Anyone tried the new Dewalt Impacts?
vanderpooch
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
I have read many rave reviews about the makita impacts, especially since the review in FHB a while back. The Dewalts featured in that review were middle of the pack, and have since been redesigned; smaller, more torque, and no gimmicky clutch. I am already running some yellow cordless and would like to stay with one charger, etc. if I can.
Has anyone tried these newer models? They have a 9.6, 12, and 14.4.
Read one review on Amazon, but I never really know who is writing those…
I prefer to come to the source…
Thanks.
Replies
Me old boss picked one up...he has fallen under the spell of the yellow and black over the past few years...poor fellow. Regardless, he saw me running 6" screws into a triple LVL beam without predrilling and decided he HAD to have one. When he showed up with the yellow version a week or so later I ran a couple 3" screws into a 6x6 and it felt pretty much identical to my Makita. Not exactly the "field test" you were probably looking for, but that's my two cents. He bought the 12v incidently. I can't imagine ever needing more than 12v in an impact driver, my Makita is 12v and you gotta really kill it to start swapping batteries alot.
Do a search on this topic. I believe there has been at least two theads. I will retell my story. I was a Lowes one night and the DW rep was there, he told me that they had a new impact coming out. I went home, the DW e-mail newsletter had the info on the series, then Amazon sent an e-mail announcing a $20 off on DW. I figured it was some kind of an omen. Ordered it, $180 delivered.
If I am correct the FHB review used the older DW. Makita has changed theirs also. I bought the Makita the other day when my elec/plumbing supplier had an open house. By trading in an old cordless screwdriver I scored a third battery (2.6ah) to go with the two 2.2ah batteries that came with it, all for $180. The 12v Makita ending in wbe has the smaller batteries and also only 870 inch pounds of torque. The wde one is stronger, has grip padding, and has the 2.6ah batts. It compares with the DW new version. I have been happy with both. I may do some kind of test someday to compare the two and the nimh vs ni-cad battery part.
I think both are excellent. They drill like crazy with hex shank drill bits. I am not too sure about putting 1000 inch #s on a 1/4 shaft though. If I planned to do large lags all the way I would opt for the impact wrench version with 1/2 " socket drive.
I know that some here on BT do not like DW but I like the truckload that I have of it. I have a fair amount of Makita and while I know they are good tools they do not seem to fit my hands as well. The safety lockout on their cordless recip and circ saws are a lot more akward to me. The Dw versions seem to be more natural for these old hands.
I agree that the 12 volt versions are plenty strong enough and the slightly lower weight is a real plus.
Hey,
Thanks for the info... I will do a search. Though I don't post a lot, I read constantly, and I didn't remember anything really about the dewalts, just the makitas.
I think I'm going to go ahead and get one...
-Kit
More reading: http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=30172.1. I do not think you will be disapointed with even the older versions of these tools. In the thread above there are many good comments about the Panasonic, may be worthy of consideration. It seems that all the main players are making one now. As much as I respect Milwaukee theirs seemed under done and overpriced.