Hilti Hollow Drill Bits for Concrete Model TE-YD and TE-CD

Leave it to Hilti to come up with the next innovative idea, a hollow drill bit for concrete.  Who would have thought a hollow drill bit could be used in concrete? Well I guess Hilti did.  As you know we were at the World of Concrete and saw some really cool new ideas.  I have to say Hilti took the show with the TE 30-A36 and this hollow drill bit, plus a couple other cool ideas like a goal of having a cordless job site.  As you know if you need to put an anchor in concrete there are a couple of problems.  First, it’s slow because you always have to blow, blow, brush, brush, blow.  Second, it’s dirty since you have to blow the hole out multiple times.  Third, if it’s not done right, you have repercussions and integrity issues.  Hilti thought about this process and thought what if there was a way to skip the blow, blow, brush, brush, blow steps without compromising the integrity of  the hole and epoxy.  Well that’s where they came up with the ingenious idea of a hollow drill bit and came out with the TE-YD and the TE-CD.  Since the drill bit is hollow, you have a channel inside.  Towards the top there is a tube where you can attach a vacuum system.  So as you are drilling your hole, the vacuum system is sucking up the waste material through the bit and into the vacuum.  What does this all mean?  Well now you can drill and clean a hole in one step.  This one step process has multiple benefits such as you can save time, provide a cleaner environment for the worker and have the peace of mind knowing it was done right.  As a PM, foreman or worker, you don’t have to worry about the holes and if the installation was done right.  Using this system you know it’s done right.  One other important benefit with this system is no catching or sticking when drilling into rebar, so there is another safety aspect to this system.

There are a lot of applications this can be used for such as:

• Drilling holes for anchoring structural steel (e.g. steel columns, beams)
• Drilling holes for structural connections made with post-installed rebars
• Drilling holes for anchoring secondary steel structures (e.g. staircases, steel ledgers)
• Drilling holes for structural renovation or upgrading with post-installed rebars
• Drilling holes for substitution of incorrectly placed or missing rebars
• Drilling holes for anchoring railings and safety barriers

I have to say one thing that really caught my attention was the overall time saver with this system.  This bit has the same drilling speed and lifetime as the TE YX/CX drill bits.  While some companies decided to pour their concrete at the show, Hilti took this one step further.  Hilti poured their concrete slabs in advance of the show and trucked them in.  As you know this is more impressive since the concrete had a chance to cure and become stronger.  All I can say is leave it to Hilti for the newest and most practical innovations and I am sure this is just the beginning.