Both a hammer drill and a rotary hammer are powerful tools that you can use for drilling holes. A rotary hammer is a bit more powerful of the two tools though. You can use a drill bit and a hammer to drill holes but that is only going to be feasible for hole or two. If you are drilling into fifty year old concrete and need to make many holes, you will want to use one of these power tools.
Key Takeaways:
- Rotary hammers are more powerful and have a “hammer-only” mode with no rotation.
- The mechanical process that delivers this pounding action is what separates the two tools.
- Many hammer drills can be used as a regular drill by switching off the hammering action.
“Hammer drills and rotary hammers (also called rotary hammer drills) both produce a pounding force that makes them extremely efficient at blasting through masonry.”