Comparison of impact drivers versus cordless drills

[comparethebuildingmateria]

Comparison of impact drivers versus cordless drills
Hi guys i am new to this site, and i have been browsing through some of the reviews and i find the site really interesting.

I used to work on sites all the time until 4 yrs ago, when i decided i needed a break from the 5 o clock wake up , and the daily grind and the lovely english weather, however i have been helping a friend out on a site for the past 5 months and all the carpenters have impact drivers.

Now 20 yrs ago i worked in the racking industry and we always had impact drivers but carpenters used cordless drills. But now it appears things have reversed..


My question is which is the best Impact or Cordless. Alsoif you would be so kind to give a make of drill or driver you use and the cost. Thanks in advance. CBM

 

[alumni]

They are different tools for different jobs - but both are able to do, to some degree, what the other does.
But, drills are for drilling, drivers are, well, you get the picture.

I find the impact driver to be a godsend for the heavy duty fixings and grunt stuff. One of the best bits of kit i've ever spent decent money on.

Preference? I'm a Makita fan, but others will have their own preferences so don't expect a clear cut favourite to emerge.

 

[big-all]

yep you definatly need both as the impacts are hex drive and no hammer/percusion they are also very noisey

 

[l0n35t4r]

this is what i've found about the drills from various sites:

when it comes to normal or moderately heavy tasks, corded or cordless versions are almost equally powerful. for the sake of comparison, let's just talk about cordless drills and cordless impact drivers.

drills, without any prefixes or suffixes are normal rotating drill machines. their primary function is to just rotate and drill holes but if you attach a hex bit, then you can do some light screwdriving as well. now the limitation of these drills is that they don't know when to stop, in case the drill bit is stuck or the screw is already tightened. such drills may cause injuries or damage the work piece. most of time, the screw heads just snap off if the user doesn't stop the drill.

to overcome the above limitation, some drills have a clutch mechanism when stops the bit rotation upon reaching a set torque. i am not sure if plain drills have this feature (but impact drills do have). a high end drill with clutch can offer as many as 20~25 clutch stop settings, giving the user great flexibility. by the way, these drills are good for normal drilling, as well as efficient screw driving. user can select the desired clutch stop (after trial and error) to save the screw heads from snapping.

now, if we add a light hammering action at the back of a clutch enabled rotating drill, then we get an impact drill or impact driver drill (combi). the driver drill can satisfactorily drive screws as well as drill holes. we also get an increased drilling/driving capacity from the other two types of drills mentioned earlier.

so, i guess you'd like to try a cordless impact driver drill.

cordless? just for the ease of use and these days we get 2 batteries with fast charging time (Li-Ion only). Li-Ions are lightweight.

impact? it lets you drive screws faster. it switches on impact function whenever the rotating bit feels the need. great for driving/drilling in wood.

driver drill combi? it's always suggested that we should have two separate tools but if you are not into continuous drilling and driving then a combi tool is preferred.

there's another kind of drill - rotary hammer but i guess you are more into woodworking, so that won't be much useful. besides, they are bulky.

i like makita and bosch but not sure what people in UK prefer.

 

[noseall]

If you do a lot of fixing, particularly where you have your arms outstretched or when you can not put a lot of pressure on the drill or when you are trying to drive in big screws without piloting, then an impact driver is priceless.

We have a pair of 18 volt cordless lith-ion and they are beasts.

 

[r896neo]

I do plenty of work with landscaping screws and concrete screws and frankly you could destroy a corded or cordless drill putting them in at max torque but low speed, the impact driver however just rattles them home no bother. The only other tool up to the job is an sds and its such a pain to get out in comparison.

I have also found that because when doing a lot of repetative screwing like a whole deck the batteries last better in the impact driver than my cordless drill. which i imagine is something to do with the fact it's using a fraction of the impact drivers max power in comparison to the drill which is closer to it's max.

 

[comparethebuildingmateria]

If you do a lot of fixing, particularly where you have your arms outstretched or when you can not put a lot of pressure on the drill or when you are trying to drive in big screws without piloting, then an impact driver is priceless.

We have a pair of 18 volt cordless lith-ion and they are beasts.

Hi, what make are the 18 volt beasts you have.

kind regards

cbm

 

[^woody^]

I recently got some Milwaukee Shockwave pozi impact bits - about £13 for 25 from ebay, and these seem to be as good as any of the Wera or Dewalt impact bits and are much cheaper too

 

[noseall]

Hi, what make are the 18 volt beasts you have.

kind regards

cbm

I bought a Milwaukee (twin set includes a h/d drill driver) 2yrs ago and has just had to have new brushes (has done a trillion screws in that time) so i bought the de-walt twin set with virtually the same content.

The chuck on the drill drivers are awesome - all metal, heavy duty with great bit grip.

Lith-ion is a must.

Be careful when unscrewing big screws as the energy these impacts impart means the screws come out scalding hot!

 

[^woody^]

the screws come out scalding hot!

LOL, that gets me every single time without fail

 

[R5GTT]

I recently got some Milwaukee Shockwave pozi impact bits - about £13 for 25 from ebay, and these seem to be as good as any of the Wera or Dewalt impact bits and are much cheaper too

Try the new Wera Impaktor or Bosch equivalents (they're both the same bits)- they are far, far better than the Milwaukee or Dewalt - you'll be pleasantly surprised

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Unless you are working in the RAF sector (rough as f***) it is generally a good idea to pilot drill before driving a screw. Impact drivers have their uses - I'd say stuff like rough framing, etc, but they van be a damned menace in the wrong hands. I say that as a shop fitter/interior fitout joiner. In my kit I need and have both because they are not interchangeable

 

[neds]

I do swear by mine however using them in a house you are doing work in will get complaints from the neighbours! Thats why I stick to the cordless drill for most things. My Makita has 80Nm of torque to play with so most screws is man enough for. Also the impact river is less versatile as you can only use 1/4" bits unless you get a 1/4" chuck for it...

 

[wooffy]

I've had a Hitachi 14v impact for years and it's been great. Bought originally for ply lining vans etc (no need to pilot the steel work it just drives the screws straight through so saves masses of time when you have to line 30 vans in a day) Since then it's been used on various fencing, decking and framing projects at home. The only thing it struggled on was the 10mm masonry straight into brick screws (no rawplug type) That needed the big guns breaking out, a snap-on 18v 1/2" impact gun