Impact drivers

[CW]

I have never seen an impact driver. Do they have a clutch or are you just supposed to be fast on the trigger (my question mark key is broken).

[Leon]

Have you ever used an impact wrench? No clutch however they are variable speed so you do and or can fewness a bit. Probably not going to be the best choice for #6 screws and smaller but I have never had a problem with larger screws. Basically a coarse driver compared to a drill driver with a clutch. You will probably use it more than a regular drill driver with clutch.

[Puckdropper]

"CW" wrote in news:np6dnYCzEfRikFPSnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

The ones I've seen have no clutch. When the impact driver starts impacting, the rotational speed slows down and it's easy to sink the screw to the correct depth. On a normal 3" screw with predrilled hole, it will drive about 85-90% of the way in without impacting then start impacting.

These are observations about my tool, other tools might work differently.

Puckdropper

[tiredofspam]

They do not have a clutch. They are like a full size auto impact driver with hammers in the housing.

The little ones are great for woodworking, plenty of power.

The nice thing is that I have not had cam out with one. The bad thing is that you can snap heads on soft screws. But it's rare.

They are so powerful an 18V is not needed for woodworking. A 10 or 12v is fine. If framing a deck you may want the 18v. But my 10v Hitachi can drive deck screws easily.

I didn't th> I have never seen an impact driver. Do they have a clutch or are you

[Swingman]

Still don't like the rattling sound of an impact driver when it's pushing hard, but you can't argue with the results.

Don't think I would have ever bought one if I had not watched you drive

3" spax screws into cabinet blocking like butter some years back.

My little 18v Milwaukee BTD141 has become my go-to driver for most everything due to its small size and big power ... even mounting drawer slides on spacers. The responsive trigger lets you drive a small screw slowly and with no impact.

The slightly larger Milwaukee drill, that is part of the pair, hardly gets used, except to drill ...

[Steve Turner]

That's what he said.

:-)

[Leon]

Should that be Makita instead of Milwaukee?

[-MIKE-]

I can't wait to get one. Not only are they much shorter than the typical driver, allowing access to spaces a regular sized drill can get to, but they allow you to drive screws with much less "push." This is very handy for the aforementioned tight spaces which usually have you at an angle and reach that doesn't let you get any "push" as you drive the screw.

BTW, you must be one bad-ass sheetrock hanger. I'm hanging just a half dozen or so sheets in my bathroom(s) remodel and I can't imagine how it would look and what a huge PITA it would be without that dimpling adapter. (see: above "push" as well)

[-MIKE-]

The adapter I use has one benefit I have found to be very useful. It will push the sheetrock against the stud/joist before releasing the screw out. The head on the adapter is fairly big so it can apply a lot of force onto the sheetrock. A regular bit would push the bit right into the sheetrock before pushing it anywhere.

I hate when sheetrock doesn't sit flush against the stud/joist. Even though I use my hands and body to push against the sheets, I'm not always at a good angle to push very hard and that adapter really helps. It's also magnetic and the bits fit the screw perfectly. Given it cost less than a pound of screws, it's probably the best bang-for-buck tool I've ever purchased.

To each his own. I'm not arguing or trying to convince you to use one. I'm simply providing information to anyone else reading who's wondering if they should use one.

[Swingman]

^^^^^^

By jove, you're right ... used my corded 1/2" Milwaukee yesterday and put it away this morning and had "Milwaukee" on my mind ... I love that tailed tool, but you do gotta watch you whisper in that baby's ear.

[tiredofspam]

Mike I'll have to agree with not using the dimple adapter. I have one and when I had to replace the bottom of the walls after a flood in the basement I used my impact driver and it did such a great job that I stopped using the dimpler. It's much easier to start a screw (some metal some wood studs)... And I like to use a sleeved driver to hold the screw, and it was much better with the impactor than the drill/dimpler.

[G.W. Ross]

Never seen one used until I bought one. Just a small Makita. I especially like it when fastening faceplates to the bottom of bowls for turning. I use a large screw and no predrilling needed. What I especially like is, when the screw bottoms out against the metal faceplate it just stops--absolutely no torque to the wrist like a drill-driver gives.