Hi all I am fitting out my extension we built last summer I need to put in about
7000 screws ranging from drywall to 4 inch. Is the Dewalt 18 volt drill/driver up to the job- I see one on Ebay.My present B&D 18volt is on its last legs after a summer of heavy use. Tom
If you're just doing a lot of screwing (ooh err) then I'd go for something lighter like a 12 or 14.4v model.
I've used a DC988 (also 18v) and yes, as daddyfreddy suggests they are a little heavy to use, however, they are fantastically powerful. At the end of the day, the 18v should be a little more useful than a 12v or
14v, but its horses for courses. Personally, once I'd used it for a short while the extra weight slipped my mind.I think for your use the main thing to look out for is the good rapid charger and at least 2 good batteries.
You need an Impact driver. Look at Screwfix and the Ryobi ONE+ setup. An impact driver will cost you £70 and two Panasonic batteries and charger £60, less if you go for just one battery. So, £130 for an impact driver with good write ups and two quality batteries, is very good. The DeWalts are about £250. You can buy only the power tools of circular saws, jigsaws, drill/drivers, etc without the batteries, and the same 18v battery fits them all.
The Ryobi is the best value for money in Impact Drivers. And you can also use them as a drill. But all Impact Drivers are "loud".
Do a Google on this group and in Nov', Mark and my posts. The uk.d-i-y Lunatic Association ruined the thread not knowing what an Impact Driver was. Do a Goggle on Ryobi and Impact Driver on the web and lots of reports come up.
"Virtues: Speed, power, battery life, and overall performance that rivaled some of the heavy hitters of this tool test, all at a much lower price."
Verdict: The Ryobi is a quality tool at a very reasonable price. For the budget-minded tool buyer, this impact driver would be an excellent choice.
"Ryobi's new 18-volt impact driver is available as part of their new One+ System through Home Depot. The tool itself is a bargain at just $70, though two batteries and a charger will run you another $60. All in all, that's still a good price at just $130 for a tool that performed superbly throughout our testing.
In the speed, power, and battery life tests, the Ryobi stayed head to head with the more expensive models in the test (such as the Bosch, Makita, and DeWalt). The Ryobi also features a handy L.E.D. light for drilling and driving in dark locations. Throughout the testing, we were quite impressed with theRyobi. In fact, if its 18-volt status hadn't disqualified it from taking part in our head-to-head 14.4-volt tool test, it would have given Craftsman a run for its money as the "Top Value" in the test."
Forget Dewalt if you want something with endurance they aint that good, they just look pretty. Have a look at the Metabo BSZ 18 Cordless Drill/Driver it will out last most others and has electronic torque control, which increases the power at low speeds. Ideal for longer screws such as 4".
I would forget that and get an Impact Driver. The right tool for the right job.
You truly are clueless. An impact driver is not in any way the right tool for this job.
Impact drivers are more suited to using sockets for loosening or tightening nuts and bolts and hex headed coach screws, not for slotted or cross head wood screws and dry wall screws.
If you really want to recommend something useful you could of suggested a dedicated dry wall screwdriver.
Don't be stupid. An impact driver is intended for driving lag screws and doing decking work. It is not suitable for this application at all. The control simply isn't there to do a proper job with smaller screws.
If the vast majority of the screws are drywall, then it might be worth considering a screw gun. Otherwise, a good quality 18v drill driver would be a sensible investment and would produce clean and consistent results.
It's the best value of the ones that Workbench magazine reviewed in a separate 18v category.
I subscribe to Workbench magazine and read the original review of several 14.4v impact drivers.
The comparison that you describe was between an 18v Techtronics Industries Ryobi product and everybody else's 14.4v product.
It therefore has very little meaning.
Totally wrong. There are Impact drivers and Impact Wrenches. You are on about wrenches.
An 18v Impact Driver is small, powerfull and drives in very large screws, and amall ones too. It can also drill too.
See my current post on the Ryobi Impact Driver and do a google on this group, See:
No. A useful tool is an impact driver. They were horrendously expensive, that is why no one knows much about them. The uk.d-i-y Lunatic Association had never heard of them but managed a thread 100s of posts long on absolutely nothing in November. But Ryobi have dropped the price to affordable levels.
A prom> You truly are clueless. An impact driver is not in any way the right tool
You clearly do not know what an Impact Driver is and what it is good for. And you have no shame in this.
Matt, a prom> Don't be stupid. An impact driver is intended for driving lag screws
Yes. He did say that, so the self proclaimed expert on power tools, who until November when his Lunatic Association, as usual, made prats of themselves.
See:
You are maing that up, as you have never used a drywall drill.
..and others too.
It has great meaning Matt. And you still don't know anything about Impact Drivers.
I did not say "drywall drill".
I own a Senco collated screwdriver.
This is exactly the correct tool to use if driving a large number of drywall screws
Matt the OP said: "7000 screws ranging from drywall to 4 inch". That calls for an Impact driver. For £130 he will get a Ryobi ONE+: two 45 min charge Panasonic batteries, a charger and an Impact Driver. For an extra £60 (£190) an angle drill/driver and an extra £40 gets him a drill/driver, that is £170 in total. So, an Impact Driver plus angle drill for £190 or Impact Driver plus drill/driver for £170. Prices from Screwfix, so may be cheaper elsewhere. Takes some beating and about the the same price, or cheaper than the DeWalt (B&D underneath) he was looking at.
Yup I should think so. Must have done many thousand screws on my loft conversion with my 18V Makita combi, plus loads of other jobs like running holesaws and even mixing plaster. Took it all in its stride.
It is more likely for a project of this nature that there would be a significantly larger volume of drywall screws than there would be 4" screws.
Typically, one does not use 4" screws for attaching drywall.
An impact driver is completely unsuitable for drywall screws because there is not the level of control required to avoid either leaving the screw proud of the surface or pushing it right through the board.
Impact drivers have no clutch in the way that a conventional drill/driver does and the only controls are the amount and time of trigger depression. This means that the operator must gauge both accurately for every screw. This is going to become very tedious.
A screw gun gives the easiest and fastest way of putting in a lot of drywall screws. I know, by the way, because I have done it.
Failing that, the 18v drill driver is the correct choice for the purpose requested.
You are guessing as usual.
An Impact Driver and drill/driver can be had for the price of one of those overpriced and overrated DeWalts.
You get used to it very quickly. The professionals use them.
Not worth it unless you are doing it all day and every day.
Matt, you clearly haven't a clue what and how an Impact driver does things. Those who have them swear by them, and occasionally many use a small 12v drill/driver for the odd small screws. They also use the Impact Drivers for drilling too, which zips through wood. Battery Impact Drivers give the same performance as a mains powered tool, which no drill/driver can. Impact Drivers are also very small, which those large 189v DeWalts are clearly not. The 18v and 24v battery drills are "heavy" and cumbersome.
It is best you go out and buy an Impact Driver and play with it. Another manual under the pillow.
I suggest you go read your catalogues a little more carefully.
The 18V DeWalt the OP refered to has a power *output* of 420W - this will be significantly better than many mains drills.
If you wanted to stick in a few hundred heavy coach screws, or fix self tappers into undrilled metal sheet or studding then the impact driver would be a good choice. As a good general purpose tool however you are better off with a really good combi drill.
Chav, I suggest you find out by talking to people who us them.
Nope. They are too big an heavy. As I said Chav, A Ryobi ONE+ of two batts, one charger, one Impact Driver and one drill/driver will knock you back £170, less than that inadequate DeWalt.
Are you just being stupid or do you really believe that 4" screws are used to fit drywall?
It doesn't matter what you can get it for if it's not suitable for the job
Not for fixing drywall, they don't.
For 7000 screws it could be. I was able to pick up a Senco screw gun quite inexpensively while in the U.S. some while ago. Given the exchange rate at the time, it was a very good deal indeed.
I've used it both for drywalling and loft flooring and it periodically gets used for other jobs. It's certainly earnt its keep.
However, I would not recommend to the OP that he buys one specifically for this job at UK prices.
The 18v DeWalt or a Makita 18v drill driver is the sensible purchase for the job.
I know precisely how an impact driver does things.
I tried out several different products a few months ago because I was considering buying one.
Although they are not that expensive, their application is quite limited through lack of control.
If I were installing wooden decks for a living I might consider using one for the lag bolts. I have seen contractors using them for the purpose. However, they don't use them for attaching the boards - another job involving a lot of screws. They use a screw gun with a flooring extension so that they don't have to kneel all day.
"The odd small screws", possibly - not thousands of them.
The Techtronics Ryobi product that you mention earlier weighs 1.6kg. The DeWalt 18v drill driver weighs 2kg
Hardly a major difference.
Already investigated and considered. Not worth having unless one regularly needs to drive large screws of different kinds without being too concerned about accuracy.
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