in setting up a few starter holes to help you break apart concrete and brick walls even faster, too.
9. Try To Use a Rotary Hammer for Digging
Rotary hammers can use spades and gouges to break up hard clay or solid ground. There is a variety of digging and trenching tools you can fit on a rotary hammer to help you quickly cut deep into soil and dirt, and the hammering action can quickly get you the depth you want to have the leverage to scoop out material.
10. Rotary Hammer for Driving Ground Rods?
A rotary hammer can safely drive ground rods with the right attachment, especially if you are working near a house wall that you don’t want to accidentally hit with a sledgehammer. It’s recommended that you always use a ground driving attachment on your rotary hammer and not use the chuck itself – the copper rod can get stuck if it swells up from the hammer hits.
11. Rotary Hammer for Steel?
Rotary hammers with a chisel attachment are very useful for metalworking. They can make small clean cuts on sheet metal with minimal burrs. A rotary hammer with a chisel will also make short work of weld splatters, and metal beads and slag left by plasma cutters and other metalworking processes.
12. Can I Use a Rotary Hammer for Drilling in Dirt?
Rotary hammers are also useful for digging deep, uniform holes in dirt and clay. There are post hole auger bits you can use to quickly excavate uniform holes in soil for fencing and other purposes. You can also use a helical drill bit for drilling deep holes for T-posts, and they work well even in rocky ground.
