It is not uncommon to see the terms rotary hammer and hammer drill used interchangeably when referring to power tools that are capable of both pounding and drilling, even by experienced construction workers. You would certainly be forgiven for thinking that these two tools are one and the same, but this is actually a misconception. Not only are hammer drills and rotary hammers different tools, but they are each best suited for certain kinds of tasks. Before we discuss which you should be using and when, let's start by breaking down how the two differ.

Inside of a hammer drill, there are a pair of ridged discs that rotate as the trigger is depressed. As one slides past the other, the ridges cause it to rise and fall. As it falls, it slams against the other causing the impacts that a hammer drill is known for. These ridges are very small, which in turn means the disc doesn't move very far as it rises and falls. Because of this, a hammer drill doesn't create a high impact force. It makes up for this in speed, though, as it is not uncommon for them to move at over 3,000rpm while under load and produce 40,000 or 50,000 blows per minute.