Our Blog

The Ultimate Buying Guide to SDS Drill Bits

SDS masonry bits are most commonly used in post-installation of anchors in concrete construction and masonry applications such as stone or brick. If you work as a trades professional, there are advantages and disadvantages to using different SDS drill bits.

Before you purchase your SDS masonry bits it’s important to make sure they’re compatible with your current drill. Another consideration to make is the application. What diameter hole are you drilling? What are you drilling into? Concrete, stone, brick? Are there concrete dust dangers? These questions can be absolutely paramount to the success of your project. Once you have these under control, you can move onto your bit types and features.

The Ultimate Buying Guide to SDS Drill Bits

There are key features to look for when selecting any SDS bit. Including:

Carbide tips
Tip design
Flute amount and design
Dustless drill bits

Carbide Tips

SDS bits undergo some serious pressures and friction when drilling, generating heat and affecting the integrity of the bit. That’s why our SDS bits use tungsten carbide.

Tungsten carbide-enhanced SDS drill bits are approximately twice as stiff as steel and effectively shed heat. The tip material maintains a sharp cutting edge better than steel tools, allowing for a smoother finish and efficient material removal.

Other brands often can use titanium carbide which while harder, doesn’t shed heat as well. It’s thermal conductivity is much higher than tungsten carbide, which will bleed into the rest of the steel bit, reducing it’s working life.

Tip Design

As most masonry bits will have different tips, their integration into the steel flutes and spline vary amongst brands. Key design features to look for will be if the tip is welded or inserted. But what’s the difference?

Welded tip designs have faster performance in material removal thanks to the flutes being closer to the tip. Inserted or recessed tips can stay sharper for longer, but are often only used for softer materials. Insert tips will leave more dust that will mean more cleaning and brushing out the hole.

The next thing to look for is the tip layout. Various SDS bits will have:

Crossed tips that can provide more performance through rebar, but leave more dust. Bits with cutting tips attached to the flutes extract concrete dust more efficiently than those with crossed design.
Chamfered rebar carbide tips balance the efficiency needed to demolish through rebar and the working life of the bit. Always look for chamfered tips to increase the use you get out of the bit.
Multi-cutter or Y-cutter bits are often found on dustless drill bits to efficiently move dust into the vacuum holes. But they can also be found on SDS Plus and SDS Max bits. On standard bits these designs can not be as useful due to their inserted tip design.

Flute Amount & Design

Flutes run up the shaft to the spline to remove dust efficient and prevent clogging of the tip. A large distance between tip and flute can prove detrimental but so can the flute amount and design.

The amount of flutes are typically defined by the tip design. The more flutes you have, the more material will be removed at a fast pace. However, it’s important to note that both too many and too few flutes can cause problems. Bits with 3 to 4 can be the best compromise for drilling into concrete and masonry.

Higher flute design, that is flutes with a less rotations, allow for greater dust removal while shallower and tighter flutes can be prone to clogging at the tip. Shorter flutes require less pressure while drilling but don’t remove as much material which will slow down the job at hand.

Dustless or Hollow Drill Bits

Dustless drill bits get their own special mention. New on the market, dustless drill bits use their tips and holes to draw the dust away from the bit and into a vacuum pathway as your drilling. This allows for cleaner working conditions and more efficient drilling, especially when concrete silica dust is of concern.

The vacuum holes is an up-to-date solution to an age old problem of concrete dust clogging drill holes usually leaving incomplete holes. The vacuum holes draws the dust past the bit, leaving clean and clear drill holes. Used in chemical anchoring applications, dustless drill bits can eliminate the need to blow and brush holes before injecting chemical anchors.

Dustless drill bits can also reduce exposure to crystalline silica, commonly referred to silica dust. Silica dust is released from masonry materials when crushed, drilled, sawed, or polished. The fine particles from masonry that slip into the respiratory system can have catastrophic health outcomes, causing incapacitating and debilitating health conditions with high exposure. Dustless drill bits help as an engineered control as the extract the silica laden concrete dust before it becomes airborne.

Dustless drill bits come in both SDS Plus and SDS Max with many tip designs. Regardless of the type of drill bit, these bits are efficient and leave little to no room for error when drilling and anchoring.

5 Pieces SDS Carbide Tipped Drill Bits Set

1/4″ – 1/2″ 5 Piece SDS-Plus Hammer Drill Bits Set

Concrete Hammer Cross Tip 4 Cutters 4 Flutes SDS Plus Drill Bit

SDS Plus Hammer Drill Bits for Concrete Cement with Rebar

China SDS Plus Bits with Carbide Single Tip S4 Flute

SDS Max Rotary Hammer Carbide Tip Drill Bit for Masonry Concrete Stone

6mm Long Single Tip SDS Plus Drill Bit

Electric 40 Cr Steel SDS Plus Hammer Masonry Concrete Drill Bit