Impact screw drivers?

[farmer2009]

I have the 18v Dewalt set. I managed to convert my dad and grandfather over from drills. My FIL converted me. It's about 8or9 years old. Use the impact all the time. To give you some idea of the 1/4 inch strength. I needed to put 1/2"x10" lags into the barn. My drill bits weren't that long but I pre drilled as deep as I could. I could put a lag in before my 1/2" air impact could. I was using a pancake compressor and it would run out of air. That battery impact could do one and finish the air impact's before compressor could catch up.

Screws are just as fast. But spend the extra money and buy the impact ready bits. They last a lot longer.

 

[DFB]

Oh, gosh, next visit to Harbor Freight is going to be expensive.

You talking about one of these?

18 Volt 1/4 in. Cordless Variable Speed Hex Impact Driver

Gosh I guess they don't come cheaper than that!


I grabbed my Milwaukee 18V 2 speed impact compact driver kit (2) 1.5 amp batteries case and charger New 5 yr warranty for $89 during an HD one day sale. It was 90 off reg. list price.

MilwaukeeTool has just announced that they are replacing the standard line of brushed 18v drills and impact driver with new brushless models at the end of the month. I just bit the bullet on a brushed 18V hammer drill kit at 25% off. I'm sure they will be some more serious sales on the current stuff.

 

[Parkanzky]

With the hex to 1/4" square or 3/8" square adapter bits they can use sockets too. And they are pretty handy for assembly and removal without dragging out the air hose. Now it aint gonna torque the lug nuts on your tractor, but for small fastners it is handy.

I have a high-torque cordless impact driver from Bosch:

Bosch 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Impact Driver Bare Tool (Tool Only)-25618B - The Home Depot

But I got mine in a kit with a nice steel-chuck hammer drill, two batteries, and a charger. You can find pretty good deals on Amazon.com (I paid ~$250).

It does 1500 in-lbs of torque, which is 125 lb.-ft. That's plenty to remove properly torqued lug nuts on most cars. I have adapters for 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" sockets and use it when I switch between summer and winter wheels/tires when the seasons change. Heavy-duty trucks and tractors are another story, obviously. It's also variable speed, so you can run it really slowly if you have to run in a ton of screws with low torque (into plastic or something).

Now that I've had mine, I wouldn't be without it. I certainly wouldn't drive a screw with a cordless drill again. Every friend I've had come over and wrench with me has immediately decided to buy one just like it. They're that awesome.

 

[Parkanzky]

You talking about one of these?

18 Volt 1/4 in. Cordless Variable Speed Hex Impact Driver

Gosh I guess they don't come cheaper than that!


I grabbed my Milwaukee 18V 2 speed impact compact driver kit (2) 1.5 amp batteries case and charger New 5 yr warranty for $89 during an HD one day sale. It was 90 off reg. list price.

MilwaukeeTool has just announced that they are replacing the standard line of brushed 18v drills and impact driver with new brushless models at the end of the month. I just bit the bullet on a brushed 18V hammer drill kit at 25% off. I'm sure they will be some more serious sales on the current stuff.

NiCd batteries are dinosaurs. Li-Ion are more robust (fewer worries about memory, cycle failures, etc.), higher capacity, lighter, and longer lasting. Don't buy a new cordless tool with old battery technology.

 

[DFB]

NiCd batteries are dinosaurs. Li-Ion are more robust (fewer worries about memory, cycle failures, etc.), higher capacity, lighter, and longer lasting. Don't buy a new cordless tool with old battery technology.

Ooh I wont...I wonder if I can ever find someone to buy my NiMh Makitas

 

[LD1]

Yea, I think my milwuakee is like 1600 in-lbs or something crazy for such a small tool.

How much of it is hype i dont know. Given the little 1/4" hex shank, I wouldnt use the tool everyday nearing the 130ft-lbs it claims. Got the Air impact for that.

They are impressive no doubt. But no replacement for an actual impact in certain applications.

 

[Parkanzky]

Ooh I wont...I wonder if I can ever find someone to buy my NiMh Makitas

I still have a 12V Dewalt cordless drill. It's probably 20 years old, it's fallen off a 2-story roof, been kicked/dropped/dragged, and terribly abused all its life and it still runs great. However, it's been through a bunch of sets of batteries in that time. After the last set died (none last more than a few years), I put it into its case and on the shelf. I should really toss it...

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have a 20V Lith Ion Dewalt impact driver and I like it a lot, also have a 1/4" drill driver that takes the same batts... AND two drill drivers that use 14.4 V batts, all have been dependable, but the LI batts really are superior!!

SR

 

[zing]

Like everyone else said, impact are far superior for
- larger screws, 3.5 and 4 inch screws in tough wood no problem
- less tiring, drive them all day.
- faster than pre-drilling and then driving the screw, and way easier than switching drills and bits on a ladder, etc
- better on batteries and will last longer, especially when driving larger stuff
and everything else said so far.

I would add...
-They are louder, you should wear earmuffs especially when holding it near your head like on a ladder
- they are so powerful that even with a variable speed trigger, I often choose the drill for small stuff
but those is the only cons I can think of

What no one has mentioned is:
- that a drill is not designed to come to a stop, and it will burn out if you are driving big stuff and it stops. I burned out three cordless drills abd one corded one in three years. Then I got an inpact and regular drill combo and about 4 years later they are both still working fine.
- Far superior as a nut driver and faster than a socket set in many situations. Just use a wrench or socket to hold the bolt head and drive the nut with the impact driver.
- I drive carriage bolts with it when fencing, although that sometimes needs to be pre-drilled just to avoid splitting the post.

If you are working on big stuff, outside with big screws (fences, furniture, etc), there really is no comparison. Get an impact driver, you will wonder why you didn't do it earlier.

 

[Beltzington]

First impression left me wanting. For some reason I got an offer for an 18v 1/4" Milwaukee Impact driver kit for about $80 and thought I would give it a try. I have used it to drive only about 40 3 1/2" Decking screws and other than the extra noise of the impact driver (which is irritating for me) did not see what all the fuss was about. Sounds like they are better for battery life but if you only drive a few hundred screws a year I wouldn't bother spending the money. They are smaller than my cordless drill which is a positive.