Festool CE Stone - best masonry drill bits in the world?!

[six-point socket II]

Hi!

I know, lurid headline - I apologize!

But that's how amazed I am by the Festool CE Stone masonry drill bits when used with my PDC.

I never ever bought cheap drill bits, but with my rotary hammer and it's drill bits I couldn't (and I can't) get into my walls without hammering (masonry, not concrete). Even the pros that did the hole for the gas line needed a lot of patience with their SDS-Max type rotary hammer and hole cutter. I always knew these walls were hard.

I originally simply tried because I wanted to see what happens, so I used a 6mm CE Stone drill bit from Festool in my PDC and it went right into the wall. I thought I had hit a "soft spot", so I did it again, and again...

Over the last two days I renovated the kitchen, had a ton of 5, 6 and 8mm holes to drill. I drilled all but two of them without hammering, just with the PDC on full speed of course. For the two holes I needed the hammering mode, it was a piece of cake too after changing modes.

Since I also couldn't get into the walls with just the Hawera MultiConstruction drill bits AND the PDC, I strongly assume theres more to the Festool CE Stone drill bits than just the fact that they are running at a extremely high speed in the PDC. Also the fact their tips are made from carbide can't be the sole reason - the MultiConstruction and X5L SDS-Plus drill bits from Hawera also have carbide tips...

I wanted to share this experience - and I really can't recommend these drill bits enough. Great piece of kit - worth every penny.

If someone has more insight on those drill bits and why they are so great - any input would be highly appreciated!

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[bobfog]

I didn't even know these existed.

 

[leakyroof]

I haven't had to use my set much yet, but they live in the attic section of my PDC ready to go. With your experience using these, I'm glad I bought them when I got the PDC originally.

 

[AlexThePalex]

I don't know how to quantify "best" for masonry drill bits, but I've had a set of these bit since the days when they were only available under the Protool brand. They always performed fine, but I've used up the 6 & 8 sizes already while 4 & 5 are mostly unused.

Replaced them with some normal shafted Bosch bits for concrete and I'm stil using those, with the same performance. The Festool bits have the advantage of the centrotec shaft, but besides that, I don't think they're much better than any other good professional brand.

 

[ear3]

Do you generally run these on Speed 4 on the PDC?

Hi!

I know, lurid headline - I apologize!

But that's how amazed I am by the Festool CE Stone masonry drill bits when used with my PDC.

I never ever bought cheap drill bits, but with my rotary hammer and it's drill bits I couldn't (and I can't) get into my walls without hammering (masonry, not concrete). Even the pros that did the hole for the gas line needed a lot of patience with their SDS-Max type rotary hammer and hole cutter. I always knew these walls were hard.

I originally simply tried because I wanted to see what happens, so I used a 6mm CE Stone drill bit from Festool in my PDC and it went right into the wall. I thought I had hit a "soft spot", so I did it again, and again...

Over the last two days I renovated the kitchen, had a ton of 5, 6 and 8mm holes to drill. I drilled all but two of them without hammering, just with the PDC on full speed of course. For the two holes I needed the hammering mode, it was a piece of cake too after changing modes.

Since I also couldn't get into the walls with just the Hawera MultiConstruction drill bits AND the PDC, I strongly assume theres more to the Festool CE Stone drill bits than just the fact that they are running at a extremely high speed in the PDC. Also the fact their tips are made from carbide can't be the sole reason - the MultiConstruction and X5L SDS-Plus drill bits from Hawera also have carbide tips...

I wanted to share this experience - and I really can't recommend these drill bits enough. Great piece of kit - worth every penny.

If someone has more insight on those drill bits and why they are so great - any input would be highly appreciated!

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

Do you generally run these on Speed 4 on the PDC?

Hi!

I know, lurid headline - I apologize!

But that's how amazed I am by the Festool CE Stone masonry drill bits when used with my PDC.

I never ever bought cheap drill bits, but with my rotary hammer and it's drill bits I couldn't (and I can't) get into my walls without hammering (masonry, not concrete). Even the pros that did the hole for the gas line needed a lot of patience with their SDS-Max type rotary hammer and hole cutter. I always knew these walls were hard.

I originally simply tried because I wanted to see what happens, so I used a 6mm CE Stone drill bit from Festool in my PDC and it went right into the wall. I thought I had hit a "soft spot", so I did it again, and again...

Over the last two days I renovated the kitchen, had a ton of 5, 6 and 8mm holes to drill. I drilled all but two of them without hammering, just with the PDC on full speed of course. For the two holes I needed the hammering mode, it was a piece of cake too after changing modes.

Since I also couldn't get into the walls with just the Hawera MultiConstruction drill bits AND the PDC, I strongly assume theres more to the Festool CE Stone drill bits than just the fact that they are running at a extremely high speed in the PDC. Also the fact their tips are made from carbide can't be the sole reason - the MultiConstruction and X5L SDS-Plus drill bits from Hawera also have carbide tips...

I wanted to share this experience - and I really can't recommend these drill bits enough. Great piece of kit - worth every penny.

If someone has more insight on those drill bits and why they are so great - any input would be highly appreciated!

Kind regards,
Oliver

Hi Edward,

yes I do

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[#Tee]

can these babies do porcelain?

 

[six-point socket II]

can these babies do porcelain?

Hi,

from my experience with other carbide tip drill bits, yes they should be able to do a couple of holes in porcelain. But I wouldn't exceed 400 rpm and definitely drill through a (very) wet sponge for constant cooling. If the porcelain has a coating, I would try to carefully use a center punch first so the drill bit is less inclined to wander.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[challer]

I just had to put some holes in granite with the PDC and these bits and was terribly disappointed. Wore out the 5mm bit.

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi!

It's always great when you criticize something, to elaborate a little more on what you did and how.

I can say that these carbide tip drill bits (and I'm not just talking about the Festool CE Stone) need to be driven at a very slow speed when going through really hard materials like tiling, granite, ceramics -> not much faster than 400 rpm. And they need to be constantly cooled - it helps a lot if you actually drill through a wet sponge.

Still the afore mentioned materials will wear out a drill bit fast. I have seen this while my canopy was decked, they used the Hawera MultiConstruction carbide tip drill bits and went through a lot of them, even faster in the beginning when they didn't cool them enough and used to much speed. And I have also done it myself when drilling through tiling.

All that said, a better choice to drill through granite/tiling and the like are diamond drill bits.

So what did you do and how, that you feel the CE Stone failed you?

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi!

I finally got around to a little video project I had planned for a while.

Basically it is meant to show that drilling and percussion drilling are better options than hammer drilling when dealing with masonry (and other hard/baked stone ware).

It also shows how really, really easy the Festool CE Stone drill bit gets into the material when driven by the Festool PDC 18/4 in 4th gear at 3800rpm. Almost no pushing, they're literally sucked into the masonry.

I especially bought a used Hilti TE 2-M for this because I also wanted to show that SDS-plus type drill bits will work better at higher rpm's when used without hammering. The Hilti TE 2-M is a special rotary hammer because it, kinda like the PDC, has four different gear settings: hammer drilling (full) at 930rpm, drilling 1st gear at 930 rpm, precision hammer drilling also at 930rpm but with much less joule, drilling 2nd gear at 2200rpm.

In the end I used a Bosch GBH 2-26 for some "brute force" with a 12mm SDS-plus drill bit.

I think it shows nicely just how different various edge/cutting geometries work.

There is a second part in the making to compare the Festool CE Stone drill bits to Bosch/Hawera carbide tipped masonry/stone drill bits.

I will also work on a slightly more stable setup, it moved to much when I had to push, especially on the Hilti.
https://vimeo.com/223792962

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[RKA]

Thanks for the video!  That was an eye opener watching that Festool bit eat everything you threw at it!

 

[Jmacpherson]

Thanks for the video Oliver.
I love my PDC/4 too and I have also been amazed at its masonry capabilities in 4th gear.
A cordless hammer drill should not be this good [big grin], I hardly use my SDS drill anymore.

I have had great success with Alpen's Prof Beton bits in hammer mode and their multi-construction bits too.
Used the multi in the CSX and drilled 6mm holes into brick with ease.

I haven't dived into centrotec yet (another deep pit), only have the stubby brad point bit set but I'm very tempted after watching this.

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

Ok, so here is - as promised - a direct comparison between a 8mm Festool CE Stone and 8mm Hawera MultiConstruction drill bit.
https://vimeo.com/224460103

I was surprised that the Hawera MC performed that well, because my experience with a 6 mm MC (albeit used) drill bit was, very, very different. The 8mm Hawera MC was brand new, the 8mm CE Stone has been used before.

One thing to add, I thought it was interesting that Hawera limits the speed of their MC drill bits to 650 rpm in masonry, and 400 in tile. I called Festool and they promised to call me back with an answer to my question if they too have a speed limit for the CE Stone drill bits. I'm curious! I also send an E-Mail to Hawera asking for some more information on the speed limit for drilling in masonry.

Since I didn't notice the speed limit for the Hawera until well after the shot, I drove them at full speed obviously - as I did with the CE Stone.

I will update the thread when I heard back from both manufacturers.

Kind regards,
Oliver