Rebar Cutters & Full-Carbide Rebar Bits
Two answers to steel in the hole. A rotation-only rebar cutter chews through the bar your hammer bit cannot pass — a full-carbide-head rebar bit never stops for it in the first place. Both SDS-Plus, both factory-direct.
Product Series
One problem, two duty profiles. If rebar contact is occasional, a full-carbide breaker drills straight through without a tool change. If you cut through heavy bar on hole after hole — doweling into dense cages, layouts that always land on steel — a dedicated rotation-only cutter does it cleanly and saves your hammer bits.
SDS-Plus Rebar Cutter (Rotation-Only)
A hollow crown with sharp-ground brazed tungsten-carbide teeth, run with the hammer action switched OFF. When a hammer bit refuses on embedded bar, swap in the cutter at the same nominal diameter, cut through the steel, then swap back and finish the hole on line — no abandoned holes, no relocated anchors. The same crown family trades under two names — 'rebar cutter' at Bosch and Milwaukee, 'rebar breaker' at Heller and across OEM trade listings.
Full-Carbide Head Rebar Bit (Hammer-Mode)
A one-piece sintered solid-carbide head, resistance-friction-welded to the steel body. This is the hammer-mode lane retail knows from Diablo's Rebar Demon and Milwaukee's MX4 — and the only rebar answer that never asks for a tool change: it drills reinforced concrete and the bar inside it in normal hammer mode, start to finish.
Technical Specifications
Key parameters by line — pick by how often you meet steel, and how heavy it is
Crown or Carbide Head — and How Not to Kill Either
Most dead rebar cutters die the same way: hammer action left on. These fundamentals decide tool life and whether the hole survives the steel.
Pick the line by frequency
Occasional rebar strikes → full-carbide bit, one tool straight through. Cutting heavy bar on most holes → run a hammer bit paired with a same-diameter rotation-only cutter.
Tip · Distributors stock both: full-carbide bits move in volume, crowns save the job.
Rotation only means rotation only
Switch the hammer action OFF before the cutter touches steel — impact shears sharp-ground teeth in seconds. Moderate RPM, steady feed, let the teeth cut.
Tip · If the machine has no rotation-only mode, do not use a rebar cutter in it.
The swap workflow
Drill with the hammer bit until it refuses on steel. Swap to the same-diameter cutter, cut through the bar, swap back, finish the hole. The hole stays on line and on gauge.
Tip · Mark the depth on the cutter before you swap — you only need to pass the bar.
Clear the steel slugs
Steel chips and slug pieces must leave the crown. Peck and retract so the debris slots can do their work — packed steel in the crown stalls the cut and overheats the teeth.
Tip · Pull back every few seconds of steel contact; clear the bore before resuming.
Manage heat in the steel
Cutting rebar is metal cutting, dry. Use peck cycles and short pauses instead of leaning on the tool — discolored, blued teeth have already lost their edge hardness.
Tip · Smoke or blue chips mean too much speed or too much dwell. Back off.
Wholesale & OEM Information
Wholesale and OEM support for global partners
Packaging Options
OEM/ODM Services
- — Diameter and length range per drawing for both lines
- — Cutter tooth count and tooth geometry to your benchmark
- — Carbide grade selection with per-batch traceability
- — Laser engraving of brand, diameter and mode marking
- — Rotation-only warning labels in your target market language
- — Branded retail packaging: tube, printed box, pair kits, or master carton
Order Details
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an SDS-Plus rebar cutter and when do I actually need one?
A rebar cutter is a hollow, multi-tooth carbide crown on an SDS-Plus shank, used in rotation-only mode to cut through steel reinforcement that a masonry hammer bit cannot pass. You need one when the hole position is fixed — doweling, anchor layouts, through-holes — and relocating the hole to dodge the bar is not an option.
Why must a rebar cutter run in rotation-only mode?
Its teeth are sharp-ground metal-cutting edges, not impact-rated masonry tips. Hammer action chips or shears them in seconds. Switch the hammer mechanism off, run moderate RPM with steady feed, and the crown cuts through the bar cleanly. This is the single most common cause of dead rebar cutters.
Is the Heller Rebar Breaker the same thing as a rebar cutter — and where does the full-carbide bit fit?
Three answers to one problem, two of them swap-in. A rebar cutter is a rotation-only crown you swap in to cut through the bar, then swap out. Heller's Rebar Breaker is the same swap-in idea built tougher: a one-piece-steel crown (Ø12–35mm; solid four-edge carbide up to 14mm, multi-edge crown above) that per Heller and its distributors runs with hammer action engaged — no mode discipline to forget, but the workflow is still drill, clear the hole, pass the bar, swap back. Our full-carbide-head line is the only one of the three that skips the swap entirely: one bit drills the concrete and the bar in hammer mode, start to finish.
Can a normal hammer drill bit go through rebar?
A standard 2-cutter brazed bit generally cannot — the insert chips or the bit jams and stalls on the bar. Premium 4-cutter and full-carbide-head bits are designed to tolerate and pass embedded bar, which is exactly the class our full-carbide line belongs to. For thick bar in a fixed hole position, a dedicated rotation-only cutter is still the cleaner cut.
What diameter rebar cutter should I use?
The same nominal diameter as the hole you are drilling. The crown matches the hole, stays guided by it, and cuts the full cross-section of the bar in its path. Verify the bar size fits inside the crown's cutting envelope for your diameter — our size chart in the RFQ pack maps crown diameter to maximum bar size.
Will your rebar cutters fit my rotary hammer?
Any SDS-Plus rotary hammer that offers a rotation-only (drilling) mode. The shank is standard SDS-Plus; mode capability is the only machine requirement. For SDS-Max-class machines and larger diameters, ask us about program options.
Do you supply OEM / private label for these lines?
Yes. Both the rotation-only crown line and the full-carbide line run as OEM programs: your brand, your packaging, diameters and lengths per drawing, carbide grade declared per batch, and rotation-only warning labels in your market language. Send your benchmark sample or drawing for a like-for-like quotation.
Is it acceptable to cut rebar when drilling — does it compromise the structure?
That is an engineering decision, not a tooling one. On structural members, cutting reinforcement should be approved by the project engineer — scanning first and adjusting layout where possible. What the right tool changes is the quality of the outcome when cutting is approved: a clean cut hole on line, instead of a wandered hole and a destroyed bit.
Steel in Every Other Hole?
Tell us your hole diameters, typical bar sizes and how often you meet steel — we will spec the cutter line, the breaker line, or the pairing that fits, and arrange samples before you commit a program.
Related Products
Related Sourcing Guides
How to Drill Through Rebar in Concrete
Learn how to drill through rebar in reinforced concrete. Expert tips on bit selection, techniques, and when to relocate vs cut through.
Hit Rebar While Drilling Concrete? What It Does to Your Bit — and What to Do Next
Hit rebar mid-hole? Learn the strike signs, what the impact does to a carbide tip, the 60-second bit inspection, and when to relocate, switch to a rebar cutter, or stop.