Makita 6270 DWPE3 Drill & Free Impact Driver 12V

[John Rumm]

Always seems kind of pointless when you can get a 18V Makita body only for about the same money.

That does not make any sense at all. As a drill an impact driver it pretty hopeless for anything except very small drills, or very heavy ones like an expansive bit.

Its about 1.5 to 2 times the length of an angle drill, and that is before you get a chuck on the end of it.

If you really want a versatile tool, then go for one of the new Panasonic or Makita four function Li-Ion tools that are combi drills with an additional impact driving mode.

[dom]

Looks like a super-deal. I bought the Bosch impact driver after trying out just about everything at an Axminster trade show. All the pro- brands were excellent - makita/bosch/hitachi/panasonic - with little to differentiate them, I bought Bosch simply because I have other bosch 14.4V kit.

You sound like you do a lot of decking work, in which case you'll probably find you use the impact driver 80% of the time, and have the drill set up just to do pilot holes where necessary.

As others say, pozi#2 bits get broken a lot, though I think I've only ever broken 2 pozi#3 bits. If you can possibly favour using pozi#3 screws (I use screwfix 6x80mm turbogold mostly), the problem more or less disappears. I've yet to break a single Wera pozi#3 diamond bit.

Best combination I've found is the Wera rapidaptor and their diamond bits (maybe the expense of the bits makes me more careful). I've been a bit disappointed with Wiha stuff (quality superb, but bit more prone to breakage) and with the iron bits from Wera (which the rep told me were best suited to impact drivers) - in practice they've been most prone to breakage.

I've yet to hear anybody that got an impact driver say "bit of a waste of money"or "didn't use it much". I find screws are sufficiently cheap and quick and easy to put in with an impact driver to make nails more or less redundant in many applications.

[timegoesby]

It easily gets between joists and drills a nice level hole so I can thread plastic pipe or cable.

I have a versatile tool. I described what I do with an Impact Driver very clearly. I would avoid the 12v versions, as they would be limited in use. They are good no doubt, the extra power of the 18v is well worth getting. As I said avoid the twin pack Makita, although a good deal in itself and get a 18v Impact Driver as the drill/driver will be not used for much of the time.

[dennis]

Why not try torx screws? They are far easier than pozidrive.

[Clive Mitchell]

In message , "dennis@home" writes

And why didn't Robertsons screws ever take off here? The square recess in the head really worked well. They were sold in one of the bigger electrical retailers, but companies like Screwfix seem to regard them as a "security" screw.

I ended up getting a load and the matching screwdriver while doing a theatre installation job in Ireland and I thought they were great screws to use.

[dom]

Agreed. Torx heads are excellent. I use the 6mm multimonti masonry fixings with torx heads. They're available in some sizes from spax - I'd be pleased to see them become much more widely (and cheaply) available.

Currently looks like a 50% price premium:

[dom]

Most 12-14.4V impact drivers seem to have max torques around 130-140 Nm. This is more than sufficient to drive 6*100mm screws into softwood, undrilled. The bulkier, heavier and higher voltage models are probably more appropriate to driving hex head fixings with a 1/2" drive socket.

Although I agree a cordless drill gets used less with an impact driver around, it's still very useful when working with a hardwood to have the drill bit mounted in it and not to be frequently switching bits on the impact driver.

[Andy Hall]

I use them with my Senco collated screwdriver for volume jobs. They work very well for this.