Since there is no other forum for this sort of thing, I'm putting it here. Recently, I've been rebuilding the outside decks on my house. After demolishing the old decks, I had a requirement to drill many, many large (1/2") holes through the exterior brick siding to allow me to screw the new ledger boards into the house's floor joists. I quickly learned my hammer drill, which easily drills cement, is completely insufficient for driling brick. In my first attempt, I drilled for about 20 minutes and didn't get through a single brick. So, after some research, I learned what I needed is called a rotary hammer. These electric monstrosities are quite expensive. So I shopped for a local tool rental where I could get one for a day. I was set up to pick up my tool on Saturday after Thanksgiving, but when I arrived at the store, they had decided to close for the rest of the week.
And then I remembered that I had a couple HF rotary hammers in a pile of power tools I bought at auction back in the Spring. Neither of them worked. But I took one apart and after fooling around for awhile, I realized that the "hammer" part was the problem. It was basically an air cylinder in which the front end of the hammer would slide back into the rear end and compress air that's trapped between the two ends. This scheme softened the "blow" a little using the compressed air as a sort of spring so the tool doesn't tear itself apart. The air had lone ago escaped and the hammer was simply collasped upon itself. Examination of the other unit revieled that it has the same problem. I realized the solution was to insert a spring into the hammer component so that it can recover on the upstroke and draw air back into it from an existing bleeder hole on the hammer. I found a nice spring at Home Depot that was nice and stiff and fit nicely in the hammer component. The unit now works perfectly and cuts through the brick easily. I was able to get both units working.
These tools have alot of problems, but sometimes, the problems can be easily corrected.
And then I remembered that I had a couple HF rotary hammers in a pile of power tools I bought at auction back in the Spring. Neither of them worked. But I took one apart and after fooling around for awhile, I realized that the "hammer" part was the problem. It was basically an air cylinder in which the front end of the hammer would slide back into the rear end and compress air that's trapped between the two ends. This scheme softened the "blow" a little using the compressed air as a sort of spring so the tool doesn't tear itself apart. The air had lone ago escaped and the hammer was simply collasped upon itself. Examination of the other unit revieled that it has the same problem. I realized the solution was to insert a spring into the hammer component so that it can recover on the upstroke and draw air back into it from an existing bleeder hole on the hammer. I found a nice spring at Home Depot that was nice and stiff and fit nicely in the hammer component. The unit now works perfectly and cuts through the brick easily. I was able to get both units working.
These tools have alot of problems, but sometimes, the problems can be easily corrected.
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