# Rock Drill..



## quantumflux (Jan 4, 2015)

Renting a rock drill to use Betonamit to break apart some solid (granite?) ledge that is keeping me from getting the grade I need for a driveway. Never used an air powered rock drill before (only hammer drills and electric powered larger breakers for demo)... Drilling 1 1/2" holes for the Betonamic, probably about 20 of them a couple of feet deep.

Rental place has 9, 15, 35 lbs, 50 lbs rock drills. I was thinking about getting a towable compressor and the 35 lbs rock drill.. But, wondering if anyone has any opinions on the matter (not sure if it's overkill or underkill...)


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

Go biggest. They suck. But you can drill the hole the quickest. Ear protection and face. My body already hurts thinking about it


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## pizalm (Mar 27, 2009)

Yeah go with 50lb. I believe ours is a 60lb. It’s sort of amusing watching smaller guys wrestle it around. 


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## Fouthgeneration (Jan 7, 2014)

No Heavy Highway contractor buddies with drill(s) mounted on trailer or truck or skid steer???

this would be a good job to put on Craiglist etc.. to find a SKILLED operator even if its an old bar room bum to save you hours and maybe a finger or two.

You might ask if drilling "pilot" holes would speed the big bits drill rate, ~5/8"-7/8" then the 1.5" 

Get extra bits in case you trash some, you don't want to waste the weekend when the store is closed.... the shorter the drill bit, less likely you'll bend them up, and the harder the hammer hits....


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## pizalm (Mar 27, 2009)

Typically we drill 1 1/8” holes with ours to pin into bedrock. I don’t think a pilot hole is going to make much of a difference. At the depth you need there shouldn’t be any issues bending steels. Get a couple extra steels and bits but you shouldn’t need them. 


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## SouthonBeach (Oct 18, 2012)

If you feel you can handle the 50 lb go with it. I wouldn’t go less then the 35 lb. 
make sure to get the right bit tip for the rock type. The button bits drill the fastest.


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## Minerrick (Feb 3, 2018)

If you want to save the wear and tear on your body parts from using a jackhammer, you may want to consider an alternative:

Also, if you'd rather have instant gratification- rather than waiting 24 hours to see whether the expansion agent works, you might want to take a look at the Sierra Blaster. It's pretty simple: drill a 3/8" diameter hole in the rock with your SDS drill, about 18+" deep, put the charge in and POW! No flyrock, no big explosion and a shattered rock results. No ATF license needed. I am a gold miner in CA and a friend of mine invented it. I've used it probably 500 times on my mining claim breaking up 6-8 foot diameter boulders, and it works great for breaking up rocks. The best part is no ATF license is needed. His website is: www.sierrablaster.com/home1

I've been showing it off to a bunch of my friends who have excavation companies and they are pretty amazed what it can do for such a small unit. I have used one of the other small scale blasting systems out there, and was not impressed. This thing is impressive and the cool thing is you can set off over 10 of them simultaneously, if you have a big rock breaking situation.


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## quantumflux (Jan 4, 2015)

Problem is I'm in MA which requires a license for any type of blasting. Dexpan, etc is apparently OK though.


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## Minerrick (Feb 3, 2018)

Technically, the SB is not "blasting".... it's named as if it is a blasting system, but in fact it has the same ATF approval as fireworks- as it is apparently a propellant, rather than an explosive- so if MA allows fireworks, chances are, you can get approval. You could literally break up a 4' diameter rock between houses and the people in the house would have no idea you were doing so. You'd just need to cover the blasting head with a painter's tarp (yeah, really) and when you hit the "detonate" button, you'd hear "pooofh" and you would uncover the tarp and the rock would be broken into a bunch of pieces. 

Consider the possibilities. 

Unfortunately, it is a new product and apparently he has only a handful of distributors- most of them are mainly small miner's supply shops in California. As the word gets out and he expands his distribution, more and more dealers across the nation will most likely carry them, and then maybe you can get a demo from someone. The demo really sells it. 

It is REALLY amazing what it does, and in my industry- small scale mining- it is a game changer, as we can get under rocks that NO ONE has ever been able to get under due to the remoteness of the project locations and lack of ability to use anything other than "hand tools". On a 6' diameter granite boulder in the bottom of a 1000' near vertical walled canyon, I literally pull out my Ridgid 18v cordless SDS drill, spend maybe 8 minutes drilling 2- 20" x 3/8" holes, put maybe $5 worth of charges in it and push a button, and the boulder is literally broken into rubble. Nothing else in the world does this. There is nothing like it ANYWHERE in the world. It's easy to be excited about it, because it makes breaking boulders........fun.

As a side note... I'd like to add a plug for Ridgid cordless drills. I just got one to drill my rocks with in my canyon, with the considerations of being lightweight (I carry it in on my back), lasting a long time drilling deep holes in granite boulders, and apparently an awesome warranty. I am very satisfied with my purchase of the drill and if anyone is looking for a good sds drill to use in remote locations, I recommend the Ridgid.


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## Darp (Feb 3, 2018)

quantumflux said:


> Problem is I'm in MA which requires a license for any type of blasting. Dexpan, etc is apparently OK though.


You are right, Massachusetts is the only state in USA that does require a blasting license for an ATF exempt device like SierraBlaster. You might talk to your city/town to see if you can use it anyway. Heck in California both the state gov and local counties are buying them to blow boulders that fall on roads because no license required for their road crews. Massachusetts is only one that does not accept ATF ruling, unfortunately for you.


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