cordless impact drill

[Dean3]

I'm not going to mention brand unless specifically asked cause I don't want to sound like a damn worthless spammer.

I recently got a small cordless drill/kit. When the drill "feels" resistance it starts a hammer action to help drive the screw. It is much easier to use than my other cordless and smaller too,maybe about the same weight,not sure on that one. I believe several companies make a version. My big bro said he liked the control you get,as-in,not sinking the screws too far,,I like the ease of driving 5" or 6" screws,which we all know can be a real bitchkitty to do and sometimes the head strips out or the screw breaks off.

This is NOT a big impact that you would use for changing car tires,it is more for construction or homeowner type stuff. I just used mine to build 30' of privacy fence(shadowbox style)around big sis's hot tub thingy in her back yard off the deck. I can post pics of it--I'm not proud,or tired--quoting Arlo Guthrie on that one!

The only downside I see to the drill is it does make some noise when the hammer action kicks in,small price to pay for the help it provides IMO.

Dean

[HouseMedic]

Hi Dean,
Most impact drills that I have used have a impact right from the start. Even the smaller 1/4" drive ones. Does your drill have a regular chuck for inserting the bits or is it like a ratchet connection? Are you sure your drill does not have an adjustable clutch? Most of my drills have this clutch and it is so you don't drive the screw to deep. They are usually adjustable from like 2 to 17 or so. Just a thought. You can PM me the brand and model number.

Ron

Edit: Thanks for the PM Dean. You have a nice Impact/Driver there. You should get a lot of use out of it.

[Dean3]

TY Ron,nice yappin wit'cha! Educational too!

"impact/driver" I'll have to try to remember that,,,this here Grampa's gettin old!

[Greg]

One thing to remember, Buy IMPACT bits, there is a difference between regular bits & Impact bits.

I don't think I can justify the added expense for impact, My Milwaukee 1/4" M12 (nice & light)will sink a 5" screw with no problem, and the Ryobi 18v will do it even faster.

Greg

[Dean3]

Yepper Greg,My newer Milwaukee(made is Asia somewhere)14.4v does a good job,just not nearly as easy as the impact driver. Heck my other much older Milwaukee 14.4v still works,it was made in Germany back in 1999 or so,the newer one isn't near the quality. Some new kid on a jobsite borrowed the old one and severely overworked it with a big spade bit and now it's kinda quirky,lol,I keep it cause I just might try to fix it someday. It(old 14.4)lasted 9 years,give or take a bit,both on the job and for home projects. I have long been a fan of Milwaukee tools. My D-Handle 1/2" Milwaukee mixed thousands of buckets of mud plus other jobs and lasted about as long as the old cordless.

dean

[DaveyB]

If you're firing off PMs or just want to post here, I have a large shed project coming up in a few months and I don't think my B&D dual battery is up to it, so a new driver/drill is called for! Sounds interesting!

[Dean3]

If you're firing off PMs or just want to post here, I have a large shed project coming up in a few months and I don't think my B&D dual battery is up to it, so a new driver/drill is called for! Sounds interesting!

Oh what the heck DaveyB,some brand names have been mentioned in the last couple posts. My new-to-me impact driver is a Ryobi P30. Actually I don't know that brand is important. As stated earlier I think several brands make cordless impact driver drills. Ryobi isn't a high end tool,more like lower-middle quality IMO. Whenever it's time to replace this one I'll research all brands.

The most important thing with any battery of course is regular top-off charging. Just like your car needs to be driven,cordless tools need to be charged periodically. Just always be sure to buy a tool or tool kit that comes with an automatic charger,one that **will not** overcharge. Example-Some of the BnD chargers are manual and ruin batteries by overcharging them.

For a strong healthy person the impact feature isn't really needed,I'm gettin old,don't *really* need it yet but sure do like it,and,every bit of energy I can save helps.

Dean's tip of the day- Consider buying a brand of cordless that matches batteries you already own,then you have plenty of spares for heavy use times.

Dean P

[Dean3]

Problems uploading pics here so put them on my Flickr account and made them public. The fence pics all start with "Bonnie's" when you mouse over. I had resized for email and can't get them back to original with good clarity yet! Damm computers anyway! Will have to find her email and download them again. This will work for now though.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoutportersorters/

((Set the Flickr acct up for keeping track of dark beers we like,it hasn't gone too far in that direction yet.))

We customized the kits,it's a cross between 6' panels and 8' panels cause 7' spacing worked perfectly for the 14' runs to match the original 22.5 degree patio angle and distances. Notice the center post,it is lined square with the right 2 panels,this created a 45 degree angle for 3 of the left rails,wasn't quite the look I expected when installing the post but made it look ok. Big Bro's radial arm power miter saw saved the day there! There is a 2' 90 degree corner of fence by the house,Sis's request,looks nice but a bit out of place IMO.

Due to getting material from 2 different Menards stores some of the pickets didn't come dog-eared,I set up a jig to cut/flip/cut. Also made a "jig board" for spacing and height of pickets,worked well,just had to pay attention and not get it stuck between when putting the pickets on the other side of the lower rails .

Menards had mentioned wanting to see pics of it,I told sis to add a note that says "all rights retained". Never know,if they want to use for adverts she might be able to get paid for them and recoup some material cost! There was several screw ups on Menards part(tried to send some nasty composite material) and they *really* ticked her off! Believe me,they heard about it too!

[Greg]

The big thing to remember when buying ANYTHING cordless is that sooner or later you WILL need to buy a battery. Price them ahead of time. 18v Ryobi batteries run around $30 for the Nicad and $60 for the lithium (spend the extra for the lithium), My 12v Milwaukee batteries are around $30 for the Lithium.

I was on the tool truck at work today pricing a new 18v 1/2" impact kit, I about fell over when he said $600, the extra 18v Lithium battery was another $200. Then I asked about a 1/2" drill - impact combo kit- $1000. I think I can drag an air hose.

Greg

[JD]

Yes, there can be a fine line between mild spam and product/service review type posts. But in this case, no problem at all. Not like some guys with the whole DeWalt banner thing! Actually, my Dewalt XRP stuff stays on the shelf due to too many shop visits and it is Ryobi drills that go out on the jobs every day, both ni-cad and li-ion. I have had a worker burn up a blue Ryobi, but we were asking too much of it and it was very old. Other than that, none of the Ryobi's have had to go to the shop and we work them commercially all the time. I have a very old blue Ryobi that has gone through 8 batteries or so and has never given me a bit of trouble. They are cheap and so are the batteries. The green li-ion Ryobi drills are superior products but the batteries are only slightly cheaper other brands. I love these drills, for performance and economy. Best bang for the buck that I have found.

Talk, recommendations and gripes about specific tools and products can be very useful to our forum viewers and is usually obvious that the poster is not making money with their post. Spammers are usually obvious too. As moderators, we do the best we can to get it right but we might miss a few.

[Dean3]

That damn dog is an evil spam dog if ever I saw one JD!! Just look at him glaring with "dollar sign" eyes!!

Some guys I often work with use lots of Dewalt tools. I replaced my D-Handle 1/2" Milwaukee corded with a 1/2" Dewalt a couple years ago,liked the Milwaukee much better but the Dewalt is holding up for now,,I doubt it will handle as many busy years though,,that's assuming there will ever be really busy years again! Danged slow economy anyway.

Tool brands highest in my estimation are Hilti--Porter Cable--Rigid--Milwaukee..I know that to compete with lower priced tools some better brands now make some cheaper things too,found that out the hard way once or twice. I have a Milwaukee drywall gun and a Hilti drywall gun,both corded,I like em both. Next year I have 2 roofing jobs for family and plan to get a Porter Cable compressor and roofing gun.

My sis has 3 new Porter Cable tools in a kit bag,2 neumatic trim guns and a neumatic stapler,she plans to donate them to her local Habitat for Humanity in her husband's name. Before he passed he told her "When I retire(union const foreman)I want to work with Habitat for Humanity",so,some of his tools will do what he wished. I find that kinda touching,WTG sis. I told her I would trade some work for the compressor but she should just keep it there til the roofs are done. I have my old compressor to use for now anyway,it just won't quit for some reason,I mistreat it terribly since it was new about 5-6 years ago! It runs almost constant when spraying texture and sat out in *all* Iowa weather,uncovered in my truck for years,until I got my van.

[Greg]

I also think that there are "regional" favorites. Around here Hilti is rare, Bosch is a popular brand. Porter Cable (former Rockwell) was born in Syracuse, so they are still popular here. Ridgid is about locked up by Home Depot, Great tools (I'm looking for a portable table saw). If you look close you can see the corded tools are built by Emerson electric, they used to build the old Craftsman power tools, I think that some of the old craftsman radial arm saw parts would fit the Ridgid line.

Greg

[Dean3]

I also think that there are "regional" favorites. Around here Hilti is rare, Bosch is a popular brand. Porter Cable (former Rockwell) was born in Syracuse, so they are still popular here. Ridgid is about locked up by Home Depot, Great tools (I'm looking for a portable table saw). If you look close you can see the corded tools are built by Emerson electric, they used to build the old Craftsman power tools, I think that some of the old craftsman radial arm saw parts would fit the Ridgid line.

Greg

Cool Greg,good stuff. And Dewalt is owned by BnD,or is it the other way round,I forget. Being here in the middle of the country I think we use them all. It could be that since Milwaukee is fairly regional for me and was well respected back when I got going in const it influenced me. Milwaukee and Porter Cable were both favorites of plumbers and electricians around here back in the 80s. My old drywall boss bought a Milwaukee drywall screwgun and mixing drill which saw lots of use and were still going when I left for greener pastures. The tools he had when I 1st started were a BnD screwgun that died,then a Makita that was nice and light but died too,and an *ancient* bare metal bodied mixing drill that was older than we were and giving us shocks!

One thing I detest about any tool is when the variable speed switch quits being 100% variable long before the tool is worn out. I don't like "dead spots" in gas pedals or tool switches,,,no mistake there!

I haven't owned any Rigid tools yet but have used a few and am impressed.

Dean

[JD]

I really like this thread! Tools tools tools. I am a bit of a tool freak and I generally have anything I need. If I don't. then I buy one immediately. This is easier to justify when doing repair work for a living. But not all my tools are "preferred" brands and/or models, for the same reason Dean mentioned. They just won't die. When I was a younger employee and needed a table saw for a home project, I couldn't justify buying a good job site saw for what little need I had of it, so I bought the cheapest 10" Craftsman available while it was on sale. Probably paid $100 for it. 11 years later, that is still my job site saw and it works perfectly. I work it hard too, often slowing it down as it chews through plywood and 2x4s. I use Freud ATB blades and maybe that has helped. I have been eyeing new better saws for a long time but just can't justify it when the old Craftsman performs flawlessly.

Other tools have not fared as well. I had a low end Bosch hammer drill to install anchors in concrete. I used it for a few years but one day I ran into VERY hard concrete. Even taking it slow and dripping water on the bit, we were going through bits like crazy. I went right out and got a Bosch 7/8" Bulldog SDS drill. Spun holes like it was dirt and bits last 3-4 times longer. The other Bosch is still in great condition but I probably won't use it much. Nothing wrong with the tool. I just didn't buy enough drill to start with.

[Dean3]

Here's an article from 2003. I don't agree with every word of course but it covers some general info/opinion of quite a few brands. If anyone runs across a newer article and/or one that covers more brands I'd love to see a link.

http://www1.epinions.com/content_3304824964

Speaking of using tools,I gotta go spray 2 patches today,they should be fully dry by now. Matching a fine orange peel in one room and a knockdown in another room. 2 patches,sheesh,pretty slim pickins this week.

Dean