Tool:   Makita HR2811F SDS Rotary Hammer Drill

Specs: 110v, variable speed, reversible, SDS plus chuck. Drill, hammer drill and hammer only action.

Review: The Makita HR2811F is a powerful and compact rotary hammer drill with 3 settings - hammer and rotation, hammer only and rotation only. It’s capable of drilling holes up to 1 1/8” in concrete, ½” in steel and up to 1 ¼” in wood. This drill uses the SDS Plus type bits which is a big improvement over traditional style shank bits. This drill also has a bright LED work light that activates when the trigger is engaged.
 

The hammer only feature differentiates most rotary hammers from standard ½” hammer drills and is something that I’ve wanted in a tool for a while now. It’s basically a small jack hammer that can be used for concrete demolition or rock busting work. However, my main reason for wanting this hammer feature is for ceramic tile removal. A basic hammer and chisel will often do the job but that’s time consuming and hard on the hands. On a recent bathroom renovation, I had to remove tile from a bathtub surround and bathroom floor. I started with a hammer and chisel, but it was slow going and the tile were coming off in small pieces. To help speed things up I decided to get a loan of a buddy’s Dewalt rotary hammer. That worked great and the hammer motion popped tile off the wall in no time. With the right technique the floor tile popped up relatively easy also. The key is to not break the tile but to use the hammer motion to break the bond between the tile and floor.
 

The Makita rotary hammer drill has no trouble drilling concrete with the set of quality Bosch SDS Plus bits I purchased. Installing ¼” and ½” concrete anchors on a recent storage room shelving project was a breeze for the Makita and Bosch bits.
 

Another reason for purchasing this Makita rotary hammer was to replace my father’s 30 year old and well used Hilti TM7 hammer drill. The Hilti ½” drill has worked great over the years but the hammering action has weakened from when it was new. It's fine for drilling concrete block or soft concrete but struggles when drilling harder 25 or 30 mpa concrete and really struggles if you should happen to drill into concrete aggregate (rocks in the concrete). This Hilti model uses traditional shank style bits and tightening the chuck can also be a problem. This Hilti model also does not have a hammer only mode.