drill or screw driver

Hi all In this video minute (0:40) the person is using machine to screw. What this machine is? a drill with special head or what? I have a drill but not cord less and i am thinking to use it as a screw driver to screw a big board for my front house, or do I need special device? Thanks

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Reply to
leza wang
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Looks like a regular, everyday, battery powered drill motor with a screwdriver bit. The clutch on the drill is set loose so the screw will not be over tightened.

I wonder about the rolled up screen he put in the top of the downspout to stop debris going down the downspout. My experience is it's better for the debris to go down the down spout than the clog up the gutters. At least the debris is all in one spot!

Paul

Reply to
Paul Drahn

In this video minute (0:40) the person is using machine to screw. What this machine is? a drill with special head or what? I have a drill but not cordless and i am thinking to use it as a screw driver to screw a big board for my front house, or do I need special device? Thanks

It appears to be a DeWalt battery drill. They usually have a dual speed gear built in. Also they are varitable speed depending on how far the trigger is pulled.

The trick for using a drill as a power screwdriver is the speed. You do not want it to turn too fast. Also it may not have enough power to turn a screw at slow speed.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

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A portable battery-powered screw gun like the one in the video is probably the best option. But, if the regular plug-in type (not battery-powered) drill that you have is variable speed and reversible, then you could probably just use that for now. You would just need to by a screwdriver-type bit to put in in -- either a Philips head type like this one

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, or a flat head type for flat head screws.

Reply to
TomR

You can buy screwdriver bits. These battery types have two speed for either drilling or screwing. It's more difficult to get the right speed and torque with a standard drill. You can try it, as long as it's a variable speed drill.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

I think a lot depends on the kind of debris that collects in the gutters. When it goes into the downspout it's often possible to flush it out without having to climb a ladder. I've done it both ways in different houses with different trees near each one and I can make a strong case both for and against gutter guards and screens. (-: Pine needles sort of lie there and knit together so I wouldn't use a downspout screen if I had those sorts of trees nearby.

I went looking for the iRobot company's gutter-cleaning robot the other day and they seem to have stopped making or even talking about it. I guess too many of them did a Brody off the roof. Gutters should all be equipped with motorized augers that chew up the leaves and dead birds and squirrels into a fine mulch.

Reply to
Robert Green

Hi, Whether electric or battery driven, it better be variable speed with reversible rotation. I have both kinds Bosch electric drill and DeWalt battery driven.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Hi, I like magnetic bits. Not easy to drop to lose it. What is front house? I am just curious.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Good point. For someone starting out, as Leza seems to be, I wonder if a drill is the right tool. It takes a pretty sensitive touch on the trigger along with a drill that has an adjustable clutch to keep from ripping up the screwheads.

Instead I'd recommend a dedicated power screwdriver for driving screws. A good one can be had for less than $20. I use them in conjunction with drills when I am using wood screws so I can drill the pilot hole with the drill and then use the power screwdriver without having to keep changing bits.

Reply to
Robert Green

It appears to be a DeWalt battery drill. They usually have a dual speed

gear built in. Also they are varitable speed depending on how far the trigger is pulled.

The trick for using a drill as a power screwdriver is the speed. You do not want it to turn too fast. Also it may not have enough power to turn a screw at slow speed.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I suggest the purchase of one these and a box of short #2 Phillips head bits. That's the most common bit for a screw gun, although the real solution is to obviously match your bits to the type of fastener you are going to use.

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Extending the bit out from the chuck makes it much easier to use. You can get fixed sleeve holders or holders where the sleeve slides forward to cover the screw. It's self-centering for one hand operation.

I laugh when I see people using the short bits right in the chuck and then wonder why they keep stripping the screws.

I also keep a 6? #2 bit in my drill case for times when I need a little more reach.

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All items are available wherever you buy your drill from.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

A drill that runs on house current is a lot less trouble than a cordless drill, where one has to recharge the batteries frequently, replace them every so often (2 years?) and which in many cases don't have near the power of a drill that runs on house current. I've had no trouble reaching any part of my house or yard with a long enough extension cord. Even going up a ladder, though one should be careful he doesn't trip over the cord, and one should use both hands going up and down the ladder (shouldn't be holding things with one's hands) , maybe pulling the drill up after one is up, and lowering it before going down. A cordless drill presents some of the same problems. I guess there are holsters, so you can put it on your hip.

As to whether you also need an electric screwdriver, it depends.

First, I'm curious. Did you know that you're supposed to drill a hole before you try to screw in a screw? When I grew up I didnt' know that. We had no drill of any sort. We did have a gimlet, and I would use a gimlet to make a hole 1/4' deep, enough to hold the screw, and then I would turn the screw until it went all the way into the wood, usually splitting the wood. I was 8 years old and soft of thought it shouldn't work like that, but had no idea what was wrong.

Anyhow, you should drill a hole with a drill bit about as thick as the shank of the screw, minus the threads. Note that the end of the screw is probably smaller than the part near the head, so the hole in the second piece of wood should maybe be smaller in diameter. Especially since it's that second piece of wood that the screw has to hold to. The head of the screw is enough to hold it to the first., the top piece of wood, but the threads have to be in fairly tight in the bottom piece of wood.

With soft wood you can make the holes a ittle bit smaller, In fact you should start smaller because you can always make the hole bigger but you can't make it smaller.

And before you put the screw in the hole, you should pull its threads once across a bar of soap (not Lava soap. Ivory or something like that.) to get some on each thread (yes I know t here's really only one thread) . The soap makes an enormous difference when trying to screw in the screw, and if you'v e done everything right, it's easy to make the screw go in and it will still fit tightly.

You might also look for a ratchet screw driver, so you don't have to take the tip out of the screw head slot, just turn your hand back and forth.

Do all this one nail or screw at a time and you won't have to take down the gutter. and you can probably do it yourself.

Do you need an electric screw driver or a drill with screwdriver speed? Maybe it would speed things up and keep you from getting tired if you're built like a girl and/or have never done much work with your hands, that's even more likely.

They also make screw tips that will fit on a socket wrench ratchet, when using the right socket, I guess. (not metric, I think). I have socket wrenches to work on the car, and a ratchet with its leverage and ratcheting is just about as good as electric, afaic. But if you wouldn't buy socket wrenches otherwise, maybe it's not worth buying now.

Are your gutters falling off? They are probably nailed on with "gutter nails" or "gutter spikes". The easiest thing to do if the nails are loose is to switch to gutter screws, which are designed to fit in the same holes that the nails did, but be bigger. (but thin enough that they will still go through the tubes thake keep either the nails or the screws from crushing the gutter.) They will probably screw in pretty easily, and will hold your gutters for another 10 years or more. unless the wood is really bad.

(Even then, when the wood is so bad the screws are falling out, you can probably aim the screws a half inch to the side and find decent wood. It won't look perfect but who looks up at the screw heads anyhow. I guess if you're starting a new hole when the wood is old and part of it is rotting, your starter hole should be even smaller, or maybe you don't need one??? I'm not up to that point yet and I don't know. what the wood 1/2 inch from a crumbling, almost rotting hole is like. It might be almost as good as new. Maybe you can even switch back to gutter nails. This paragraph needs more work.

And you should probably get in the habit of wearing gloves. People are twice as strong when they're wearing gloves, and they don't get calluses either. Cloth garden gloves might be okay. For really hard work, leather work gloves are better.

But your hands may well get dirty. If there is grease in yoour finger prints, I recommend waterless hand cleaner that works very well on grease. But somehow I never use that and I rely on Boraxo powdered hand soap. It gets all the dirt off, even the dirt in your fingerprints, without making your hands feel like they are being attacked. More like massaged.

My mother used Lava soap when her hands were dirty. I don't know how she could stand it. I hate the stuff. And she must have known about Boraxo, because my father had died and she was the one who bought it.

Reply to
micky

BTW, I bought at a yard sale a battery operated drill and small saw. I didn't pay much but it still wasn't worth it because everyone has switched to a higher voltage with more power, even for home-use quality tools. Including, I'm sure, the guy I bought these tools from. I can't remember what I have or what the new voltage is.

Reply to
micky

Very good post but why does she need a whole box of bits? Do they wear out?

Reply to
micky

The drill I was thinking of was the corded drill that she may already have. They do not develop much power when the speed is very low by not pulling the trigger very much.

The ones with a dual speed gear will develop more power to turn the screws when set to the lower speed. This is usually the battery powered ones.

There are also some tools that look like drills that are especially made to run slow for driving screws.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

What this machine is? a drill with special head or what? I have a drill but not cordless and i am thinking to use it as a screw driver to screw a big board for my front house, or do I need special device? Thanks

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Leza,

We need to know if your drill has one speed, two speeds, or is a variable s peed control type of drill.

Reply to
hrhofmann

Hi, I think by now OP has whole buch more questions, LOL. Philips, Robertson, chuck, sleeve..... OP's mind is boggling now.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Hey, B4 anything else OP better keep in mind safety practices. What looks easy on expert's hand can be accident in waiting for amateur or novice. In my working days if safety engineer catch us breaking safety rules, it could be cause for losing the job. Could be fired on the spot, very strict. If not using anti static mat &/or glove handling a circuit board, static could zap a multi grand CML high current logic board in a blink.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

For driving screws, a 9.6 or 12 volt is really all you need most of the time. But men being men, we often go to the higher voltages because we can. I prefer something lighter that gets the job done.

That said, my car has a turbocharger and a top speed I'll probably never see even though I've already hit 123 mph.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Yes, some of the cheap ones wear out quickly too. I keep a few around all the time, mostly #2 Phillips and #2 Robertson square drive.

My preference is to get a quick change bit holder like this one from Bosch CC2100

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I don't know about other brands, they may be OK too but I never tried them.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

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