Thanks for doing this awesome testing Matt! Making a smooth concise video on it and sharing some great feedback. I think inexpensive bits have their place, like for people that don't mind carrying a few more bits, or don't wanna spend more money on some special-sized bits they might only use a couple times. Pros and cons to things.--- One thing I do with these bits is use the older ones (with more worn-down cutters) to drill more depth of the hole, then I chase it with a fresher/newer bit to get my desired hole size; (this is with 4-cutters though).
Again one of your excellent tests! Here in Europe Bosch 4-cutter bits are slightly cheaper (I bought one recently at less than 8 euros, that is about 13 AU$ so maybe buying "cheap" bits is less convenient. Anyway I'll try to replicate your test with EU-budget bits to see if there are any differences.
I've been collecting bits to test and this is really a pilot experiment to see how much drilling I might need to do. Lots, it turns out! I've also done this with some 2 cutter bits which generally drill faster but less neatly
Do you have any more tips for preserving drill bits? The rock I am bolting in is *extremely* hard (itabirite, it's a mix of quartzite and hematite/iron ore), to the point that I end up burning 1 or more drill bit for every hole (while in other types of rock they last dozens of holes), and take like 5-6 minutes to make a 70x10mm hole. I wonder if a stronger drill instead of a 18v hammer drill would help make better use of the drill bits in such hard rock. Other tips as well are really appreciated!
I've drilled lots of very pure quartzite and the help for very hard stuff is: More carbide (full carbide tips), More impact force (bigger drill, less drill time), More cooling (hard to do but you can wait or bring a water bottle and dip the bit in). The best bits for my really hard stuff were Bosch 2 cutters that had a full carbide tip. I don't know if they still make them. But if you're dealing with iron I don't know what can really do it well. Maybe accept maybe 50mm deep or try a diamond core bit?
@@MountainMullet thanks, this is all very helpful! I'll look for full carbide tips, this is a great suggestion. Do you think a 36v hammer drill (makita has a couple that take 2 of the 18v batteries I already have) would be helpful here? I have a DHR 182, and a DHR 281 seems to have a much higher impact force. We already rotate drill bits to not let them heat up too much, but dipping the bit in water is a great suggestion. And we do use shorter bolts in 50mm holes whenever the rock is the absolute hardest variant we have over there!
Looks like the dhr281 hits very hard and would probably help, but if you need to go that big... Maybe consider a different strategy, like Trad climbing😂 sounds like a LOT of work to bolt this stuff
@@MountainMullet yeah, there's definitely a few famous trad routes in this rock here! We're now trying to open the routes that you can't protect well with trad equipment. Thanks for the suggestions! Will try these ideas out!
In my Asia Country only have the previous Bosch Gen 4 cutters , Bosch 5X Quality is so fine compared to the price , but i have burned down 2 bits because too hot 😂 i didn't cooler the bit between each holes so in the end the tip cutter dropped out the bits 😂 same for my Hilti CX4 ,
Good info! I have many bits that I need to test somehow, and this was a first test but they lasted too long. Do you know roughly how many holes you got with your burned bits? I need to burn them out quicker cos 30 holes is too much
@@MountainMullet I don't remember exactly , but around 30-40 holes on hard rock with Bosch 5X , Hilti lasted longer a bit around 45-50 , all my burned out bits were 6mm , with me that is ok i just hardcore test them 😂 if i had cooler them each some holes , that burned out wouldn't have happend too soon The small diameters made the drill bits difficult to push all the dust out of the holes so the temparature had increased very quickly, lead to the burned soon But before the Bit burned out , my body and battery had run out of juice 😂 too tired to test in a long time I made with my Makita DHR182 and 6Ah battery came apart
Yeah 6mm is so tight they will heat up real fast! I have many 10mm bits like this to test, but 40 holes for 40 bits is just too much drilling so I guess I'll do less holes and measure them
@@MountainMulletbefore all the bits burn out , your drill and battery will have run out of juice already , so i thinh just carry one on your climbing moutain journey , make the holes again and again with it till burn out instead of drilling each holes each bits man , change the bits too much can wear out the Sds chuck quickly But instead of testing till the bits burn out , just cooler it each holes so it can last longer , that just fine than try to destroy it soon
What I don't like about Bosch drilling bits is the flutes are too narrow. Especially if I am doing some sketchy shit like lead climbing and placing anchors, the drill bit gets stuck because of the dust. From my experience, drilling bits with wider flutes like Erbauer and Hikoki (my favourites) are better that Bosch, Hilti, etc.
That's what I'm looking for! I don't have either of those brands but I am collecting many bits to test. I can see flute size will affect longevity a few different ways, if you have any other insights keep it coming!
@@MountainMullet I used Hikoki drilling bits for like a year, the seem to be fragile, but it holds better than expected. They slso drill faster and 25% more holes. Faster is not always better, but in my opinion it is better to be as efficient as possible because you don't risk to make the hole oval and you also put less impact time on the rock = less cracks. Erbauer is my second favourite, I mainly like it because the 6.5mm one drills the perfect hole for 6mm concrete screws. Your video with drilling bits from like a year ago was very helpful, I got the same results :)
Awesome! I'll try to find those bits. And if you're drilling 6mm then the flutes and friction will be very important. I'm collecting 10mm bits which don't fill up so quickly, but I also have some smaller ones I can test
@@MountainMullet I am drilling in the 6-12 mm range for anchors, 6mm is only for screws :) Sometimes I am drilling 40cm long holes and other times 14-16mm for rock spliters, this is why I tested a lot of bits :))
never occurred to me that the hole width would be getting smaller .it might be why i have had trouble at times . good info ,thankyou
Thanks for doing this awesome testing Matt! Making a smooth concise video on it and sharing some great feedback. I think inexpensive bits have their place, like for people that don't mind carrying a few more bits, or don't wanna spend more money on some special-sized bits they might only use a couple times. Pros and cons to things.--- One thing I do with these bits is use the older ones (with more worn-down cutters) to drill more depth of the hole, then I chase it with a fresher/newer bit to get my desired hole size; (this is with 4-cutters though).
Again one of your excellent tests! Here in Europe Bosch 4-cutter bits are slightly cheaper (I bought one recently at less than 8 euros, that is about 13 AU$ so maybe buying "cheap" bits is less convenient. Anyway I'll try to replicate your test with EU-budget bits to see if there are any differences.
I've been collecting bits to test and this is really a pilot experiment to see how much drilling I might need to do. Lots, it turns out! I've also done this with some 2 cutter bits which generally drill faster but less neatly
Do you have any more tips for preserving drill bits? The rock I am bolting in is *extremely* hard (itabirite, it's a mix of quartzite and hematite/iron ore), to the point that I end up burning 1 or more drill bit for every hole (while in other types of rock they last dozens of holes), and take like 5-6 minutes to make a 70x10mm hole. I wonder if a stronger drill instead of a 18v hammer drill would help make better use of the drill bits in such hard rock. Other tips as well are really appreciated!
I've drilled lots of very pure quartzite and the help for very hard stuff is:
More carbide (full carbide tips), More impact force (bigger drill, less drill time), More cooling (hard to do but you can wait or bring a water bottle and dip the bit in).
The best bits for my really hard stuff were Bosch 2 cutters that had a full carbide tip. I don't know if they still make them. But if you're dealing with iron I don't know what can really do it well. Maybe accept maybe 50mm deep or try a diamond core bit?
@@MountainMullet thanks, this is all very helpful! I'll look for full carbide tips, this is a great suggestion. Do you think a 36v hammer drill (makita has a couple that take 2 of the 18v batteries I already have) would be helpful here? I have a DHR 182, and a DHR 281 seems to have a much higher impact force.
We already rotate drill bits to not let them heat up too much, but dipping the bit in water is a great suggestion. And we do use shorter bolts in 50mm holes whenever the rock is the absolute hardest variant we have over there!
Looks like the dhr281 hits very hard and would probably help, but if you need to go that big... Maybe consider a different strategy, like Trad climbing😂 sounds like a LOT of work to bolt this stuff
@@MountainMullet yeah, there's definitely a few famous trad routes in this rock here! We're now trying to open the routes that you can't protect well with trad equipment. Thanks for the suggestions! Will try these ideas out!
In my Asia Country only have the previous Bosch Gen 4 cutters , Bosch 5X
Quality is so fine compared to the price , but i have burned down 2 bits because too hot 😂 i didn't cooler the bit between each holes so in the end the tip cutter dropped out the bits 😂 same for my Hilti CX4 ,
Good info! I have many bits that I need to test somehow, and this was a first test but they lasted too long. Do you know roughly how many holes you got with your burned bits? I need to burn them out quicker cos 30 holes is too much
@@MountainMullet I don't remember exactly , but around 30-40 holes on hard rock with Bosch 5X , Hilti lasted longer a bit around 45-50 , all my burned out bits were 6mm , with me that is ok i just hardcore test them 😂 if i had cooler them each some holes , that burned out wouldn't have happend too soon
The small diameters made the drill bits difficult to push all the dust out of the holes so the temparature had increased very quickly, lead to the burned soon
But before the Bit burned out , my body and battery had run out of juice 😂 too tired to test in a long time
I made with my Makita DHR182 and 6Ah battery came apart
Yeah 6mm is so tight they will heat up real fast! I have many 10mm bits like this to test, but 40 holes for 40 bits is just too much drilling so I guess I'll do less holes and measure them
@@MountainMulletbefore all the bits burn out , your drill and battery will have run out of juice already , so i thinh just carry one on your climbing moutain journey , make the holes again and again with it till burn out instead of drilling each holes each bits man , change the bits too much can wear out the Sds chuck quickly
But instead of testing till the bits burn out , just cooler it each holes so it can last longer , that just fine than try to destroy it soon
Given that it's the carbide insert that has worn, this looks like something that could be solved with shop cryotreatment.
What I don't like about Bosch drilling bits is the flutes are too narrow. Especially if I am doing some sketchy shit like lead climbing and placing anchors, the drill bit gets stuck because of the dust. From my experience, drilling bits with wider flutes like Erbauer and Hikoki (my favourites) are better that Bosch, Hilti, etc.
That's what I'm looking for! I don't have either of those brands but I am collecting many bits to test. I can see flute size will affect longevity a few different ways, if you have any other insights keep it coming!
@@MountainMullet I used Hikoki drilling bits for like a year, the seem to be fragile, but it holds better than expected. They slso drill faster and 25% more holes. Faster is not always better, but in my opinion it is better to be as efficient as possible because you don't risk to make the hole oval and you also put less impact time on the rock = less cracks. Erbauer is my second favourite, I mainly like it because the 6.5mm one drills the perfect hole for 6mm concrete screws. Your video with drilling bits from like a year ago was very helpful, I got the same results :)
Awesome! I'll try to find those bits. And if you're drilling 6mm then the flutes and friction will be very important. I'm collecting 10mm bits which don't fill up so quickly, but I also have some smaller ones I can test
@@MountainMullet I am drilling in the 6-12 mm range for anchors, 6mm is only for screws :) Sometimes I am drilling 40cm long holes and other times 14-16mm for rock spliters, this is why I tested a lot of bits :))
sick mullet