Do I need an impact driver

Its nearly Christmas. I don't have an impact driver and have apparently not needed one up to now. I have an electric screwdriver. I also have a hammer. Do I need an impact driver ? If so, why do I need one ? Could I use the electric drill with hammer mode on and a drillbit in ?

The reasons do not have to be all that convincing. Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson
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needed one up to now. I have an electric screwdriver. I also have a hammer.

Yes. You want one. No - hammer drill works in-line with the drill bit. An impact driver works by hammering in rotation.

Huge advantage of impact drivers is the extremely low reaction - so they are easy to use in awkward places, at then end of an outstretched arm, or whatever.

I find being able to use both a drill (or electric screwdriver) and an impact driver is very convenient - simply by reducing bit-swapping.

Impact drivers can be very good at removing screws with partially graunched heads - if you are lucky, it will manage to catch and undo the screw in a way not possible with anything else. But no guarantees.

If I were doing a big project with lots of screws - like decking - impact driver would be on my essential list.

Reply to
polygonum

needed one up to now. I have an electric screwdriver. I also have a hammer.

You obviously fancy one - and a little bit of what you fancy does you good!

Having said that, I've managed without one for 70 years. Maybe I don't know what I've been missing. [That's not actually a flippant comment - I didn't have an SDS drill until a few years ago, but wouldn't want to be without it now].

Reply to
Roger Mills

Assuming you do any significant amount of driving - I'd say it falls into the SDS category - you don't know what you've been missing until you get one. I got my impact driver last year, after I was eventually persuaded by comments on uk.d-i-y, and it really does make driving into timber an absolute breeze. I built a very large timber playhouse with it, and can't even begin to how I'd have managed without it! My builder, who'd just got one, shared my enthusiasm.

I ended up getting one compatible with my existing drill driver - so I could share the batteries. (I got a Makita to go with my Site - rebadged Makita - drill driver.)

Reply to
Piers Finlayson

Its a tool, you are a bloke, next question... ;-)

Ease of screw driving basically. They give less torque reaction to the user, and are less likely to cam out. So you find you can use them with far less physical effort. With a drill driver you tend to need to push harder on the drill to ensure you keep the bit engaged in the screw. IDs are easier you use when you can't easily get your weight behind the screw you are diving.

Some more detail here:

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Could I use the electric drill with hammer mode on and a drillbit in > ?

Nope - totally different concept. Hammer drill hits the bit toward the thing you are drilling. Impact driver uses and angular hammer action - rather like tapping the end of a spanner for extra torque.

Think of those pneumatic tools the guys in the tyre changing places use for the wheel nuts on the car. Same idea but without the hose.

;-)

They tend to be a little smaller and lighter than the equivalent voltage combi drill. They will generate higher peak torques - so on the smaller ones at least will be able to drive things the drill won't manage. (by the time you get to 14 or 18V decent quality drills, they normally have enough power to drive pretty much anything anyway so its less of an issue)

Reply to
John Rumm

needed one up to now. I have an electric screwdriver. I also have a hammer.

yes, fantastic tool, I bought a battery one a few years ago when I started on the house, and then a corded one a year ago which i've been using today to screw 3x3 s together for joists, using 4" self drilling screws, no pilot hole, no countersinking necessary, I keep it with my Bosch PMF ! [g]

Reply to
george - dicegeorge

Like and SDS once you have had one you will not wonder how you managed without one,

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

They do not have chucks having a hex slot. Hex drill bits can be used with them. The "rotary" hammers does not kick in until there is resistance. So using a drill bit into soft wood would not bring in the hammer action. If it met resistance the hammer comes in and pushes the drill through. I found that flat wood bits when even blunt can sail through wood using an Impact Driver, which with a combi they do nothing except burn the wood.

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

Which corded model?

Reply to
Doctor Drivel

In message , Doctor Drivel writes

I have the corded Makita TD0101F

My criticism is the lack of torque limiting; leading to *over* driving small screws.

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Reply to
Tim Lamb

On the little TD020D, each subsequent 'whack' tightens the screw further, so you soon get a feel as when to stop. A pukka torque limiter is only really useful if you know what the torque should be.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

shurely just reduce it 'til you don't over drive/knacker/snap the screws?

Jim k

Reply to
Jim K

Its a limitation of all IDs that I have seen so far. There is not really any advantage to them for small screws really - with the possible exception of drylining screws into metal studwork.

Reply to
John Rumm

Yup. Same as lighting a match to make sure it works.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Or testing a fire extinguisher?

Reply to
Tim Lamb

I think they exist.

I have a vague recollection of hiring a Tek driver which had a torque limiter. Maybe that wasn't an impact driver though...

Reply to
Tim Lamb

If you do any vehicle work - get a hexshaft-to-half-inch adapter so you can fit

1/2" drive sockets onto your impact driver. It isn't quite enough to drive stuck wheel bolts, but can certainly deal with fasteners that are a hard slog without.

Impact drivers are also great with hex-shaft auger bits for drilling larger diameter holes in timber.

Reply to
dom

I bought a 12 volt (from car battery) impact driver with a 1/2" drive from Maplin ages ago for about 30 quid. Same sort of thing on Ebay now. It's about the size of a mains electric drill. Will shift wheel nuts no problem

- and also great for doing crank pulley bolts without having to lock the engine. Max torque is over 200 ft.lb, IIRC. Only possible snag is the size

- otherwise an extremely useful, tool, especially at the price.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

er.... or testing a reasonable sample from the box to check how they are....

you could always start from the lowest torque setting and work up if that made it easier for you?

Jim K

Reply to
Jim K

Starting high and coming down does strike me as ares about face. Start low and increase until you get the the right amount of "drive". Works for me on the ordinary electric screwdriver.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

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