Harbor Freight vs. Home depot

[Bob F]

Impact driver? What's the point of that? Any variable speed corded drill should do fine.

[Tom]

HF uses plastic gears and will not hold up. I bought the 18v kit from Sears Crapsman. It came with circular saw, light and drill all on sale for $60. It would drill maybe 6 screws before battery was history. Charger took forever and the RPM was much too slow for any quick work. I won't make that mistake again. Ask yourself this question, after 6 screws are in and the battery is history "what should I have expected for $15 ?" Sure you have another battery but they take too long to charge and the hotter the battery is when you return it to charger the less efficent the recharge will be. Dewalt makes tools for HD. You can tell the difference between "HD special" and regular dewalt tools. The HD special Dewalts have a handle that is all yellow. The regular dewalts have a handle that is half black. The half black has the metal gears and comonly the XRP battery line. These things are heavy, BIG TIME, but they turn screws till carpnal tunnel sets in then only 1 hour recharge.

Just to confuse you more, today we are migrating towards Lithium Ion batteries. The dewalt XRP is NOT lithium ion. I bought the Bosch 10v (any one of these:

and cannot believe I waited so long for this. It does NOT have a chuck for putting drillbits in; it does not turn fast at all (300rpm max) but it drives 3" drywall screws till seemingly forever. It fits in my back pocket and handles replacing electrical outlets to removing rusted 3" screws. The lithium battery is fanstastic.

Many people say "cry ONCE over purchase price and avoid crying every time you use a tool you bought for cheap."

HTH, Tom

[SteveB]

I must admit that just because you have one, and I don't, and I've never used one, it makes it VERY suspect to me. ;-) I have seen small Makitas used at the conventions a lot, and they all seemed to like them. IIRC, they had a little slide fitting to quick connect various tools. No one who used them would lend them, and they swore by them. I came close to buying one several times, and may still if I see one at a decent price in this down economy. I've been scoring some nice tools lately, including a BIG honking Rockwell table saw for $50. A Porter Cable pancake compressor and three guns (one 2.5" nail, one up to 1" brad and one up to 1 1/4" staple) all NEW for $135. A DeWalt hand grinder with 5/8" arbor and paddle switch for $20. A 12 and 20 ton jack today for $7 for both. I could go on.

I admit that I would like to try one of the impact drivers. But I think that you have to admit that a good hefty tool, be it DeWalt, Makita, or even Ryobi with the right bit and setup will do most anything the average DIYer calls on it to do. There are LOTS and LOTS of people out there who don't even understand how to pick out bits, sizes, types, etc. There are a lot of people who don't select or even ask about the proper fastener for the job, but just buy whatever drywall screw is on sale. So, a lot of this discussion is over their heads.

What model number is yours, and what voltage? A lot of the Makitas I saw were 12 or 14.4, but that has been about three years ago now.

Steve, who is changing his mind, just like Fearless Leader does twenty times a day.

[SteveB]

"Tom" wrote

Many people say "cry ONCE over purchase price and avoid crying every time you use a tool you bought for cheap."

HTH, Tom

I have and have seen tools that are fifty years old, and better than a lot of the crap they sell for new now. Picked up a Ridgid 12" pipe wrench today, well used, but still good .............. $1. Shop around, but be an informed shopper, just as you have provided the info on how to recognize the different grades of DeWalt. With few exceptions, quality tools do cost, but they last and last and last.

Steve

[Stormin Mormon]

My red 12 volt drill master has been in use for several years. I didn't date the drill (sharpie pen) but at least three or four years. I'm pleased to pieces. I use it for insert and remove screws at work.

[Stormin Mormon]

Since the OP mentioned 3 inch screws, lets remind him that two drills and drilling pilot hole is a good idea. The long screws bind a bit after a bit of insertion.

[Oren]

One day I was watching a custom cabinet installer and a two guys installing large garage doors. All using impact drivers. 'Course I had to ask them about them, how they worked and if I could hold it ;) I want one!

I bought a 18V Bosch Brute hammer drill years ago as part of the kit. That drill had a better torque than others at the time. It's heavy...never walk by my ladder when I drop it...

[Percival P. Cassidy]

And Ryobi, Ridgid and Milwaukee (as well as Husky hand tools) are products of the same company -- whose name escapes me at present.

Ridgid has a better warranty (don't know about Milwaukee), but of course the batteries are *not* interchangeable.

Perce

[Van Chocstraw]

My Black and Decker Fire Storm 18V drives 3, 4, 6 inch drywall/deck screws no problem. I have learned to buy square head screws. Much easier to keep the screw turning where Phillips will slip and strip too easy with high torque on long screws. Also helps to pre-drill the holes.

[Roger Shoaf]

They are not great, but they do work. the problem is with the batteries and the charging system. Like Christopher mentioned, no regulation on the charging system so leaving the battery on the charger too long kills the batteries, which are cheap ones to begin with.

If you are only looking for a tool for one shot the HF drill might be OK, if you are a DIY guy and this is only one project in a long line of things to do, then I would recommend going to the big orange box, buying a good Lithium ion drill with a lifetime guarantee and long after the sting of the price wears off you will still have a good tool and the piece of mind that it will work when needed.

[SteveB]

And it helps to coat the screws with beeswax, too. But then, when you go through all that, you coulda had a real drill.

Steve

[Cooper]

Never ever ask a man if you can hold his drill or hammer! Unless you're a woman, or......

[mm]

Why wo't they ship this to Alaska or Hawaii?

Do they explode?

[John Grabowski]

*I have a Bosch 10.8 volt. It is small and lightweight, but is quite powerful. Unfortunately before this tool came out I had purchased the Bosch cordless screwdriver (I Driver I think) and was quite pleased with the power that it had. Since I purchased the impact driver I have put the cordless screwdriver in the closet. I use the impact driver instead. It just makes screwing effortless.

[Hustlin' Hank]

As you can see by all the responses that there are many opinions. You have to ask yourself how much you are going to use it. If you plan on using it 8 hours a day, get a corded drill. If you are only using it a couple hours a day, get a cordless. You'll probably find that the drill will outlast the batteries before having to replace the drill.

It seems to me that my Ryobi batteries last much longer and run longer than the Craftsman, Firestorm and another cheapie brand I have. The Ryobi wasn't that much more and I would buy another. I can also use the batteries in the other Ryobi tools I have. But, none of them will withstand everyday use.

Hank

[Ed Pawlowski]

I may get one to keep next to the bed then.

[Stormin Mormon]

One of these days, I'll have to get an impact driver, and see about this effortless screwing you mention.

[Van Chocstraw]

A real drill won't keep your Phillips slip/strip screwdriver bit from trashing the screw.

[John Grabowski]

*Neither will an impact driver.

[Stormin Mormon]

For those of us who have purchased impact drivers. Are they less likely to round out the screwdriver slot of screws?