Cordless drill

[big-all]

would avoid an impact as they are noisy and not easy to control without lots off practice on smaller screws
i only ever use my impacts on 50mm plus screws where theres lots off meat to stop the screw "stripping" the hole
the impact action is activated by resistance and cannot be altered on most impacts[on some makitas it can i think ??]

 

[Doggit]

Impact drivers have their place, but I don't think they are suitable for you from the comments you've made. You also need special driver bit to handle the extra impact and torsion. As big-all says, they are not suitable for small screws, because their primary purpose is to "impact/hammer" the screws into the wood.

 

[JBR]

Thanks Big-All and Doggit.
The noise is not a problem for me: I'll just take out my hearing aids!
I don't think I'd use them on small screws anyway. I'd use my ratchet screwdriver.
I'd be happy to invest in special driver bits if they are necessary.

I'll have to give this some thought, then. I know that many reviewers swear by them, especially for difficult screws and even nuts and bolts. I assume that there is a speed control in the trigger that could help.

How about their use for drilling?

 

[big-all]

as i have several drill driver hammer drills and impacts 10.8-18v i go for the best tool
now in general any tool can cover many areas but often not in an efficient way
you need to decide your primary use and if this is drilling and driving screws then a hammer drill is your best option

 

[Doggit]

There is a degree of trigger control, but they're still not designed for what you want it for. But it's always your choice at the end of the day. Dewalt do a 30 day money back guarantee if you're not happy with it; not sure if makita ad bosch do the same though.

 

[JBR]

you need to decide your primary use and if this is drilling and driving screws then a hammer drill is your best option

OK. I'm pretty much sold on an impact driver and that will be used almost exclusively for screws and quite possibly bolts as well. Small drilling jobs, such as pilot holes, would be quite likely too. Anything bigger can be done by the SDS drill which also has a keyless chuck.

The second Erbauer model I mentioned:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-eri692ipd-18v-2-0ah-li-ion-brushless-cordless-impact-driver/5012p
is the one I shall probably go for.

I have read reviews on this, of course. Many have said it is inferior to the 'big names' but, of course, they are a lot more expensive - more than I can afford, anyway. Others have said that they have found it a good piece of kit. In addition, it comes with a 2-year guarantee and, apparently, Screwfix are very good at replacing faulty goods.

 

[Doggit]

Bloody hell JBR, why are you asking us for advice, and then ignoring it. Impact drivers are not designed for drilling, only for screws. Yes, I'm sure that you can get a drill with a hex shank to fit in it, but it'll snap dead quick. You've set your budget, and you're trying to find a solution that will fit within it.

I have a medium Breaker, 2 cordless18v drills, a corded SDS, and a cordless SDS drill, I also have a cordless jigsaw, and a cordless angle grinder, and with all that lot, I've never needed to purchase an impact driver. I had a 10.8V cordless drill for screws, and it was great, but in changing to Lion batteries, I then upgraded to a second 18v drill for screws to keep the batteries compatible, and because it was only fractionaly heavier than the 10.8V driver.

I give up.

 

[JBR]

I'd like to thank you all for your advice.
I apologise if my decision was not to your liking.

 

[Doggit]

I said earlier that the decision was yours to make, so I suppose it can appear that I'm going against that statement, but sorry JBR, using the wisdom of our experience, we're also trying to stop you making a mistake. If you were drilling a couple of hundred screws into a floor, then an impact driver would be perfect, and far better than a drill driver, but for general purpose handy work, a medium sized drill driver will suit you far better. So let us know how you get on with it then.

 

[big-all]

it is off course up to you but its the wrong tool for your needs
hex drive drill bits are more expensive
you cannot do masonary as it has no hammer action

 

[Doggit]

But can you get hex drive drill bits for impact drivers, that'll be a new one on me.

 

[big-all]

But can you get hex drive drill bits for impact drivers, that'll be a new one on me.

just standard hex drill bits

 

[Doggit]

SDS drill have a hardened point (like masonary drill) to handle the impact, but I don't know how well standard hex drill bits will stand up to an impact driver. It may well depend on the hardness of the wood, as to how long they survive.

 

[big-all]

SDS drill have a hardened point (like masonary drill) to handle the impact, but I don't know how well standard hex drill bits will stand up to an impact driver. It may well depend on the hardness of the wood, as to how long they survive.

suspect the bigger ones will fail quicker as the impact will kick in far more

 

[Diver Fred]

The 'Boy' thought he'd save time carrying one tool - used the Impact driver as a drill with hex shafted drill bits - it lasted 1 hole and then broke up leaving bits ('big' bits) in the hole meaning we had more work to sort out the problem.
As others have said - BUY a DRILL - NOT an impact driver.