I'm looking to buy my first impact driver because I've got=20 lots of large screws to put in. I'm not a fan of normal=20 battery powered drills as I find the battery life too low=20 for a good working session and they are often underpowered. Mains powered stuff tends to be cheaper too.
Do mains powered impact drivers exist? Can anyone recommend=20 one for under =A3100?
--=20 David in Normandy. snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.fr=20 To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.
A silly question but - what is the difference between a=20 standard hammer drill and an impact driver drill? How can I=20 tell the difference (if there is any)?
I've already got both a standard hammer drill and an SDS=20 drill - that isn't an impact driver drill is it? It is one=20 of those drills that take the chisel bits and is brilliant=20 for drilling holes in tough rock.
Too many types of drill to get my head around :-(
--=20 David in Normandy. snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.fr=20 To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.
I'm glad someone else has asked that. Can I add the question "why are specialist drywall drivers needed" as I'd have thought that plasterboard was one of the easiest materials to drill / drive through? Is it a speed thing?
Only a guess but I'd expect that low torque would be needed=20 putting screws into plasterboard otherwise they'd go too=20 deep. I wonder if you can get screw bits that have a=20 flattened "stop" either side of the business end - that=20 would stop the bit going too deep and make it disengage=20 when the screw had gone to the correct depth. If such=20 doesn't exist it would be a useful invention perhaps?
--=20 David in Normandy. snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.fr=20 To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.
No, but I can highly reccomend the Bosch GDR10.8V-LI as a cheap=20 solution, it's about =A3120ish on eBay, and is a lithium batteried unit,=20 supplied with two of them. It'll also come with a 3 year warranty if=20 registered online with bosch, and it's part of the pro-series of kit so=20 it should keep going for a long, long time, both battery wise and=20 lifespan wise :)
I've got the GDR18V as part of my kit, and it's very good, rarely runs=20 out during the day on just one battery.
A silly question but - what is the difference between a standard hammer drill and an impact driver drill? How can I tell the difference (if there is any)?
I've already got both a standard hammer drill and an SDS drill - that isn't an impact driver drill is it? It is one of those drills that take the chisel bits and is brilliant for drilling holes in tough rock.
A hammer drill would tend to be too quick for use as a screw driver.
I can run my GDR14.4V into the ground in 20 minutes or so - but only if I'm continuously knocking 10*140mm multimonti into concrete. And there's a 15 minute charger, so never without a fresh battery.
In more normal use, 6mm diameter screws into timber, I'd expect to swap batteries 3 times a day.
To answer the OP's original question, I've never seen mains powered impact drivers aimed at the building trade. They may exist (well pneumatic ones definitely do), but I imagine they would be more aimed at a production line environment.
I really wouldn't be concerned about lack of clout from cordless impact drivers - the problem is more likely to be becoming gung-ho and breaking a screw.
The trade's rapid uptake of cordless impact drivers tells it's own story - it fulfilled a need.
An impact driver is predominantly intended for driving fairly chunky screws or lag bolts. A common application is in constructing outdoor wooden structures when the main advantage is speed.
It's not an alternative to SDS drills or other types.
These drivers accept belts of screws. They originate from the U.S. where common construction methods involve attaching 18mm ply to CLS framing and drywall to it as well.
With correct adjustment, the driver positions the screws at precisely the correct depth for the application. For drywalling, this involves getting the screw so that the flat top is just below the surface but without destroying the paper surface.
I bought a Senco one of these a few years ago in the U.S. for the equivalent of about £100. Buckets of screws are readily available.
When cladding my workshop with ply, I completed the job in a couple of hours vs. probably a day so well worth the investment. Other projects since have meant that it's paid for several times over.
The win is because it's as fast as a nail gun, vs. drilling holes, manually applying screws and driving them in. I would guess 2 seconds per fixing vs. 10.
Does that mean I don't need to pre-drill any holes to put=20 the screws in?
Can I use "ordinary" screws one at a time or do they have=20 to be fed on a belt?
--=20 David in Normandy. snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.fr=20 To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.
That makes sense. I use a standard mains drill for putting=20 in screws and I have to set the torque fairly low and be=20 careful to squeeze the trigger gently to use "slow start"=20 and be quick to release it when the screws are in to the=20 depth required. The drill doesn't cope so well with large=20 screws though, hence why I'm thinking of buying an impact=20 driver drill which others seem to rave about.
--=20 David in Normandy. snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.fr=20 To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.
So presumably the screws are bought already on belts. Two questions:
Are the screws specially made for impact drivers? I ask because I know that if I tried to screw in some "normal" screws into harder woods without pre-drilling holes they would tend to shear off.
Are screws on belts more expensive than "normal" screws? If so can the belts be reloaded using normal screws? I'm a tight-wad and this sounds like a fun background activity while watching a boring TV program. :-)
A hammer drill basically kicks in and out. An impact driver kicks in a rotary direction. Rather like thumping a spanner to free a stuck bolt. This 'kicking' is a more efficient way of using the power needed to drive in a screw than plain continuous torque.
Impact drivers don't have a conventional chuck
- they take either hex bits direct if small, or square drive if larger.
Bosch haven't helped by calling their ordinary hammer drills impact ones.
To be fair, these things work as a system. Many builders use a lot of screws in a certain size, and mainly into softwood, that they know will work well with an impact driver.
An impact driver will drive a screw straight into hardwood, but it may split the wood or snap the screw (you still need to pre-drill, then it's fine). An impact driver may break smaller (4mm or less) screws or stainless steel screws (both are fine, but with care). Used (very) recklessly, it may be able to pull the screw head right through softer materials or strip the thread it has just cut. If you work with whatever odd screws you have lying around, you may not get good results.
However, when used into softwood with a self-drilling screw like this:
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will produce phenomenally easy, fast and repeatable results, producing a very secure fixing.
For drywall drivers, yes. For impact drivers they are separate.
Special bits.
Impact drivers typically have a 6.35mm socket fitting so are often used with lag bolts with a hex head
I wouldn't use them with hardwoods anyway, although people do.
I buy them in the U.S. The are a bit more expensive than the loose screws and are specially shaped for plasterboard to avoid cutting the paper. The main point is the time saving. I suppose you could reload the belts but it would be fiddly because the screws are clipped in place by the belt design. It would probably take longer to load them than to use. I know that French TV can be challenging, but there is a limit.
A hammer drill vibrates the bit back & forth by a very small amount whilst turning, to help when drilling masonry. The next step up from that is an SDS drill which hammers the bit back & forth by a much larger amount whilst turning.
The back & forth hammer action is no help when driving screws.
An Impact Driver is the next step up from a drill driver. When putting in large screws with a drill driver, it will slow down as the screw goes in because more resistance occurs. An impact driver starts by turning the screw like a drill driver then senses the increased resistance & automatically starts to hammer the bit around in a circular motion - not a back & forth motion.
A 12v impact driver will put a 90mm x 6mm coach screw straight in, no pilot, with contempuous ease. A 4mm x 60mm deck screws goes in so fast you can't pick up another screw before the first one is driven in.
A drywall screwdriver is a belt fed drill driver, AFAIK belt fed impact drivers don't exist yet. A drywall screwdriver also stops driving the screw at a preset depth.
You can achieve this preset depth with a drywall bit holder.
Thanks for the reply. It's very clear now. Time to see if=20 the DIY sheds have one at a reasonable price. I'm not sure=20 what they are called here in France so I'll be looking for=20 "drills" that have a small hex chuck.
The drywall bit holder looks good too - I've got a mountain=20 of plasterboard to put up (several ceilings and dry lined=20 walls).
--=20 David in Normandy. snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.fr=20 To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.
Yes, you can use ordinary drywall screws and no, they don't have to be on a belt:
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The speed advantage over using a conventional drill driver comes through popping the screw into the nosepiece and the machine driving it to a pre-set, repeatable depth.
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