Bit Holder for Impact Driver?

[Bolster]

Please recommend a 1/4" bit holder for impact drivers?

Preferably something slim, not fat and clunky. I really like my Wera Rapidaptors for drills and drivers, but the internet is telling me they weren't designed to handle impact driver stress. Now I'm eyeballing two DeWalt items, the DWA3HLDIR Impact FlexTorq holder and the DWA2509 Impact Rapid Load Holder which looks smaller.

But maybe you know of something better? If it makes any difference, most of my bits are the Power Bit type, the longer sort with the "waist". Thanks!

 

[Zeke]

The holders made for screw guns are what you want. Makita DeWalt, that sort. Many times I will use a long bit w/o a holder if I want slim.

 

[firworks]

I really like the Wera Rapidaptor. I keep one on my 1/4" Impact at all times and when I've bought impact drivers for my dad or my possible future father in law I've always included a Rapidaptor. You push them forward to release the bit so they're really easy to do one handed. You can swap bits while keeping your other hand holding a work piece or maybe hanging onto a ladder. Also the last time I ordered one off Amazon they sent two on accident so that was quite the deal. That said, they were 16$ then, now they are 20$. Maybe someone else would have a better price on them.

 

[Bolster]

So you use a Wera Rapidaptor on an impact driver with no problem then? Huh, I'd been reading how they failed under impact stress.

Nobody has tried the DeWalt items mentioned in the first post?

 

[PureLeaf]

sub'd for the answer. Been searching too. I've got tons of rapidadapters, never tried them on my impact. Not sure what makes a bit impact rated anyways? Is it the use of magnets instead of the little ball bearings?

I did see theres a Wera Impaktor (2 versions), but of the very few ratings they have on amazon, they are not doing well.

 

[firworks]

So you use a Wera Rapidaptor on an impact driver with no problem then? Huh, I'd been reading how they failed under impact stress.

Nobody has tried the DeWalt items mentioned in the first post?

Good point... I never even thought of that. I've been using it for about 2 years and have had no issues with it. I've got a Bosch 18V Lithium Ion Impact Driver that claims to do 125 ft/lbs and it doesn't seem to have hurt it any. Well, your mileage may vary obviously but it seems to have held up for me and various fathers so far.

 

[TomB19]

Please recommend a 1/4" bit holder for impact drivers?

Preferably something slim, not fat and clunky. I really like my Wera Rapidaptors for drills and drivers, but the internet is telling me they weren't designed to handle impact driver stress. Now I'm eyeballing two DeWalt items, the DWA3HLDIR Impact FlexTorq holder and the DWA2509 Impact Rapid Load Holder which looks smaller.

But maybe you know of something better? If it makes any difference, most of my bits are the Power Bit type, the longer sort with the "waist". Thanks!

I've blown through two of those DeWalt FlexTorq holders and determined them to be insufficient to the task. I've been running a Wera Rapidaptor for several months and love it.

[Edit: The Rapidaptor was purchased in November of 2014. At that time, I just heard about Wera a couple of days before on this very web site. ]

 

[TomB19]

PS - Magnetic holders ****. Never again.

The Rapidaptor holds the bit so I can jump from fastener to fastener without having to pull the bit from a fastener and re-mount it in the holder like you have to do with a magnetic holder.

Wera all the way.

 

[Bolster]

Being desperate, I purchased the highest-priced impact-rated bit holder I could find at HD. Expensive is always good, right? A Makita "Impact Gold Torsion Magnetic Insert Bit Holder." I'm not a fan of magnetic holders, normally, but neither am I willing to sacrifice any of my three Wera Rapidaptors in an experiment.

The Makita makes a good first impression for a magnetic; the broaching has much tighter tolerances than the no-name mag holder I've been using. But more importantly, it has an internal c-clip retention ring in addition to the magnet. Grip is firm and slop is minimal, but exiting the bit isn't as easy as the Rapidaptor and will be a two-handed affair (sad trombone). Time will tell if the bit will bind in the holder, in which case I'll be cussing it and complaining here in this thread.

Thanks to TomB19 for the DeWalt report.

PureLeaf: Yes, exactly, how odd that the Wera Impactor is held in such low regard. I should buy one just to discover why. Hard to believe with the Rapidaptors being so good, that the Impactor could be so shoddy.

 

[hautpot]

sub'd for the answer. Been searching too. I've got tons of rapidadapters, never tried them on my impact. Not sure what makes a bit impact rated anyways? Is it the use of magnets instead of the little ball bearings?

I did see theres a Wera Impaktor (2 versions), but of the very few ratings they have on amazon, they are not doing well.

Generally, impact components are made of a more flexible metal that can handle something called torsion (or twisting force). Using non rated impact can shatter the tool, hard = brittle.

But tools with a higher hardness retain their geometry better.

That is why you should be using a impact rated bit holder, but in my usage the impact drivers never match the torque of impact wrenches so I just use regular holders.

 

[NoahG]

I like the insert bit holders that are both magnetic and have a retaining ring. The magnet helps hold Phillips screws, which I use the most, and the retaining ring holds the bits in.