Recommend me a good impact driver please.

[hoofy]

I'm doing a job at the moment that involves screwing together 3 x 18mm osb boards with 50mm screws. The job will take 20,000 screws. I'll be doing the job for a few hours every day using about 300 or 400 screws at a time.

It is a job that comes up every year or so as the product I'm making gets used up, so it's not a purchase for a one off job.

I have been using a bosch GSB 36 V-LI drill driver for the last four years, which has done the job fine. But a friend has told me an impact driver would be better all round.


Budget not overly important, I just need the right tool without just buying the most expensive one I can find. Thanks.

 

[MikeJhn]

There must be an automatic screw feeding driver out there somewhere, I have never yet seen the point of an impact driver for timber work, still to be convinced.

Mike

Something like this: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 87412.html

 

[adidat]

Get the festool auto feed driver. You should be able to get collated screws in a close size to that!

Adidat

 

[Beau]

Think most of the big brands impact drivers will work fine for that. I have a Dewalt that's great but lots of guys swear by the Makita. Bought dad one from Lidl that works OK just a bit on the heavy side.

To answer Mike's "never seen the point" remark is they are light and for prolonged use that can be such a boon also less risk of cam out of course.

 

[MikeJhn]

Don't see that in any way, lightness is down to the manufacturer and the size of battery not the fact its an impact driver, as to less risk of cam out, can't see that being correct either, bouncing a driver bit on top of a screw head would make me think its more prone to cam out.

Mike

 

[Jamesc]

Don't see that in any way, lightness is down to the manufacturer and the size of battery not the fact its an impact driver, as to less risk of cam out, can't see that being correct either, bouncing a driver bit on top of a screw head would make me think its more prone to cam out.

Mike

All I can say to this is try one, they are a revelation, more power, less fatigue, reduced cam-out and much longer battery life compared to a drill driver. I have both a drill driver and impact driver and if either of them were to ever fail I would replace them in a heartbeat.
Mine are Makita Brushless and have been superb standing up to very heavy DIY use. As others have said pick a quality brand you like and go for it.

James

 

[Beau]

Don't see that in any way, lightness is down to the manufacturer and the size of battery not the fact its an impact driver, as to less risk of cam out, can't see that being correct either, bouncing a driver bit on top of a screw head would make me think its more prone to cam out.

Mike

From your post I am guessing you have never used one?

 

[MikeJhn]

You should never assume anything.

I bought a pair of Hitachi drill/impact drivers and they where not a revelation to me, don't have more power, not less fatiguing and cam out just as readily as any other driver, modern batteries are the reasoning behind longer battery life not the fact its an impact driver, the impact drivers I have used confirmed everything I have said above, my own DeWalt drills are over 25years old, one still on the same battery, they have been used extensively and re-charged 100's of times, not on the DeWalt charger I might add, they are still capable of driving a 100mm decking screw through a 100mm oak post, so mass's of power and not a hammer action in sight.

Having been in my workshop for the last five months, I have only had to charge one of my DeWalt's a single time, on the other hand my wife (bless her) putting up some trellising and a Gazebo has had to charge her impact driver twice, still to be convinced.

Mike

 

[Beau]

You should never assume anything.


Mike

I was just guessing as never met anyone who did not like them having tried them. Certainly with my Dewalt kit the impact driver is big step up from using a regular drill/driver. Technically it's my wife's impact driver as she hated using a drill/driver due to the weight and cam out. I was quickly converted and it seems to live in my workshop these days . Maybe best the OP ovoids Hitachi :?

 

[jt100]

Best in my view Milwaukee and hilti
Worst is worx 20 v
Nothing wrong with Makita and Dewalt

 

[MikeJhn]

My wife can even cam out a Snap on screwdriver and ruin it, I would hate to think what would happen if I gave her something as powerful as my 18volt DeWalt. (hammer)

Mike

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just for the record - I don't like them either. And yes, I have used one.

 

[hoofy]

My friend lent me his makita impact driver to try out this afternoon and I can confirm that cam out is no longer an issue whereas with my drill driver it was a very irritating issue.

The impact driver also makes much less of a splintered mess as the head of the screw counter sinks into the osb. Another big plus as I was always running my finger across the top of the screw to see if it was below the surface and I was getting some very nasty little splinters with the drill driver.

Another big plus with the impact is because I'm stood over the job putting the screws in at waist height I was holding the screw to get it biting into the timber but if I was trying to screw into a hard spot the screw would topple over and the weight of the drill driver would cause me to stick the bit into the palm of my hand. Very painful and I knew if I wasn't careful I could quite easily cause myself a nasty injury.

 

[MikeJhn]

Cam out is a function of the bit to screw fit and has nothing to do with the thing that's driving the bit, splintering of the timber is due to using the wrong type of screw head for the material being fixed, again nothing to do with the driver, wow there are some strange justifications going on just to buy a new tool, that makes more noise than can be justified. :twisted:

Mike

 

[hoofy]

Cam out is a function of the bit to screw fit and has nothing to do with the thing that's driving the bit,

The screws are timber tite and the bits are made by bosch and sent to me by the screw supplier when I rang them to find out if anything could be done to minimise/eliminate cam out.

 

[MikeJhn]

Cam out is a function of the bit to screw fit and has nothing to do with the thing that's driving the bit,

Unless you count in the driver on the other end of the driver. :twisted:

Mike

 

[Beau]

Cam out is a function of the bit to screw fit and has nothing to do with the thing that's driving the bit, :twisted:

Mike

But that is not true. With an impact driver there are short bursts of torque instead of continuous torque. The short pauses with the impact driver allow a bit that may be starting to cam out to re seat hence not slipping. At least that's my understanding of why they are so less prone to cam out.

I know you keep baiting me but cant resist

 

[Eric The Viking]

Try a diamond-gritted bit with an impact driver. They work very well together and camming-out is unusual in my experience, although my impact driver is 10.8V and probably not very powerful (good enough for me!).

I think Beau is right about the re-seating thing, also that the bit is driven hard into the webs of the screw head, so, especially with diamond bits, it grips and doesn't tend to slide.

 

[RossJarvis]

Personally I've found impact drivers to be very well suited for some tasks and preferable to standard drill-drivers for them. The problem is that they can get you into a lot of trouble very quickly. I've found it can take a fair time to get used to using them well for their suited tasks, plus they tend to be exceptionally noisy. There are also many jobs for which a drill-driver is better suited, for instance never give an impact driver to someone who isn't very good with power tools!!

 

[Alexfn]

anyone who uses drill drivers and impact drivers to make a living is going to know the benefits of an impact driver, the reduced cam out has saved me a small fortune on bits, especially t10 bits

mike seems to comment on every post about impact drivers, his comment that it will drive a 100mm screw into 100mm oak post, well my impact driver would put a 200mm screw into a 200mm post in 1/3rd of the time it took the driver to do that 100mm screw, it also wouldn't transfer the torque to my wrist

i have a few impact drivers, i use a a 12v brushless Milwaukee for small tasks, for everything else i now use a ridgid brushless pulse driver, it would be hard to go back to a normal impact after using one,incredible power and probably twice as fast as any normal impact ive used. add to that its near silent and the only annoying thing about an impact driver is fixed