Looking around for a cordless impact driver. Wondered what everybody likes, dislikes etc. Saw Bosch has a new one out, I’ve always liked their tools. Did FH ever have an issue comparing brands?
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Replies
Whatever is compatible with the other cordless that you have. I don't think there is a lot of difference unless we're talking Crapsman or Ryobi.
6 16 17 97 99
I recently bought a Ryobi 18 V at Home Depot for $69.00 that is lightweight and works great as a drill/driver.
I know some on this site say Ryobi is a POS but some of these little impact drivers cost three of four times what this one does and its hard to believe they drive screws that much better.
They,Ryobi, have a complete selection of 18 V tools that use the same battery and when HD has a sale you can find a drill with two batteries and a charger for about what they charge for two batteries.
I used to think along the same lines as "its hard to believe they drive screws that much better."That is, until I used a coworker's Ryobi drill. I have to say I was less than impressed. It's just a drill, right? I don't know if it has significantly less torque or something else, but it just didn't do the job when I was screwing together some deck railing.
I saw an article about cordless impact drivers and had to have one.
This tool (P-230 18V ) must be new to their line. I know we get what we pay for but for the money I really like this one. It will drive a Sq D deck screw all the way through a 2x4 without bouncing around and destroying the screw
It even has a light for screwing in the dark.
I'm already using DeWalt 14.4v screwguns, and am happy with them, so I got the 14.4 impact driver (reconditioned, about $190 with batteries and charger from toolking.com) and I love it. The main motivation was actually just to get some new batteries and I considered the driver a secondary thing, but after having it a week I use it all the time and there are some things you basically must have it for... example... a few days ago I hung an entry door that had, of course, those oil-rubbed-bronze screws that are soft as butter. The impact driver set them into predrilled holes with absolutely zero cam-out and no finish loss on the screwheads.
Git you one!
I just ordered the 14.4 reconditioned impact driver from Amazon.com for $149. almost 100 bucks off original price. I use 14.4 as my battery base, so this was a slam dunk. It's still there by the way.
the bosch may be good..
the makita was pretty good too..and you can get good deals on the makita
i have the 15.4 panasonic.. great driver... and the panasonic batteries are the best
Hey Mike... do you have the Panasonic multi-driver, or the regular impact?
i have the one that shoeman was showing for sale from sears..
the multidriver...
i tried to buy one online this evening from Sears .. but it said " not available "
was a really good dealMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I bought one this evening too after seeing his post. Was too good to pass up. If you have a Sears locally, it may even be worth stopping by. I don't own any other Panasonic cordless tools and already own two Makita impacts and Bosch 18V drills, so I'm really not sure whether or not I want it.... but it was too good of a price to pass up on. I'm wondering if maybe it was a mistake and they caught it with the sudden influx of ordering.
The reason I asked which you had was because I have a question about the multi driver. Is it possible to leave a drill bit in the keyless chuck and a driver bit in the impact chuck and just keep switching "heads" while working... without removing the bits between changes? Know what I'm getting at? Like, could I drill a pilot hole and then run the screw without removing any bits, just swapping heads?
brian... i've never used the chuck on my driver.. it's too easy for someone to use the chuck in "impact" mode.. whic will tighten the chuck so hard you cn't release it..
instead i've got a tool set from stanley that uses the impact driver for everything.. drills, spade bits, hole saws, drivers...
i think it's got 150 pieces in itMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
I just went back to the Sears website and it let me order another. I didn't actually order it, but went through the process all the way until it asked me to click on "confirm order".
Maybe give it another shot if you're still interested.
I think some may be confusing impact drivers with more conventional drill/drivers. They are completely different animals.
Concerning the impact drivers, I own the Panasonic 15.6 v, and I used a Makita 12v for about 3 months.
I think the Panasonic is terrifc; it has mucho guts for driving heavier stuff like lags, and it comes with a regular chuck so you can also use it for plain old drilling. I don't think any other machine in the market has this dual capability. And the batteries are great too. The 3.5 amphr batts do make a difference -- the charge seems to last forever.
But for all of this, you pay a stiff price (about $300).
I really like the Makita as well. It is smaller, light weight. It does fine with any kind of screws, but I don't know if I would choose it if my work entailed driving a lot of lags.
Edited 3/1/2005 11:44 pm ET by nikkiwood
just for the record - Panasonic does make a 12 volt impact driver also that is about the same size and weight as the Makita, but also has a belt clip, light, and dual power modes - oh yeah and 3.5 amp hour nickle metal hydride batteries
I have the 12V Bosch and I use it much more than my cordless 18v drill driver. IMHO unless you need more than 1000 ft/lbs of torque (go 18v) or extra runtime (go 14.4v) you'll fall in love with the light weight.
My new favorite uses is drilling tile or concrete using Hitachi QC masonary bits, no impact, just more RPMs cuts like butta.
YMMV
EDIT: tool has 3 year warranty and 18 months on the batteries!
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.
- Fyodor Dostoyevski
Edited 3/2/2005 7:12 am ET by fn_benthayer
I think you meant inch/pounds, or those Bosch jobs are a lot meaner than all the others. :-)
The 12v Bosch you own, it has a feature to turn off the impact part of the impact driver?
No, it doesn't have an external switch to turn off the impact. Why would you need one?
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.- Fyodor Dostoyevski
You wouldn't need a switch to turn off the impact action, but your last quote about drilling tile and concrete with Hitachi bits, no impact, made it sound like your impact driver had a feature to disable the impact action. Sounded new and cool to me so I thought I'd ask.
I'm also considering an impact driver and as it happens a nice offer came in the mail yesterday.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007DFWW6/qid=1109779126/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1_etk-tools/104-2554226-4282351?v=glance&s=hi&n=228013
the 14.4v Makita impact with a drill tossed in
Definitely check EBay. Like everyone else said, get whatever impact driver matches your batteries. I have Dewalt 12 and 18 and I haven't picked up a regular drill/driver since. Light weight, powerful, etc. The only curiosity is the new Milwaukee 28 volt line due out this month...
As a class of tool, I certainly recommend getting a cordless impact driver.
I had the Makita 12v impact driver for about a year + until some *&^% stole it in January. I liked it a great deal. These things are the way to go. I would buy one over a common drill. I like sinking 2" fan box screws into the 2x4s without pilot holes.
These also help prevent carpenter's elbow. You just keep the driver aligned with the screw and let it do the work. Square drive screws make life easier.
Now have the Bosch 9.6v Impactor (sounds like an action toy, eh?. Works fine. About all I carry for general work is the Impactor and a full set of bits, drills, accessories, etc. and my DW 7.2v electric screwdriver for electrical work.
Make sure that the collet pulls up to insert a bit. The DW screwdriver has a collet that pushes down. Countless bits have come loose in the bags or launched themselve off the ladder. I now wrap tape about it.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
My crew has 3 Makitas (4, if you count the one sealed in a window seat...), and they are great. Very compact, great power. Electrician on a friends crew admired them so much, went out and bought his own. Used it to drive 4.5" lags the other day, said they went in smooth as can be.
Young, poor, and eager to learn
I recently bought the 3 in one panasonic 15.6volt impact driver/drill/impact wrench. I think for what you get its worth the money. and Sears recently had a sale on them so it only cost me about $160. Since its a panasonic and 15.6 volts, I assume it is much more powerfull then all the other impact drivers on the market and can be used as a drill too.. It is also compatable with one of the best drills on the market.. the panasonic 15.6 drill.. The only thing that would keep me from using this as my sole drill is the fact that it only has the low speed drive when in drill mode.. Not the high speed like the panasonic drill/driver version.. Its still great though.. especially if you can find it for under the price of a sole impact driver.
Pete
got the bosch 14v
very, very nice
even has a little yellow LED that illuminates the tip
sounds hokey but it works damn fine
carpenter in transition
I had used the makita 12 v . When the batteries ran down(which happened way to soon) to far to be of any use i opted for the panasonic 12 v this time. I like it much better. I thought the little light was just a gimmick til i used it. The dual power switch and high low speed make for a very versatile driver. The belt clip works well. The batteries last much much longer tween charges. It is light and compact. Paul.
I bought the new 12v Makita on Ebay - I like it. It is a dif fundamental principle for screws - works great for cement screws.
This one has the little light above the trigger. Didn't think that'd be worth much, but inside cabinets, up between basement joists...sometimes a little light is all you need.
I'm a little surprised at the rpm speed 0 - 2500 I think. That's pretty fast for a screw driving drill.
My son in law raves about the Dewalt (and he has other Dewalt batts)
I recently bought a 12 v dw impact driver for a project where we had to put in several thousand screws and several 6 inch lags. it drove the screws and lags in really well. But. it was painfuly noisy. when your putting in thousand of screws a day even with head phones its extremely annoying for everyone. a 1 hour charge would drive around 110- 2 " screws. because we drove screws faster than it could charge a battery, we had to keep swithcing back to the 18v drill. at 2 years old, it can drive 250 -300 on a single charge just as well. eventhough it did drove lags better than my drill, i returned it never to buy one again.
a few days after the job was done, the guy putting in the screws had wrist pains. it turns out that the constant ratcheting screwed up his tendons. he was off work for 3 months.
so heres my recomendation. if you have thousands of screw to drive, get an auto feed drill. if you only have a few screws to install, why blow the money on something noisy and limited to what it can do. basically you can get the same job done with other tools that work as good and have more uses.
cheers and have fun
tmaxxx
Urban workshop ltd
I would bet the wrist pain came while using the 18 volt drill. One of the biggest advantages of the impacts is less torque on the wrist. I have had 12v Makita, have 12 and 14.4 DeWalts and have never had any problem with that and have screwed down many deck/ramp applications.
That would be my assessment too (of course there are a lot of variables). One reason I really like this impact it's easier on the wrist. As for the sound problem - I wear hearing protection for almost everything now. Once you start you find several noises painful you have just been ignoring as such. Sure, the impact makes racket - and I have just drilled a hole with a concrete sds.
4 guys, 2 18v and 2 electric, 2 months and about 60,000 screws and not 1 wrist problem.
1 guy 1 impact driver 2 weeks and 6000 screw 1 wrist injury.
it could be alot on the person being a weenie but the specialist said it was more likely the constant high speed vibrations not the torque.
Tmaxxx
Urban Workshop Ltd
Vancouver B.C.
For anyone that is still considering an impact driver
http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=tp-breaktime&msg=55229.1
You can buy impact gloves. They have gel pads in the palm.
If you're driving that many screws, Makita makes a nice corded impact.
I've got both corded and cordless.
6 16 17 97 99
I have the Panasonic 12 volt, already on the second one, first was stolen and I could not live without it. The new one has the light and belt clip, both I thought were gimicks until the second time I used it back inside a cabinet, same for the belt clip. It also has two speeds. I purchased the smaller one mostly because it is smaller and will get into tight spaces. Lots more torque than most 18 volt cordless drills.
This is the best advancement since the introduction of the cordless drill.
FH did a review several years ago (maybe 4 or 5), which got me to buy one, but it's probably out of date by now.
I have the 12V Makita, which works great for screws and the occaisional lag bolt. Unlike drills, I don't see much reason to go with a higher voltage - you really don't need more torque than you get with the 12V driver, and the higher voltage drivers cost more and weigh more.
You will not regret buying this tool
Ditto.
I've got two 12V Makita impacts.... no frills, all work. Not much they can't do, it seems. I love those little buggers!
I gave the 15.6v Panasonic a rave earlier in this thread. But yesterday, I was installing kitchen cabs, and my partner had a new 12v Panasonic. It is a great tool -- small, compact, and easy to maneuver into tight spaces. The belt clip is ok, but I really liked the light -- until you use it, you wouldn't think shinning a little light on your screw could be so handy. On the down side, what I said earlier about the 12v Makita holds true for the 12v Pan too. It's ok, but just doesn't have the guts and oomph delivered by the 15.6.If I were buying today, I would stay with the 15.6 -- even though it is heavier and clunkier. The 12v is better for tight spaces, but I would rather not trade power for that benefit. Besides in my case, I have a corded Sioux which I use for that purpose.