DEWALT Hammer Drill, 1/2-Inch, 10-Amp, Pistol Grip (DWD520)

This is a very well made tool and would highly recommend it. When my Milwaukee impact drill died after decades of home usage I did a lot of research on its replacement, which I never thought would occur in my lifetime, and this was my selection. Lots of power, drills though concrete perhaps better than my old Milwaukee and would clearly buy this again. I even had to lend it to a contractor working in my home drilling hundreds of Tapcon holes for a couple thousand square feet of insulated floor in my basement and they were impressed as well.

A real power shop tool. Heavy as needed, 2 speed,adjustable hand grip, good length from triger handle to hand grip

I bought this because I needed to drill 3/8" holes at least 2" deep in a 40 year old concrete floor, to place four anchors on the base of a floor drill press. When the slab was much newer I had drilled 1/4" holes with a non-hammer drill for a workbench, and it was very difficult. The first news is how much better the whole process works with a hammer drill, but I guess that comment is about the entire category of tool and not this particular one.That said, this particular drill looks quite well put together. It feels heavy and sturdy and the balance is good. Holding it comes naturally, and the speed control trigger feels perfectly sound. It has two drill modes plus one hammer drill mode. According to some online advice, I started my holes in drilling mode, which vibrates less and is easier to aim and center. As soon as I had a pocket deep enough to hold the drill bit on target, I switched to hammer mode. The hammering action is faster than I anticipated -- I was expecting to hear a woodpecker, but it sounded like an air impact wrench instead, quite a satisfying howl. I used it with a DeWalt concrete bit. I don't think any of the holes took more than a minute.I definitely recommend this. I also have a number of other DeWalt tools and have found them all good.I'm also asked to rate the Thickness, the Sheerness, and the Warmth of this product, but I'm not going to do that. I will say, though, that it warmed up a little bit, so if my hands were cold I might have enjoyed that, but it never felt hot.

Muy buena potencia

Looks like a powerful, durable tool, but there is a problem I would like to point out. It involves keeping the chuck key with the tool so that it’s convenient and doesn’t get lost.So I needed to replace a dead hammer drill. Most of my power tools are battery-powered, but for my purposes, I wanted a tool that was capable of applying a lot of power over a long duration for those really tough jobs that are infrequent. Accordingly, I selected a corded tool. Moreover, hammer drilling tends to shake bits loose frequently, so I wanted a Jacobsen-style chuck rather than a keyless chuck to be able to secure the bit very tightly.I read the instructions. No mention or illustration for how to retain the chuck key with the tool. There was just a key and a bizarre looking rubber strap in the box with the tool. Maybe this kind of strap is familiar to professionals using Dewalt drills, but it was not obvious to me at all. Tech support provided me with about a 75% complete explanation. One photo showed how to attach the key to the strap - I got that part. The other photo showed the strap somehow wrapped around the base of the secondary handle. The 25% that was lost was how the strap and key cinched tightly. The photo was low resolution with a black strap together with a black key lacking any contrast.Because it seems unwise to have the key and strap attached right beside the part of the drill that spins at a few thousand rpm, I devised my own alternative. There’s a narrow slot at the base of the pistol grip (I saw no apparent purpose for this pass-through). I put a zip tie through this slot and attached a small zipper pouch to it. I think it will be easier to use the zippier pouch for the key than fussing with getting the strap and key securely wrapped around the secondary handle.

I needed to drill several holes in concrete to install some anchors. I checked local big box stores and performed online searches. This drill had the power and features I wanted at the best price I could find. It works as well as advertised. I haven't used it enough times to vouch for it's longevity, but so far so good.

I managed to drill 8 holes and then grease came pouring out of the nose cone and the motor started arcing. I expected more from DeWalt. It is in their repair facility right now. They have a 7 to 10 business day turnaround but my tool has been there for 13 so far with no end in sight. It's very frustrating.UPDATE: My drill has been in the repair shop for 6 weeks now. I reached out to Dewalt for assistance and got a reply 5 days later saying "wait longer". I call the repair facility every week and every week the return of my tool is only a week away. This is the worst customer experience I have had out of any tool I have ever bought. I will think long and hard before I buy another Dewalt tool.

This drill was used to attach over 50 boards to a 20X20 chunk of ugly (but smooth) concrete as a base for decking material. The drill and the bits I bought sliced right through the wood and concrete with no issues. The motor does get hot, but every 15 minutes or so just give it a minute to cool down, to keep the motor running powerfully and fast. I am very pleased with this product.