Impact driver – Makita or Panasonic?
ccampbell
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
Okay, I getting ready to do some fencing, and I’m convinced I MUST have a new cordless impact driver. So, Makita or Panasonic Multi Driver? I like the idea of having one tool for drill and impact, but does it do a good job at both?
Thanks!
Replies
Invest in a longer cord instead and buy a rattle gun with some guts. No cordless tool can really rate with a 120 volts of real thing. I have abandoned most of my cordless tools for everything but the most minimal job. The time you save will be worth it. Any cordless tool will be slow, unbelievably slow compared to the corded tool. Time is money as they say. If anyone does a comparison between a corded tool and a cordless then the cord will ALWAYS win. Going cordless for something that takes so much power is bound to slow you down. Besides, a corded impact driver is probably half the price too. If you have a large compressor, consider an air tool.
I'll be willing to put money against your corded tool and my makita impact on running screws on a fence job!
ANDYSZ2I MAY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.
You must be rich because I guarantee you would lose. I bet my dogs are faster too.
Not rich buy slightly experianced and have tried both and will much rather have a cdls. impact than screwgun or air impact the thought of dragging cord setting up and tolerating no power when I most need it is just some of my reasoning than theres the exertion factor. But the truth is I would much rather nail than screw a fence.
ANDYSZ2I MAY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.
Here Here for nails. I couldn't agree more. I wasn't sure what an impact driver was needed for for fencing. Huh? A nail is lowly but often overlooked for fastening. For decking I prefer nails too because I am a champion salvager. Cheap "deck" screws break or strip and do not back out when it is time to replace or refinish the deck. People are too hung up on their screw guns. I even had someone use screws for temporary bracing when framing. Instead of one swat to release the brace I had to go get the stupid screw gun and waste a LOT of time just removing something supposed to be temporary. The most stupid thing was using screws for concrete forms. Once the screw head was filled with concrete it was a string of expletives and lots of extra time to remove the forms.
Funny you should say that about concrete forms I am notorious for using the screw gun for forms so that I can remove the fasteners before beating them apart I like to use my forms over and they don't get tore up as bad also its easier for me to adjust if I am using screws.
ANDYSZ2I MAY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.
ANDYSZ2,
Thanks for your replies. I'm curious about your comment on nails vs. screws. I have another discussion going under Construction Techniques about fence construction. I won't mess this thread up by changing the subject, but if you have a second take a look and tell me what you think.
when youre cursing your cordless for camming out and stripping the screw heads ill be finishing up with my makita impact....
I got the first Makita impact drivers to hit the coast (Seattle) and I can't wear them out. We use them to install Ironwood and Trex. We use them to install bolts into stair cleates. We use them screwing concrete forms.
They're all banged up and losing there shine but are the best little drivers we have and will put a six inch screw into a knot w/o stripping or breaking the head of the screw or the bit.
I just bought a third one cause the boys won't let me use my own tools.
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Bob
You can use the hex drive drills but Mak makes a attachment for the impact with a jacobs chuck that is made to absorb the impact of the gun so you can drill. I got one use it all the time you can use regular drill bits. Cost roughly 50 bucks.
Darkworks: No Guns No Butter squilla and the bling bling.
Mike,
Someone once called me the most opinionated poster here at Breaktime. I'll admit ti bing sold on my dear opinions, but I am ready to cede the title over to you. I know you'll wear it with pride..
Excellence is its own reward!
re- I'll admit ti bing sold on my dear opinions, but I am ready to cede the title over to you.
------
I hope this doesn't mean you will stop being "opinionated".
That would not be a good thing for Breaktime.
I've go to get in on this thread.
It's interesting how various people will have strong but various opinions based on experience. That might be why there are so many different tools to accomplish the same job.
I've been remodeling for over 25 years and have come to use my Makita impact driver constantly. Among the many possible arguments for screwguns in general is the one for saving abuse to surrounding finished material.
I've just hired a new employee with no construction experience. Her hammer is her least used tool. The added bonus is she can easily make readjustments if she gets the fastened piece of material slightly out of place. The biggest challenge, I suppose, is learning to feather the trigger.
As an aside: I'm not that old. But when I started, the only tools I needed beside a circular saw were carried in my tool belt. I wonder how many nails I've driven. Now, younger carpenters haven't much need for a hammer other than to beat in tight fitting studs or for wrecking. Who's going to be called in to drive that nail where a nail gun or screwgun won't fit? The old timer.
Back to the point: The impact driver is unbelievably light. Hard to believe all that work comes out of such a small package.
So you've got a little war going on with conflicting advice...
To your question, the Makita cordless, for me, has been one of those occasional tools I'm really glad I purchased! (I have no experience with the Panasonic).
The Makita is impressive with battery life, almost total elimination of cam-outs (but buy good bits, because cheap ones will break), and excellent performance with driving tapcons in concrete or drilling with spade bits.
When I'm doing a lot of work, say...screwing down a Trex deck, a corded tool is the better option.
And to one of the previous posters, I use screws in certain situations on concrete forms, too! Works for me....and the little rattle gun busts out the concrete and removes them....most of the time.
I just bought my Makita 12V a couple of months ago, and it has marched to the front of the line for favorite tools. Don't know about the Panasonic..
Excellence is its own reward!
So you CAN drill with an impact driver? That's one of the things I've been confused about, and the main reason I was considering the Panasonic. I've seen an impact driver at work but haven't used one personally. I'm most interested in saving my joints when sinking lots of screws, being able to sink them all the way without predrilling, and not stripping the heads. However, I don't want to have to carry two cordless tools for drilling and driving.
On the impact, do you just have to find bits that fit the square drive? And on the Panasonic they give you a chuck that fits over it?
Where are the Panasonic users?
Those with the panasonic multi-driver all love it. Id have bought it if i hadnt bought my makita and my other cordless driver was working at the time.
if you search the archives for the other impact posts youll see all the panasonic multi fans out their telling us of thier love.
Looks like your question has been answered. But all you really need to look for is bits with the hex shank with the groove for the impact driver receiver to lock into. I've noticed most of the spade bits are made that way now.
I've just used spade bits in the impact driver, preferring an ordinary drill motor with chuck for the various other bits and augers. I've never been very fond of spade bits, but they are pretty effective in the impact driver.
I still use a rotary hammer with SDS shanks for drilling concrete.
But the cordless impact driver is a great tool for it's ability to maintain contact and torque on a screw head.
And I use the small socket bits (1/4", 5/16" and 3/8") quite often for driving small lags or tapcons.
One last comment: I've never really felt a cordless tool was a replacement for a corded one and, when I've got a lot of work to do, I'd prefer to string a cord and use a heavier duty tool. Cordless tools are relatively expensive and when I'm working one hard enough that it's starts getting hot in my hand, I tend to back off and let it cool, or switch to a corded replacement.
Harbor Freight has a set of four auger quick change hex bits for $7.99, 1/4-5/8" . I stuck one in my DeWalt impact the other day and could not believe how quick it went through a 40 year old joist.
I know that many here are down on DW, the tools that is, I have both the Makita and the newer DW, I am going to sell my Mak to a customer. It just does not feel as good to me. I will put the DW batteries up against the 2.6 ah nimh Maks any day. But I like Chevys and some like Fords.
Where does one find the Makita chuck for the impact driver that makes it suitable for drilling by eliminating some of the impact? I've drilled with regular hex shank bits before..I have no problem drilling wood with the thing but drilling metal easier with it would be nice. I checked Makita's site and saw nothing.
Thanks,Ray
I don't know about the chuck you are talking about, the two impact drivers I have both are quick-change 1/4 " hex. Most manufacturers call them impact wrenches when they have the 1/2" square socket drive. I have the 12-volt type. I think it was another poster (RonT) that mentioned the chuck, good luck. Bob
Edited 8/21/2003 3:08:17 PM ET by RASCONC
I'm on my 3rd Mak, wouldn't leave home wif out it!
Sorry - took a few days off the forum to concentrate on other things and missed this particular cry of distress or I'd have chimed in earlier.
Panasonic multidriver fan here. I've put mine through some incredible abuse in a very short amount of time, including a nine foot concrete bounce test, and it is taking it very well. The batteries often last for two or three days on a charge, even with heavy use.
One of the biggest challenges I've called on mine for regularly is actually against the rules. I chuck a 1 1/2" fostner bit in the keyless chuck and impact my way through double 2x's in a big hurry. It will bore a bunch of those holes with very little effort on a single charge. It is great for impacting the nuts and washers onto hold down bolts (it will bury the nut and washer in the base plate if you let it) and I found it really handy for some demo work I did last weekend where I was backing out really old and really seized flat head screws.
The drill mode on the Panasonic is slower than the impact mode but it is perfectly acceptable for wood drilling applications. If you need additional speed for drilling in metal (I used it to enlarge the holes in a Simpson Strong ties I wanted to run a lag bolt through) you can drill in impact mode but be careful. I've busted a couple of small bits and a few flat head screw tips so buy the good ones. This thing has the torque to shatter the lesser metals.
The clutch works perfectly, the trigger feathers very nicely, the three tip options are extremely handy, the weight is miniscule and it makes me feel like a real man when I use it. It is far more versatile than an impact only tool which means one or two fewer items taking up space in my tool box and occupying a socket for yet another charger.
What more could you ask for from a cordless tool? I've never heard a negative comment from a Panasonic owner here. Get the Panasonic and you will absolutely never regret it.
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Thanks for that, Kevin. That's what I was hoping to hear - that it wasn't too good to be true. I was leaning that direction already I guess, which is why I was fishing for good comments on it.
Well quit fishing and snag that baby before one of these Makita guys tries to talk you out of it. :-)>
To be fair, I've never heard a negative comment from a Makita owner here either. At any rate, if the only thing keeping you from buying the Panasonic today is wondering whether it is "too good to be true," pull out that credit card and pick up the phone. It really is all that and more.Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
while we're on the subject- i have a brand spankin' new makita 6916 that i've had for all of two days and only played with for a few minutes so far. the fact that i'm on heavy duty muscle relaxants for my neck may have something to do with it, but it would seem there's a little bit of a learning curve with these units. when i hold my mouth just right it'll sink a screw so fast i can hardly believe it- however, at least as often, the bit (only tried phillips so far) cams out and the screw goes in in fits and starts.
any tips on how tame this beast? i can certainly see- and feel- the potential but it will take awhile to get the hang of it. previously, i've always used the slow speed on a drill/driver for screws, so i'm thinking a big part of my problem is the high rpm's of the impact driver (i have zero experience running a high speed drywall screwgun)
i find it interesting so many are recommending impact drivers for drilling with spadebits- it's so compact that i may start using it instead of my milwaukee 3107 rt angle drill for running romex thru studs.
thanks,
m
If you're having trouble camming out on philips it's probably because you're either not lined up straight with the screw and/or you're not exerting enough downward force to seat the bit in the screw. (And make sure you have a bit size that matches the screw....a #1 bit will cam out of a #2 screw as certainly as political dispute will go on and on in the Tavern.
Or, you're using a worn out bit....they don't last forever.
DW was having that problem with some sq. drive "Trapease" deck screws recently helping me put down some Trex. But she was sitting "sidesaddle" on the deck, which limited her downward force, and I could see that her alignment between driver and screw was goofy from my view. (Very patiently, I corrected her methods and all was well!).
Edited 8/21/2003 9:05:11 PM ET by Notchman
Ok, so my battery drill is about dead.... Is there anything a battery impact driver won't do that a drill will?
Matt
Impact only is not the best for drilling. The Makita Multi-Driver drills and impacts but the drill mode doesn't run quite fast enough to drill metal effectively. I don't know anyone that consistantly uses a cordless for metal drilling so that's probably not a big deal.
Now, about my suggestion that the Panasonic three jaw chuck seems to be holding up fine using a fostner bit in impact mode - it shattered on me this weekend doing just that. Now I know why they told me not to do that. :-)>
That makes two expensive lessons in one weekend. I can't decide if the pain in my posterior is from the impact on my wallet or from kicking myself in the rear.Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
i love my makita impact driver - worth every dime
Here's a new trick I just learned with my Makita. I can fasten dry wall to a brick wall using coarse thread screws ( of course I use a little glue too) into the mortar joints.
Matt