Dewalt has recently come out with new hollow SDS drill bits, which feature built-in dust collection. With bits extracting dust while drilling, there’s less dust, users can work faster, and holes are ready for adhesive anchors.
These new hollow SDS drill bits connect to Dewalt’s Airlock System, which I take to mean that they attach to Dewalt dust extractors without the need for additional adapters.
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The bits are said to be OSHA Table 1 compliant.
(From what I could find (via OSHA, PDF), the goal is achieve low enough dust to as not need respiratory protection. Look at part (vii) for rotary hammer guidance.)
If you use these bits with another dust extractor, you might need an adapter. Also be sure that the vac is HEPA rated.
Above is a smaller diameter SDS Plus bit.
Larger diameter SDS Max hollow masonry drill bits have a different tip profile, which makes sense – larger drill bits create more dust.
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Each drill bit has on-board dust extractor port, located towards the base near the tool connection point.
Sample Pricing
- 1/2″ SDS Plus Bit (DWA54012): $61
- 9/16″ SDS Plus Bit (DWA54916): $67-$72
- 5/8″ SDS Max Bit (DWA58058): $154
Buy Now(via Amazon)
Compare(Bosch Speed Clean Bits)
First Thoughts
We first saw hollow masonry drill bits from Hilti, and Bosch also came out with their own hollow Speed Clean bits, also with built-in dust extraction connections.
There’s also the option of on-tool dust extraction, which can lead to a more portable solution, especially when talking about cordless solutions.
But compared to using an on-tool solution, using a hollow bit lightens the load by adding only a little weight to your setup. There is of course the added hassle of working with a dust extractor hose and in most cases a corded vacuum.
There are 2 advantages to hollow drill bits. First, less dust in the air means improved worker safety. That’s a big deal since silica is not something anyone should be breathing in.
Second, it cleans out holes fast. Well, they’re said to clean out holes fast. I’ve yet to demo any hollow SDS drill bits. But I can’t imagine that they don’t work as advertised. As you drill, you powderize material at the bottom of a hole. As the dust is created, it’s sucked through the drill bit tip and makes it way to the dust extractor.
The result should be a clean and clear hole. There shouldn’t be any need to vacuum or brush out the holes afterwards. Once the hole is drilled, it should be ready to receive an adhesive or mechanical anchor.
A big downside is in the price – these bits are a lot costlier than traditional SDS drill bits. But you like your lungs, right? And there are cost savings in working faster.
If you do a lot of masonry drilling, will you be buying these or other hollow SDS drill bits? What do you do now to minimize dust?
fred
Fits right in with new OSHA rules:
https://www.osha.gov/silica/index.html
Matt
We’ve been using the Hilti bits for a couple years now. I can say that they definitely work as advertised. In my opinion the holes drill a little faster with the vacuum bits. As Stuart said the only discernible downside is the price. If you can get past that they’re great!
Wayne Ruffner
These would be useful in datacenters where smoke detectors have released Halon (& its replacements) after detecting the concrete dust. Of course, systems should be in a safe-state when running making the holes but it doesn’t always get done.
Plus, if you’re really trying to tame dust as it’s collected, two guys are needed, one for the rotary hammer, one for the stupid vacuum. Unless you’re using these, of course.
Drew M
Sounds like they’re using photo smoke sensors which can be set off by all sorts of surprising things.
I helped on a fire alarm system inspection once inside a Verizon switching center. IIRC, they had roughly $2M worth of Halon in there and the lead inspector was EXTREMELY nervous.
Corey Moore
That’s my job! just finished a bunch of Halon inspections with nervous helpers haha photo electric smokes do set off easily for dust, condensation, any kind of particulate that creates obscuration within the sensor
Nathan
also with the dust getting out of the hole and around the bit working area – it might prolong bit life and might speed up hole making.
seems reasonable.
Paul
I have wondered about these dust extraction systems. Would they work with (or rather, would this be any advantage) to use a small dust cyclone separator? I don’t work with concrete but I do wood work on site more and more. I would blow through filters and bags without my cyclone.
I wish that my shop vac had a mount for a tough box or tstak, etc that I could then mount the cyclone on. All of the dust would be in the case that I could open and dump (compared to the bucket next to the vac). Bosch and festool have mounts for L-Boxes and systainers (and DeWalt has a base adapter for the tstak in Europe). Those options are hardly air tight but I imagine that some enterprising person could make that work. The tough boxes would be a better starting place since there is already a gasket seal but there is nothing that dewalt makes to stack those on a vac.
While I am rambling: My Home Depot has the Christmas rolling tough box on sale, I am thinking about mounting the cyclone onto a flange that would be able to connect to another flange in a hole in the box lid. My cyclone is too large to fit in the box but I could store all of the hoses and other parts in there for storage. Thoughts?
Michael
If they make spline hammer drill bits like this, that would be great for industrial / commercial use.
casey
Just got this https://m.aliexpress.com/search.htm?keywords=drill+dust+cover#/
Bruce
I might try the Hilti version. I’ve found Dewalt SDS bits to be made of some soft cheezium alloy.
Ross Jones
We bought a few 1/2″ bits and a few Dewalt HEPA vacs. The new OSHA rules on silica dust pushed us to try this. We install conveyor systems and drill a lot of concrete holes. The few test holes were amazing. No dust piles and nothing on the floor to obstruct the drill bit. For smaller holes we are trying a Festool dust nozzle that attaches to the vac. It also worked very well. How long the bits will last is a question that will be answered later.