This tool makes short work of punching a reliable hole in concrete, mortar, brick, Portland cement plaster (stucco), and even many types of stone. Once you have that hole–properly known as a pilot hole– you can drive a masonry screw or bolt into it, or you can install a soft sleeve into which you can drive a wood screw or sheet metal screw. It’s that easy.

The fastest way to drive a masonry screw is with the same drill driver that made the hole. Turn the drill’s selector to the drive setting, turn the clutch to the maximum number, and use a nut driver or drive bit to sock down the screw.

HSS drill bits were invented to cut into steel and other metals, but they are also very effective at cutting other materials, such as wood or plastic. There are 5 kinds of HSS drill bits, one of which we’ll look at in more detail below.

Hammer set anchors are simple fasteners that fit through a hole in whatever you are fatsening, such as a shelf cleat, bracket or other piece of hardware. Their dome-shaped head bears down on the surface of the workpiece. Slip the fasteners through the wokrpiece, into the hole in the concrete and then drive the nail in them until it is fully seated against the dome-shaped head. These fasteners work best when used in applications where one is enough to attach the load. Using more than one on at a time requires careful drilling to ensure that the fasteners line up both with the holes in the mounted object and in the concrete.

Turn the selector ring on the cordless drill, aligning the hammer icon with the white selector triangle. Move the drill’s speed selector switch to its top speed, 2 or 3, depending on the drill. Tighten the drill’s chuck on the masonry bit.

In the end, you can use cobalt drill bits in faster drills than standard HSS bits as well. There are many situations where you could use a cobalt bit dry when you would need to use cutting fluid to cool another type of HSS bit, for example.

HSS drill bits (High Speed Steel drill bits) are the most common type of drill bits on the market today. They come in a huge variety of types, shapes and materials, and each is designed to do one or more jobs particularly well.

Wear your safety glasses during every step of the process. Concrete chips can fly, a masonry screw may inadvertently break, you might even snap the drill bit itself if it gets bound up against a piece of reinforcing steel. All of this can cause debris to go flying.

With the carbide drill bit chucked in the drill, hold what you need to fasten to the wall and make your hole. For brackets and the similar pieces of hardware, use their mounting holes to place the drill bit. For wood, simply bore right through the wood and into the concrete.

Even under heavy use, the exceptional hardness of cobalt drill bits mean they maintain the sharpness of their edge longer. They even resit rusting longer than most other types of HSS bits, so tey are easier to store.

It may be simple and generally safe to fasten to concrete, but it’s always a good idea to wear safety glasses, if nothing else to shield yourself from the dust that’s produced in the process.

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The job’s bad reputation was well earned but is out of date. Years ago, fastening to concrete was difficult and hit or miss. If you’ve ever tried driving hardened-steel nails into concrete or tried to make anchor sleeve holes with a wobbly rental masonry drill and a dull rental drill bit than you know about frustration.

Many people struggle with fastening to concrete–and other masonry surfaces, such as brick and concrete block. Turns out, there’s nothing to it. The best way to fasten to it, especially for DIYers, is to just dill a hole and drive a screw.

Many cordless drills today are equipped with a hammer function. I’ve talked to people who didn’t even know this was included on their drill. Compared to a cordless drill without this feature, it’s a slight upcharge–about $20, on average. A hammer function provides a percussive action to chip away and pulverize masonry as a masonry bit spins. To help these specialized drill bits withstand such harsh use, they have a piece of carbide brazed to their tip. Carbide is not a single material, but a mixture of them. It starts out as carbide powder intermixed with a metal powder, such as tungsten. The powders are mixed with a binder additive, formed into a shape, machined, and then fused together at high temperature forming a composite. The carbide tip is brazed onto the body of the drill bit producing a device that is both flexible and wear resistant, yet has an extremely hard tip. Drill a hole with that bit, then drive a hardened masonry screw into it.

Lag shields are hollow soft metal sleeves that are driven into a hole. When a screw or bolt is driven into the cavity in the center of the sleeve, the fastener’s threads cut into its wall, which is softer than the steel screw or bolt.

Some heavy-duty plastic anchors, such as the Red Head Polyset, can be driven into a hole in concrete. From there, you use the included pan head sheet metal screw to fasten whatever you need.

Sleeve anchors are hybrid fasteners consisting of a threaded stud, a nut, and a specialized sleeve. You hammer this fastener into the hole then turn the nut no more turns than specified by the manufacturer (typically two to four). This causes the threaded stud to pull up in the sleeve. As it does so, the the sleeve expands against the wall of the hole, forming a tight wedging action. It’s important to read the manufacturer’s instructions before installing these. They are to be located specified distances from each other and from the edge of the slab.

A masonry drill bit has a tip made out of tungsten carbide, brazed onto the body of the drill. The bit is capable of withstanding the high impact and wear created by drilling into concrete and masonry. A high-strength masonry screw can be driven directly into this hole. Another fastening option (shown below) is to insert a plastic or metal sleeve into the hole and drive a screw into the sleeve.

When the hole is established, you can move the hardware or lumber out of the way and continue boring to the hole’s full depth. When drilling mounting holes in long pieces of wood or metal, drill one mounting hole, then drive a screw at that point. Level the workpiece, drill a second hole, and drive a second mounting screw. With the workpiece fastened at two points, and level, drill remaining mounting holes and drive the remaining screws.

Amateurs and professionals alike often forget that safety and drilling a high-quality hole go hand-in-hand when fastening to concrete.

A simple dust mask works well enough to protect you from airborne cement dust created when you drill into concrete and when you remove it.

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Next, wear a dust mask. Pulverizing conctete with a drill bit creates dust, and some of that dust becomes airborne while drilling and, later, when you clean out the hole.

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The thing that changed all that is the ordinary cordless drill. More specifically, the cordless drill with a hammer function.

Some people talk about cobalt drill bits and HSS drill bits like they were the same thing, and others say they are completely different. This article will explain the differences between HSS and cobalt drill bits, and what those differences actually mean to you.

Cobalt drill bits Are the best of the best for cutting into hardened metals like steel. Most have between 5% and 8% cobalt. Because pure cobalt has such a high melting point (1495OC), it conveys a higher melting point to the steel. That means you can push it farther and harder when cutting metals, and it won’t soften or deform.

You can make your own concrete fastener for horizontal applications by using a small bolt or piece of threaded rod embedded in mortar, epoxy repair mortar, or the specialized epoxies used for embedding rebar. Drill a hole twice the diameter of the threaded rod or bolt. You can either place the fastener in the hole and then push the filling material in around it or with thinner materials, fill the hole to the halfway point and then push in the fastener. Be sure to turn the fastener back and forth to ensure that it is locked into the embedding material. Also, use a square from two directions to check that the fastener is square or plumb to the surface.

Roy Berendsohn has worked for more than 25 years at Popular Mechanics, where he has written on carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor power equipment. When he’s not working on his own house, he volunteers with Sovereign Grace Church doing home repair for families in rural, suburban and urban locations throughout central and southern New Jersey.