Choosing size for masonry drilling

Section62

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

I did use hammer mode when I reached the brick. The 2nd hole seems even tougher, after a minute I made no progress..! Over worrying that I'm doing something wrong. Either way seems like I need to buy new screws after all

I think the drill bit might be part of the problem, cheap ones start well, but soon wear down or break. The more you drill with the bit, the less easy it becomes.  The one in your latest picture doesn't have much in the way of a discernable tip (compare with the 5.5mm one in your earlier pictures) so is either worn, or wasn't very good to start with.

The bit used for pilot drilling does most of the hard work, so it is worth paying for a decent quality one.  Opening holes up to a larger diameter is less hard work so you can often get away with poorer quality ones for that.

I got a few of these recently, still inexpensive, but worked reasonably well in some unusually hard bricks...
https://www.toolstation.com/masonry-drill-bit/p76174

But if you do have an SDS drill then get a set of SDS bits to go with it. You won't regret the expense.

neilmcl

A couple of things to note. Firstly that bit isn't correctly seated in the drill, also do you have a hammer function on the drill and did you use it when your reached the block/brick?

I know we've been over this before but Is the wall plug you're using adequate length for that screw? It should hold fine in just plaster/plasterboard.

Eldi_Dos

Does anyone know of a mnemonic for remembering colour of plugs to size of drills 

grumbler

stuart45 said:

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

The house is 1900s though the part I'm drilling in should be newer. I believe its plaster rather than plaster board. 

I did use hammer mode when I reached the brick. The 2nd hole seems even tougher, after a minute I made no progress..! Over worrying that I'm doing something wrong. Either way seems like I need to buy new screws after all

You need a more powerful drill. It depends what kind of brick or block you are going into.

I drilled concrete, let alone all sorts of bricks, even with my Bosch PSB 1080. 

Of course, I don't mean 10-12mm holes.

Section62 said:

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

I did use hammer mode when I reached the brick. The 2nd hole seems even tougher, after a minute I made no progress..! Over worrying that I'm doing something wrong. Either way seems like I need to buy new screws after all

I think the drill bit might be part of the problem, cheap ones start well, but soon wear down or break. The more you drill with the bit, the less easy it becomes.

It's not that important in the hammer mode. Most SDS drillbits are inherently blant

stuart45

Well the drill he's using doesn't seem to be powerful enough. The problem with a lower powered drill is that it's not hammering the bit through quick enough, so it burns out quicker. 
Where I live a lot of the houses are built with Chert, and a drill like that wouldn't touch it, whatever bit you used. A lot of people I've done jobs for tell me they can't get a hole in the wall, but using a Titan that delivers 10J and some Milwaukee bits it goes straight through. Using a more powerful drill makes the bits last much longer.

FreshlyCutFlowers

neilmcl said:

A couple of things to note. Firstly that bit isn't correctly seated in the drill, also do you have a hammer function on the drill and did you use it when your reached the block/brick?

I know we've been over this before but Is the wall plug you're using adequate length for that screw? It should hold fine in just plaster/plasterboard.

Drill has hammer function and I used it, it's bosch gsb 18v-55.

Plugs look long enough to me but only a small part of the plug will enter in brick/masonry.

I hadn't noticed but does indeed look like the 3mm drill pictured on the left took some damage to the sides of the head, that's after just 1 of 8 holes of brick..! (or 2 if counting the one that didn't go far).

It's a 7 piece set I got recommended at screwfix, was thinking I'd gotten the right thing.

Drill not being attached properly : I just put it as far in as it goes and tightened until it stopped 'grinding' and I got that 'click'. 

neilmcl

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

neilmcl said:

A couple of things to note. Firstly that bit isn't correctly seated in the drill, also do you have a hammer function on the drill and did you use it when your reached the block/brick?

I know we've been over this before but Is the wall plug you're using adequate length for that screw? It should hold fine in just plaster/plasterboard.

Drill has hammer function and I used it, it's bosch gsb 18v-55.

Plugs look long enough to me but only a small part of the plug will enter in brick/masonry.

I hadn't noticed but does indeed look like the 3mm drill pictured on the left took some damage to the sides of the head, that's after just 1 of 8 holes of brick..! (or 2 if counting the one that didn't go far).

It's a 7 piece set I got recommended at screwfix, was thinking I'd gotten the right thing.

Drill not being attached properly : I just put it as far in as it goes and tightened until it stopped 'grinding' and I got that 'click'. 

You can see from your earlier pic that the drill bit isn't centred correctly in the chuck. Also when you used the hammer function did you press down on the drill as you used it. The hammer function won't engage unless you push down on the drill, but not so hard as to prevent the drill from doing it's job. Also set the torque to it's highest setting.

Again, that wall plug will be fine even if most of it's in plaster. Just how much of that screw will actually be in the wall, how thick is the gate attachment/bracket going to be that you're screwing down onto?

FreshlyCutFlowers

neilmcl said:

FreshlyCutFlowers said:

neilmcl said:

A couple of things to note. Firstly that bit isn't correctly seated in the drill, also do you have a hammer function on the drill and did you use it when your reached the block/brick?

I know we've been over this before but Is the wall plug you're using adequate length for that screw? It should hold fine in just plaster/plasterboard.

Drill has hammer function and I used it, it's bosch gsb 18v-55.

Plugs look long enough to me but only a small part of the plug will enter in brick/masonry.

I hadn't noticed but does indeed look like the 3mm drill pictured on the left took some damage to the sides of the head, that's after just 1 of 8 holes of brick..! (or 2 if counting the one that didn't go far).

It's a 7 piece set I got recommended at screwfix, was thinking I'd gotten the right thing.

Drill not being attached properly : I just put it as far in as it goes and tightened until it stopped 'grinding' and I got that 'click'. 

You can see from your earlier pic that the drill bit isn't centred correctly in the chuck. Also when you used the hammer function did you press down on the drill as you used it. The hammer function won't engage unless you push down on the drill, but not so hard as to prevent the drill from doing it's job. Also set the torque to it's highest setting.

Again, that wall plug will be fine even if most of it's in plaster. Just how much of that screw will actually be in the wall, how thick is the gate attachment/bracket going to be that you're screwing down onto?

Not very thick, leaves a little space in the end of the plug only


Drill bit :Hm i may have just not attached it properly when I put it back in to show length of plaster. 

stuart45

grumbler said:

It's not that important in the hammer mode. Most SDS drillbits are inherently blant

A masonry bit is still less effective once it starts to burn out. I did a job last year boarding out a room for a customer that needed 2x2 battens fixed to the walls in really hard stone. First day used my Bosch corded drill, but was burning out the bits too quickly, so had to go home for the Titan which made life much easier. Even then there comes a point when the bit is finished.

FreeBear

Tip for putting small drill bits in to a chuck - Close the chuck right up, and then open it up until the shank of the bit slides in. Then do the chuck up good & tight.

If you try closing the chuck down on to a small bit, there is a good chance that it will slip between two of the three jaws.