I passed these first and thought a smaller drill would suit my needs. It turns out you need it if you want to go through fieldstone, granite and other really hard materials and drill deep into those materials. For my particular project, I had to drill through several rocks of different sizes. and a composition of about 15 feet if all stacked. With a 1/2" hammer drill and the speed I observed, I think I calculated about 40 hours of work or more, and probably the same number of drill bits were destroyed. with a touchstone (3-4" thick, maybe a 1" deep hole after half an hour with a 1/2" drill bit) and about 30 seconds later drilled the first hole and also made another one. Next day could I completed all of my drilling for this particular project over the course of about two hours, with breaks to check the fit of the stone pieces.The tamping plate used to lay out a small garden path and has therefore proved to be a useful tool for a variety of tasks.The photos correspond not quite true, it's a huge tool, depending on usage throughout the day I found myself putting it in a wheelbarrow to transport (along with a range of other hand tools) to the job site or to pick it up, although it has anti-vibration grips, I also strongly recommend using it with anti-vibration gloves.