Impact drivers

[big-all]

I think I'll stick to my combi drill and fancy screws. I don't like the idea of noisy drivers splitting wood and having to change tools to drill holes.

Personally i find it no problem switching tools, much prefer that tha swapping drill bits to screwdriver bits

i much prefer separate tools for piloting/countersinking and driving as they are different speeds and of course a different bit

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I think I'll stick to my combi drill and fancy screws. I don't like the idea of noisy drivers splitting wood and having to change tools to drill holes.

The thing is though that ordinary screws split the timber whereas the fancy ones cut a hole, so you can screw nearer the edge.

On first fix, where an impact is most useful, the timber is often soaking wet through so it doesn't split. Any competent joiner will know that dry timber splits if you screw too near to the edge or in very thin timber with a large screw, etc - which is why we use drill/countersinks to pilot for the screws.

 

[crank39]

Precisely, i'd rather have 2 or 3 tools on the go than swapping bits all the while although its a personal prefference, joe should try an impact, he might suprise himself and wonder how he's ever lived without one for so long.

All this talk of impacts has got me going, think i'll nip out and invest in another one, my dewalt 18v nano is a few years old now, think its about time it had a stable mate

 

[joe-90]

I don't like the idea of climbing up and down fetching different tools when one will do all the jobs. I also have tinnitus so loud noises make my ears ring.

 

[noseall]

I don't like the idea of climbing up and down fetching different tools when one will do all the jobs. I also have tinnitus so loud noises make my ears ring.

Wear ear defenders.

All decent branded cordlesses come with belt hooks.

Do you have a tool belt Joe?

 

[joe-90]

Yes but I always take belt hooks off as I don't like them.

 

[noseall]

Don't forget, all tools make a noise Joe i.e. breakers, hammer drills etc.

I too get tinnitus but if I refused to do jobs that made a noise i would go out of business.

We have some cracking ear defenders made by Peltor.

 

[joe-90]

Yeah but you can't hear the radio.

 

[Monkeh]

Yeah but you can't hear the radio.

You can get ones with a radio in them.. You can also get active units which just clip loud noises and allow you to hear pretty well otherwise.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Precisely, i'd rather have 2 or 3 tools on the go than swapping bits all the while although its a personal prefference

Oh, I'm the same as you - I tend to carry an impact and a drill. Often it's a dinky little Bosch 10.8 volt jobbie for the drill/CSK

 

[joe-90]

Often it's a dinky little Bosch 10.8 volt jobbie for the drill/CSK

How very gay.

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

I knew the time was up when Iworked with a guy that was putting 6"screw bolts into green oak without fuss or pilot holes ,If your into a load of loft work sistering up rafters for veluxes and the like, whaking in 90mm screw bolts in confined spaceswell thier just the dab,but Ido agree about the noise, as far as fancy screw go they are only uesfull for specific jobs such as ss for marine and oak work, spaks flooring screws for chipboard flooring, worth carcass screw's for mdf Icould go on but for run of the mill carpentry work the old zinc coated pozi twin threads will do 90 percent of the work as good as any other

 

[xdave]

Well i must have a duff box then, anytime my impact goes near a turbo gold it either snaps the head off or somewhere half way down, very brittle IMO

I think you must have a duff box *. I use impacts almost exclusively for driving screws and I've used many thousands of turbo golds in most sizes between 30mm and 150mm and with only one break. It had got so hot that it bent about 30 degrees on the way in and the starting force when later removing it cold sheared the head off.

* Screwfix's quality control is not the best - I've had batches of their turbo ultra s/steel screws where entire boxes have been machined with the flutes cut incorrectly which causes them to snap when reversing. Fortunately their returns process is good.

Joe-90 - you need to borrow a decent impact driver and try it out to see where it could be useful for you. Only you can decide if it is worth having one.

 

[big-all]

the simple fact is we are all different what works for one will not work for someone else
often we dont understand why people dont share our veiws
the simple answer is we are all right we all do it the correct way that works for us regardless of how many shortcuts we take

 

[joe-90]

Do you get more or less 'cam out'? Is it critical that you are straight on to the screw? It's sometimes hard to know the angle when the head is buried.
Can you switch the impact off, and fit a drill bit with a hex end?