Why Impact Driver For Screws

Impact Driver. And much, much more. Effective December 2014, this product has been discontinued. There is currently no replacement offered. When developing the new.

Cordless Drill/Driver vs Impact Driver: Which Do You Need?

Impact Driver vs drill; what s the dif. Let s sort out the differences between traditional cordless drills and impact drivers, so that woodworkers everywhere can prepare for this potential dialog in their own home.

An impact driver combines much higher rotational torque than traditional drills, with fast paced rotational tapping not to be confused with hammer drills with deliver tapping from the rear to help power through concrete and other hard materials which serves to nudge the fastener along while keeping the screw tip in place without spinning out of the slots. To understand this better, picture a wrench placed securely onto a bolt, and a hammer tapping it to give it some additional power as it turns the bolt. It essentially does what you intuitively do when you are driving a long screw and the goin starts to get tough. You stop the constant drilling, and start bumping the trigger and letting go to give the screw a bit more umph. This approach works to an extent, but the human reflex is only able to do about one bump per second, while an impact driver can deliver about 50 bumps per second. You might ask, Don t all those bumps make for a rough ride. Well, think about driving down a rough road in a car. If you go slow it feels bumpy, but at high speeds, it just turns into a loud hum. An impact driver feels smooth in spite of all that bumping, but you do hear a loud hum as a result of all those impacts. Loud enough that you will want to wear ear protection if you are driving a lot of screws. Also loud enough that it will make you unpopular if you do a demonstration for your friends in a quiet office setting yes, there is a story there

Where does an impact driver fit in a woodworking shop.

Woodworkers use drills for a combination of drilling holes and driving fasteners. Some of the work is lightweight, and some requires some brute force. Although I prefer building fine furniture with nearly invisible fasteners, I find myself driving long sheet rock screws on many projects in the shop, and that s what the impact driver does best. For installing cabinets, building shop furniture, theater set construction, framing anything with dimensional lumber, or building a deck, the impact driver will be your new best friend.

But, an impact driver won t replace your drill, and there are a few reasons why. Due to the extreme torque that is delivered by an impact driver vs. a drill, the impact drivers feature a hexagonal chuck design that doesn t allow the shank to spin in the chuck when it is under load. This is a nice feature for driving fasteners, but I am not ready to discard the 200 or so round shank drill bits that I have accumulated over the years. So, if I want the ability to drive screws using my drill bit collection, and have the ability to drive fasteners without stripping the head or straining myself, I am going to need both. You may have seen that coming.

Hey, where s my clutch. Another reason an impact driver won t replace your drill is that most impact drivers do not provide a clutch, which is their primary downside in my view. Regarding the clutch, the trade-off is length and weight. A keyless chuck adds a bit of mass and more importantly length to a drill, which can make it an unwieldy fit in tight spaces. The impact drivers are noticeably shorter, so you can get them into places where your cordless drill doesn t have a chance. There are impact drivers on the market with a clutch, but they are quite a bit more expensive, and much longer than those without, and current generation designs do not allow the clutch to be used when the impact feature is engaged. So, it s either a clutched drill, OR an impact driver, but not both at the same time. The optimal approach is to use a cordless drill with a clutch to drive lighter weight fasteners where a feather touch is important, and pull out the impact driver when you need the additional torque.

Based on features, value, and brand strength, I chose a combo kit from DeWALT for my shop and an impact driver from Porter Cable for use around the house as it will see a bit lighter use. I decided on 12V models rather than their 18V big brothers, because 12V delivers plenty of torque for woodworking and most DIY projects, and they are lighter and less expensive. If you are commonly driving massive lag bolts, or want to use it to remove the lug nuts from your truck, you might consider going with one of the beefier 18V models.

Not surprising, given that they are both from the same parent company, I found both the DeWALT and Porter Cable units to have a similar form factor and feature set. The DeWALT units are slightly lighter on paper, but not noticeably in my hand. All of these tools are so light compared to their NiCad cousins that a few ounces difference is negligible. Since DeWALT is targeted mainly for extreme demands of the contractor crowd, and Porter Cable seems to target both the tradesman and DIY market, I suspect that if you cut one open I couldn t get myself to do it you would find some additional durability built into the DeWALT design, but that is speculation on my part. I am a fan of both brands, and I think either of these tools would adequately meet my needs as a serious hobbyist woodworker, and occasional DIYer.

Downsides. I would like to have a clutch built into the impact driver but that feature was not readily available in this class of product. The combination of high torque and no clutch makes it less than ideal for driving lightweight fasteners. Having said that, if I had the choice of getting a nice drill along with the impact driver or getting an impact driver with an integrated clutch, I would take the combo kit with the drill, and that is essentially what is being offered. Also, I would like to see a third battery in the combo kit. With two tools and two batteries, I am down when a battery dies, or sharing a battery which is no fun. But with a thirty minute charge time and impressive run time on a charge, I admit this is a minor concern for a weekend warrior. Frankly, there is not much else that I find lacking in these tools. So far, my expectations have been surpassed, and now the only question is longevity. Based upon the solid construction I am reasonably confident that I won t wear these out, and I anticipate only buying again when the batteries no longer hold a reasonable charge.

Conclusions. As I said in the opening paragraph, impact drivers are absolutely amazing, and you will be glad that you bought one. To review some of the points covered in this article, here is a table that summarizes some of the key differences between an impact driver and a traditional cordless drill:

Based on the advantages of impact drivers in securing fasteners, I believe they are a good fit in a woodworking shop. Given the lack of a clutch on most models, and the inability to support round shank drill bits, impact drivers are not a substitute for a traditional cordless drill. Combo kits that include both an impact driver and a drill/driver using the same 12V lithium ion batteries offer a great spectrum of capabilities for woodworkers, and a great value as well. The tools that I looked at from DeWALT and Porter Cable are both superb choices for the woodworker. The DeWALT impact driver delivered slightly better power and performance, and the Porter Cable offers impressive value and very good performance more than enough for my woodworking and DIY needs, so either one is a great choice. If you use your tools all day, and/or tend to be rough on them, you might lean toward the DeWALT. If you are looking for good price/performance, then the Porter Cable unit might appeal to you. Porter Cable also offers a comparable combo kit to the DeWALT, which would be worth consideration as well. Bottom line; you really can t make a bad choice here.

Well, I have done my best, but if I have not given you ample ammo for your yes, dear, I really DO need another drill debate with your significant other, feel free to send him or her my way and I will help represent your case.

DeWALT DCK211S2 12-Volt Max Drill/Driver and Impact Driver Combo Kit, 179

DeWALT Industrial Tool Company

Porter-Cable T22216 PC120IDK-2 12V Impact Driver, 129

The cordless drill/driver is by far the most popular portable power tool of all time, and it s not going to lose that title anytime soon. However, cordless drills are beginning to lose ground to a relatively new type of cordless tool, the impact driver. That s got do-it-yourselfers everywhere asking questions: What s the difference between a drill/driver and an impact driver. How does an impact driver work. And if I own a drill/driver, why would I need an impact driver.

A cordless drill/driver is a versatile tool that s designed to drill holes and drive screws. Its keyless chuck accepts a wide variety of round- and hex-shank drill bits and screw-driving bits, as well as hole saws, rotary sanders, wire-wheel brushes, and other accessories. All cordless drill/drivers are also equipped with a slip clutch that allows you to adjust the amount of torque for precise, consistent screwdriving.

An impact driver looks similar to a drill/driver but for one noticeable distinction instead of a keyless chuck, it has a collet that accepts hex-shanked driver bits. This tool is specially engineered to do one job: drive screws, which it does faster and easier than any other tool. Impact drivers can drive long, large fasteners including fat lag screws that would stall the very best drill/driver.

The impact driver uses both bit rotation and concussive blows to power-drive screws through the thickest, densest woods. The result of this combo is raw, unadulterated power. In fact, impact drivers typically deliver two to three times more turning force torque than the average drill/driver. How powerful. During a recent Popular Mechanics tool test, one 18-volt impact driver drove an astonishing 138 3-inch lag screws on a single charge. Despite its brute strength, an impact driver is easy and comfortable to use because the concussive action transfers much of that high-energy torque directly to the screw, not to your wrist or forearm. An impact driver does not have a slip clutch, but the concussive action allows you to drive screws with great control and precision.

So, if you re planning projects that require driving a ton of screws, or a lot of very large or long screws, then consider an impact driver. For example, impact drivers are ideal for building decks, installing tile backer board, and screwing down plywood subfloors. If you re not planning to work on such projects, you might want to stick with the versatility of the cordless drill/driver. However, the gap between these two useful tools might be closing: Some manufacturers now offer drill chucks and other hole-drilling accessories for use in an impact driver.

Best Impact Driver Impact drivers are replacing the standard hammer drills in many tool boxes due to the amount of torque they provide when handling big jobs.

Impact drivers excel at fastening screws thanks to worthy torque and speed. But which one should you buy. We rounded up 9 li-ion impact drivers and put them to the test.

Do you wanna work harder and faster without getting exhausted too much. Then you should make sure to buy the best impact drivers. An impact driver is a powerful tool.

Jun 23, 2012  Want to watch this again later. Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Setting the driver, placing it, striking with a hammer.

Oct 16, 2013  Carpenter and builder Rob Robillard from reviews the Makita LXDT06 18-Volt Brushless 3-Speed Impact Driver.

Photo Credit JGI/Blend Images/Getty Images; You May Also Like. What Is an Impact Driver Used For. First there was the screwdriver, then the electric screwdriver, then.

Nov 08, 2012  Cordless Drill/Driver vs Impact Driver: Which Do You Need. Cordless drills are popular and versatile, but impact drivers can drive screws at astonishing.