Hobby_Man22
Well-known member
I've used these before and it's cool you can drill a screw through a board in the blink of an eye, but who wants to listen to all that noise all the time? I mean these things are outrageously loud.
Cordless impact drills
- Thread starter Hobby_Man22
- Start date
kmacht
Well-known member
It's quieter than listening to 3" screws constantly strip out as you try to sink them into the wood.
Ign
Well-known member
Actually impact driver, not to be confused with drills or impact wrenches.
I wear appropriate PPE for all jobs (shrug)
And you can mostly rectify your complaint with Surge -- although as I understand it Makita pioneered the hydraulic pulse technology
I wear appropriate PPE for all jobs (shrug)
And you can mostly rectify your complaint with Surge -- although as I understand it Makita pioneered the hydraulic pulse technology
IndyGarage
Well-known member
bwringer
Well-known member
The Ridgid Stealth Force seems interesting. Some sort of hydraulic mechanism in there.
cgv69
Well-known member
QFT!
Impact drivers are life savers IMO and wish I bought one years before I did.
Sure they can be noisy (pissed the wife of once for using one when she was on a conference call) but I'll take that trade off (effectiveness vs noise) any day of the week.
jonesg
Well-known member
hex head screws don't cam out like philip heads.
They cost a bit more but you'll never go back once you try them, no impact needed if you want quiet.
BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I prefer air drills over power because of the sound and power lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal
Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal
engineer2
Well-known member
I get complaints from my Direktor when her favorite show is on or I'm working late.
If newer ones are quieter, let everyone know!
If newer ones are quieter, let everyone know!
Stuey
Well-known member
M12/M18 Surge. Problem solved.
Farmall450
Well-known member
If you think a 1/4" impact is loud try venturing out in a city
JRC3
Well-known member
Complaining about the noise is like complaining about the sound a Skilsaw makes compared to a hand saw. Or the sound of an automobile to the sound of sneakers.
The lack of hand and arm fatigue of using a cordless impact driver is enough for me to stand a little noise. I'm sold, far superior, hands down. Is this thread even serious???
The lack of hand and arm fatigue of using a cordless impact driver is enough for me to stand a little noise. I'm sold, far superior, hands down. Is this thread even serious???
First - Wear ear protection.
Second - Drills for screws are using the wrong tool. It can work, but it isn't the best tool for the job.
Third:
I love my Surge. Not loud. Not harsh in your hand. Very powerful. A rock star for screws.
Second - Drills for screws are using the wrong tool. It can work, but it isn't the best tool for the job.
Third:
I love my Surge. Not loud. Not harsh in your hand. Very powerful. A rock star for screws.
American Locomotive
Well-known member
Drills work great for screws if you use them properly. That's the purpose of the clutch setting on almost any cordless drill.
KnurledNut
Well-known member
Kscardsfan
Well-known member
That’s why impacts are such slow selling tools lol. You’re right, they’ll work, but an impact is so much better it’s not even funny. I bet my drill has 1/4 as many hours on it as my impacts do. Even more so for my M12 kit.
That's because everyone already had a cordless drill, because it is often superior for versatility and having the clutch.
It highly depends on what the task is. If we want to say an impact driver is better at certain things, even "just right", of course it is, but often it is the wrong tool, overused by people doing sloppy work, and abused trying to maximize torque in applications where a 3/8" or larger impact wrench was the right tool for the job.
I see it all the time on youtube videos for example, people trying to show off how fast they can drive fasteners, but making an amateurish looking mess of it or even having the tool cut out.
Part of that is that they aren't familiar enough with the tool yet, and part is they don't care how long it survives, but the other part is they have too much torque (or too little patience) and no clutch. Granted I am thinking of screws in wood, but similar problems exist with fasteners in other materials much softer (or more brittle) than the fastener metal itself, which is a significant % of the time.
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American Locomotive
Well-known member
Don't get me wrong, if you're just slapping plywood wood up or framing something - impacts are great. But clutched drills are still really popular for when you need finesse and need to drive a screw accurately to a certain depth.
Impacts are now becoming the bane of the HVAC industry.because they easily tear screws out of sheet metal. The real pros use clutch drills.
Impacts are now becoming the bane of the HVAC industry.because they easily tear screws out of sheet metal. The real pros use clutch drills.
JRC3
Well-known member
Here's my clutch.
Yes that's exactly the problem, people pretending that they can magically let off the trigger at exactly the right moment, every time, when the truth is that it is rarer that they let off the trigger at the right moment any of the time.
A fastener should be at the correct torque or depth, no more or less, ever.
It depends on the task of course. Certain jobs, and certain power levels or speed settings go well together, but a finger as a clutch is just not a repeatable, *universal* solution, is like saying let's abandon torque wrenches for the purpose they exist for, or pretending that clutches on drills were invented on a whim while every sane person uses a clutch when advantageous.
It's one step forward and one step back, to gain speed but lose precision. Depends on the task.
There is no question that someone using an impact driver does lower quality work than an equally skilled person using a clutched tool (all else equal except for production rate), but the extra time saved can also be used to focus on quality in other ways, if this is a profession where time - mistakes = money.
All I'm really saying is that details matter. Sometimes work will be hidden and nobody cares. Sometimes material is rare or costly. Sometimes one screwup means starting over or a callback to fix something.
If you try to overgeneralize or oversimplify without considering all factors, it's more of a subjective rather than objective comparison.
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Kscardsfan
Well-known member
I’d wonder if that’s a side effect of improvements in cordless tool technology over the last few years. It’s been a few years since I was working on jobs, but as of 2017 or so all the HVAC techs were still working with impacts just as much as us electricians and the framing crews were. If I were still doing that, I’d have upgraded to the surge technology drivers just to save some noise and make residential work a little more peaceful for clients. But for part time beer money jobs I can’t even attempt to justify buying new stuff.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
American Locomotive, your comment has become obsolete with the latest offerings from Milwaukee that have the position #4 setting. The impacting stops immediately upon the screw setting avoiding the issue you mention. Milwaukee specifically mentions this application in their literature. Progress marches on.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
As others have said, an impact driver is not a drill, although many people use them that way.
Most drills these days can be used as an impact driver, although I am sure they don't work as well.
Then there is a hammer drill. Even a whimpy 3/8" drill with a hammer setting, will drill a 1/4" hole in concrete/masonry that can not be done with a super strong 1/2" drill without hammer action.
Most drills these days can be used as an impact driver, although I am sure they don't work as well.
Then there is a hammer drill. Even a whimpy 3/8" drill with a hammer setting, will drill a 1/4" hole in concrete/masonry that can not be done with a super strong 1/2" drill without hammer action.
The "PROS" should have never bought an impact for sheet metal in the first place. That really is the wrong tool for the application. A 12v drill would be my choice for that application hands down.
And you are right, impacts excel at driving long screws, no one is going to argue with you there. That is why every single youtube video you see reviewing impact has time competitions for driving long screws into wood.
I have an M18 Drill/Driver, and a M12 drill. M18 drill for larger bits in thicker material, M18 driver for longer screws in thicker material, and M12 drill for pilot holes or smaller fasteners.