Impact screw drivers?

[DFB]

There certainly are tools that I prefer corded.

Circular saw, angle grinder, saw-zall (if working with metal), drill (if drilling metal), and a few others.

I know hey cordless power is amazing to an extent but even the best yet today still can't truly hold up to the continuous duty work that those big 3..circular saw, grinder and recip saw often demand. An SDS chipping hammer drill comes to mind as another high draw tool too.

There are several cordless versions of SDS drills on the market already. The latest Milwaukee cordless drill release is a right angle Hole Hawg. And they say there is another version in the works for bigger rough in bits.

I do see a few more cordless items coming my way in the brushless versions though. I have a Fuel grinder and it was worth every penny to me to be able go off without a cord for a cutoff tool.

Cordless jigsaws look to be pretty handy, that's a tool the cord always seemed to get in the way

Has anyone ever seen a cordless belt sander?

 

[k0ua]

I have so many different battery tools with dead batteries. Usually the cost of replacement batteries pushes me to buy new tools, with newer/different battery types. Use them for a while and then they sit for long periods of time unused. When I need them again, dead battery. I also hate getting half way through a project and having to stop to recharge. My corded tools always work, and I always have a/c available. Personal preference I guess.

I can certainly understand how you feel, and I have felt that way myself in the past, but here is what I have found: The modern Lithium battery tools take almost all of those concerns away. The batteries last for many months unused, They pack a serious amount of energy in a small lightweight package, and they recharge quickly over hundreds of cycles without "memory" effects or much degradation. When you have several tools all of the same tool line, you only need a few batteries to run them all. And if you choose a good tool line you will be able to buy new batteries in a few years and keep on using those tools until you break or wear them out. Sure I want a corded hammer drill for the really big jobs, but I sure have a cordless 1/2 inch hammer drill too. as well as smaller drills, and most certainly I would not now be without a cordless impact. Get some Lithium battery tools and batteries and you too will be singing the praises..

 

[motownbrowne]

Can anyone explain why these impact drivers only come with batteries and not corded? I would get one in a heartbeat if I could get one with a cord.

Also, what's the difference between the impact driver and the hammer option on my drill? Maybe I already have one and don't know it.

I do think the hammer symbol is the "impact" setting. I don't have access to mine right now to check.

The hammer function and impact function are definitely different. The hammer function is for drilling in concrete, it's only found on drills. An impact driver is totally different. It uses impacts to generate more torque with less effect on the operators arm than is possible with a drill.

 

[bcp]

Hammer drill impact is toward the material, as in driving a nail.

Impact driver impact is circular, as in hitting a wrench on a too tight bolt.

Bruce

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I know hey cordless power is amazing to an extent but even the best yet today still can't truly hold up to the continuous duty work that those big 3..circular saw, grinder and recip saw often demand. An SDS chipping hammer drill comes to mind as another high draw tool too.

There are several cordless versions of SDS drills on the market already. The latest Milwaukee cordless drill release is a right angle Hole Hawg. And they say there is another version in the works for bigger rough in bits.

I do see a few more cordless items coming my way in the brushless versions though. I have a Fuel grinder and it was worth every penny to me to be able go off without a cord for a cutoff tool.

Cordless jigsaws look to be pretty handy, that's a tool the cord always seemed to get in the way

Has anyone ever seen a cordless belt sander?

I guess you have not used a M28 Sawzall.

Milwaukee M28 28-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Sawzall Reciprocating Saw Kit-0719-22 - The Home Depot check out the reviews.

 

[Wooddust]

I have the new Dewalt impact driver and I would fight to the death if someone tried to take it from me

 

[DFB]

I guess you have not used a M28 Sawzall.

No I have not used one

But I guess I miss your point :confused3:

What does making a single cut with a battery powered tool have to do with continuous duty operation

Several cordless models have shown to cut faster than a corded version

With my cordless circular saw there is only so many of inches of plywood it will cut before the battery runs down and needs to be recharged

Impressive tool none the less

 

[dragoneggs]

They certainly aren't a replacement for the real deal, but they are really really handy. We don't have power in the sugar-bush (where we make maple syrup) so we used a cordless Rigid circular saw for cutting everything we needed to build a 20x20 pole-type structure. It was slower, sure, but it did the job. They're also really nice when you only have a couple of boards to cut and don't want to set up an extension cord to get to where the boards are. I don't use mine very often, but it makes me happy whenever I can use it and save a few steps.

No doubt... the reason I bought mine was I wanted to cut out a couple of windows and a slider for replacement. I tried lifting my worm drive over my head and cutting horizontally across the top of the slider and said forget it. Looked to replace my old worn out circular corded saw and came across the battery powered 6 1/2in blade and it was a dream to hold above my head.

 

[dragoneggs]

I use screws over nails in just about everything. Probably the only time I use nails is when framing up a house and I'm using my framing gun. I would never use nails on concrete forms. The most obvious reason is that with a screw, I can go back and adjust the forms easily, or remove part of the form temporarily while working on drain lines, or anything that is going to be buried under the concrete. When the concrete is done, taking the forms apart is fast and easy without causing any damage to the forms or the stakes. I prefer to use square or star point screws, but I've I'll use sheetrock screws if that's all I have without any problems. How do you strip out a screw on something like concrete forms? Eddie

Love the square and Torx drive... anything else is going to be a problem at some point it seems.

 

[s219]

Love the square and Torx drive... anything else is going to be a problem at some point it seems.

It amazes me how I ever lived with Phillips deck/construction screws for so long. I switched over to using only star drive screws for my boat house, since I was working over water and didn't want to play games (plus those screws had the highest corrosion resistant coating). After driving thousands of the star drive screws, going back to a Phillips screw now is painful. With Phillips, it's on the user to keep the bit engaged in the head, and that makes them so much more of a hassle to use, and more strip-prone as well. The star drives and square drives hold on to the bit so much better, it lets you focus on steering the screw how you want it and gives better control over depth and tightness.

What I would love to find are star-drive bits that have the 1/4" quick-connect hex end for my impact gun, and have an impact gun rating for durability (standard torx bits do not). The bits that come with each bucket of star-drive screws are short bits made to go in a magnetic holder. While they work OK, it's hard to find a magnetic holder that will stand up to the repeated loads of an impact gun. Plus, the screw head holds on to the bit so well, it will often pull the bit out of the magnetic holder when you go to move the gun after driving a screw.

One other pro in favor of an impact gun is when using a lot of mechanical / structural hardware, like Simpson brackets and ties. On my boathouse I used their small 1-1/4" #10 screws to attach various ties (interchangeably with their special nails, depending on which was easier). And I used the Simpson 1/4" lags for larger heavier brackets. Plus the long star drive screws for wood to wood connections. It was great to have one driver gun that could easily handle all of those with a simple quick-connect bit swap.