On Oct 7, 8:53 am, willshak wrote:
on 10/7/2007 10:40 AM RicodJour said the following:



On Oct 7, 10:14 am, willshak wrote:

on 10/7/2007 8:56 AM The Other Funk said the following:

Finding the keyboard operational
willshak entered:

X-posted to other relevant group.

Before there were concrete drill bits, or electric drills for that
matter, small round holes in concrete or rock were made by a round
chisel type tool that was pounded into the stone with a small sledge
hammer while turning the tool. It might have been 8" or 10" long. The
face of this chisel had a star-like pattern, only with 4 points, like
a plus sign " + ". I believe it was called a star drill.
A Google search brings up a lot of sports drills (training regimen).
Anyone know if they still make them, or if so, where to get one
on-line? I'm trying to drill some 40 - 3/4" holes in concrete and my
1/2" corded electric drill with a concrete bit stalls on the stone
aggregate in the concrete requiring me to stop and try to crack the
aggregate with a large punch. I figured a star drill would work
better.

After reading some of the responses I think there may be a
misunderstanding. Are you saying that you want to use your 1/2"
electric until you hit a piece of aggregate and then use the star
drill and sledge to break that up? Then returning to the drill.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!!!

I don't think anybody assumed otherwise or the pointed responses would
have been more vociferous.
You'll be making a lot of work for yourself and wasting time for no
apparent reason. There are better exercises than kneeling over a hole
and hitting a chisel with a lump hammer.

I'm curious, Bill - what is the reason that you're ignoring entirely
unanimous advice from a group of people that probably wouldn't agree
on which way was up? Were you starting with the 3/4" bit or starting
with a smaller bit and working your way up in two or three steps?

R

First, let me say that I didn't ask for alternatives, I asked a direct
question about where I could get a specific product.
Although the alternate power tool suggestions were fine, with few
helpful answers, the alternatives seem to have dominated the responses.
I know about hammer drills and their uses, and I know where to buy or
rent one. Buying a hammer drill for this one purpose is out of the
question. I may not never again drill holes in concrete, and maybe I can
just throw the star drill in a drawer with my other chisels and punches
and not have another large, seldom used power tool on a shelf.
Renting one for a day is a gamble. What if I can't complete the project
in that time frame for some reason? What if I got called away for an
emergency, or it started to rain? The rental fee would be more than if I
bought a cheap hammer drill from Harbor Freight (see above about buying
and storing seldom used tools).
If I had asked where to buy a wheelbarrow, I don't want to buy or rent
an ATV (Mule), a front end loader, a Bobcat, or anything other than a
wheelbarrow.
Someone likened my request to an analogy about using a screwdriver as a
chisel. I still don't get that one.
I suppose that we should all get rid of all hand tools since there is a
power tool available that will do the job faster and easier.
I've already bored 10 holes with the 1/2" drill and a 3/4" concrete bit,
with the help of the steel punch and small sledge hammer. I have 2 on
each corner and 2 on each side, and the cover is on using those 10
attachments. The leaves are falling on the cover and are being blown off
by the wind. I have plenty of time before the snow starts to finish the
other 20 holes.
That's my story. I suppose that this threat will continue pointing out
the advantages of using a hammer drill, or maybe it will drift off to
something about garden spiders. But I now have the information that I
need, thanks to the few that answered my question and provided links, so
I'll let the others continue without me.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Bill-

People who answered your question with alternatives were trying to
give you the benefit of their experience.

I have drilled 100's of holes in concrete over the years. I'm even
old enough to have used a star drill (my dad made you use one when a
concrete / masonry bit in a regular electric drill wouldn't do the
job)

So I was one of the guys who had experience with:
electric drill
star drill
star drill used in conjunction with electric drill
battery powered rotary hammer
electric rotary hammer (Bosch, Hilti, Milwaukee)

based on this experience I know the method I would use

So after hundreds of holes with all sorts of tools / methods......I
see a question from a guy wanting to get a star drill to use in
conjunction with an electic drill to drill 40 holes x 3/4" diameter of
unspecified depth in concrete of specified thickness & reinforcement.

I think "wow'....he's headed for a lot work with that star drill. I
think I give him the benefit of my experience.

Sorry if you didn't like my answer or the similar ones supplied by
others.

Renting one for a day is a gamble. What if I can't complete the project
in that time frame for some reason? What if I got called away for an
emergency, or it started to rain?

Renting one is not a gamble unless you cannot predict your local
weather for a few hours or the rental shop is hours away from the
drilling site.

How many holes left at this point? Is it 20 or 30? How much used
time to drill the holes already done? How long was the longest
continuous session dedicated to this job.?

A decent rotary hammer will drill a 3/4" hole x 2" deep in less than a
minute.

One probable result of this thread is that many regular posters have
learned now to "just answer your question", in the future.

btw looks like the chance of rain in the next few days is pretty
minimal, except for Tues.

also the link to the source for the item came from the "screwdriver
analogy" guy.

cheers
Bob