@half-bubble
If you're just looking for a 1 and done; you could just rent something.
I was setting monuments and straddles, in Olympia, in concrete. We rented a generator and hammer drill; it was raining and we got it done.
Good luck in you endeavor's
See Jim's post above.?ÿ My Bosch will drill a 1" in well cured concrete no problem with a standard bit.?ÿ I use 1-1/2" core bit for setting aluminium cap.?ÿ The Bernsten copper monuments take a 12 mm hole and the Bosch cuts through concrete, basalt and granite like it was a warm knife in butter.?ÿ Well worth the price.
Side note, they also work well for digging up mons in asphalt.?ÿ In hammer mode the make a good form vibrator for concrete work.?ÿ
I was trying to set some PK nails in a concrete alley and they simply won't go. It's been 15 years since I set a lead and tack with a star drill for a mentor but looks like that might be the thing. If I keep doing city jobs, might need a vibrating drill or a rotohammer. Any suggestions? What's the best way to set a point neatly in 80 year old aggregate?
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I would say it depends on your climate. If you never get freeze/thaw a rotary drill is probably the way to go. If you have freeze/thaw issues there is NOTHING in the world which will keep a nail or nail & tag from popping out. A simple inscribed "+" as Nate describes will do the trick.
@half-bubble is in the best place on earth, for climate; nary a chance for freeze/thaw. Although it's going to be in the 90's this week; it will only last a few days, then back to a high of 69 every day!
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A local surveyor here drills his holes to look like a tooth root: each one about 20?ø or so off vertical for the "roots" and a recessed hole joining the two for the "tooth" part and then melts lead with a portable propane torch into the holes and when it solidifies he set his point/tag in it.
Trying to set a property corner or control point? If a corner consult your state law whether you should be setting a point along the property line on a offset instead/in addition to the actual corner.
@half-bubble is in the best place on earth, for climate
I beg to differ, the mold never stops here because the humidity is always >50% and the concrete is the largest source of mold, as it gives the most perfect environment. Sniffing the concrete alley mold under the jet fuel soot is the cause of the Seattle Freeze brain inflammation autoimmune symptoms wherein whereas and whereupon everyone dost apparently wish everyone they encounter to have a nice day somewhere else.
Trying to set a property corner or control point? If a corner consult your state law whether you should be setting a point along the property line on a offset instead/in addition to the actual corner.
Accepted practice here, along with no right of trespass. Difficult to swing a hammer on the other side of the fence.
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You don't know how good you have it, if you're a native; things could be a lot worse.?ÿ
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30-40 years ago I would rent a core drill set-up from a local rental shop. Had to rent the drill and generator, put the generator in the back of the truck and use the drill to cut through pavement, concrete, whatever was needed. It was cheap and easy, pass the cost to the client anyway.?ÿ
Then Hilti came out with their cordless drills twenty some years ago and the core drill set-up was history.?ÿ
Now its advanced to the newer battery tech and the Dewalt big hammer drill is our solution to not only drilling concrete/pavement but setting monuments in dirt.
I don't use a T2 or T1 anymore, I don't use a chain much or a top mounted distance meter, the hammer drill is similar to the transit/chain turning into GPS/robot. No more star dill, no more lame curb X's just do this:
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It's easy, fast, less mess, lasts as long as the concrete it's set in, no frost heave, no snow plow knocking it out.?ÿ
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They are getting ready for a big reconstruction, I got a request to bid a site survey from an out of town E&A firm and declined.?ÿ
So that's some of the utility markings for the survey.?ÿ
I set one of the two today, with the only manual hammer drill I have ever seen, an odd plastic handled thing with a metal top and a drill bit somehow press fit in the bottom, that one of my mentors passed down years ago before he retired to Arizona. Just as I had a quarter inch to go, the drill bit broke off. So I eyeballed enough lead ribbon to fit the hole and drove the mag nail and washer as hard as I could, and it worked. It will stay for a while. Tomorrow I will go get the Ryobi starter model and start saving for the Bosch.
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My tool guy tells me he has not stocked star drills in 20 years, ever since the first battery powered hammer drills made their debut.
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I was intrigued to know what a star drill bit was, and hand drilling into concrete and stone - found this on the www:
https://www.core77.com/posts/68321/How-to-Hand-Drill-Holes-in-Stone-and-Concrete
That's cool.?ÿ
There is not another tool associated with surveying I hate as hard as I hate the star drill.?ÿ
The day the light came on for me was the day I was driving by a testing crew, they had a little drill off the back of a pickup and were drilling test holes in fresh pavement. I stopped by to watch and asked how much the drill press was. The guy wasn't sure and was renting it from the local rent-it place.
That was it for the star drill. Anytime I needed to drill concrete or pavement I'd stop by the rental shop and pick up a drill and maybe a generator for the day.
The cordless hammer drill has taken over for the core drill and it is a much better hammer than any other one in the tool box, bit over the top, yet try and take it from the crew setting 50 rebar.?ÿ
A star drill is a good way to break some fingers, everyone I know that used one smashed the hand holding the goofy thing.?ÿ
That's a big one; and mechanical.
The star drills I used were hand held drills with a star shaped cutting end and were about 8" long. Hit them with a lump hammer, turn 45, hit again. etc. Each blow broke up a dusting of concrete. Afrer say 10 minutes the hole was deep enough. I used to use a half-inch bit as that meant the little collar on a Hilti nail would go into the hole with some mortar. You then had about an eighth-inch of play in any direction to get to centralised under the tribrach.
I still have a spare at the back of the cupboard.