Thread: Best size drill and impact driver for use in the shop

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

Hi L. Maybe a dumb question but do you have any electronic controls on your impact driver? My Makita has a series of lights, buttons etc that are used to change driving modes to suit the needs of the material. I only ask because I have worked with a few people who "dont need the instructions" and haven't ever used the various settings.

Are you serious, MA?!! No man reads instructions!!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by lemerv

How does it perform for your average job in the shop? Enough torque?

It has enough torque but I think the gun style electric screwdrivers are more ergonomic and allow more control of the torque. However for smaller screws I love my screwdriver.

Addy

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I will be the odd man out here and ask why an impact driver is necessary in a workshop, why would having to wear ear protection to drive a screw seem like a good idea? For working in a workshop doing workshop stuff I pre-drill and use 10.5V drill/driver to put the fastener in. I am welded into the small Blue Bosch 10.5V range of drivers and have three of those one of which I bought from the US and threw the charger in the bin. For outdoors I rely on 2 x Protool PDK's one with impact and one without. I do have a C12 Festool but it is so clunky and heavy it rarely gets used, time moves on technology left the C12 behind. For out door construction work if I am driving really big stuff I get out the air driven impact driver and nothing stops that but the Protool's do most of the heavy lifting.

My first 10V Bosch purchase was an impact driver but I soon got tired of the noise for not much benefit so I bought an equivalent drill/driver and the impact driver sits in the corner unloved. Bosch do a 10V kit much like Festool's with interchangeable chucks which has never been sold in this country and already having batteries as well as the charger I bought one of those for a stupid cheap price on Amazon and it is very handy. If you already have a charger and batteries some good prices on skins can be found in the US or even full kits as the charger if not suitable can be tossed away.

Originally Posted by addyau

It has enough torque but I think the gun style electric screwdrivers are more ergonomic and allow more control of the torque. However for smaller screws I love my screwdriver.

Addy

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Thanks, I am looking at these. I think the lack of variable speed trigger might be the only issue. But the tiny size and weight is appealing!

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Ate you serious, MA?!! No man reads instructions!!

When I got my 3D printer last year my son (who has 3 of these things) came around to help me set it up.
I was blown away when for the first time I watched him open the box and read the instructions!
It must a have been a little boys look, because after about 5 minutes into the setup we had a minor issue.
Son was insisting something went one way but when I picked up and read the instructions I saw it was the other way and I had a gentle jibe about it.

Recently SWMBO bought some flatpack shelves for her sewing room and asked for help in setting them up. I thought I would really cheer her up by opening the boxes and pretending to read the instructions.

Last week we bought a large room air filter (not exactly a complicated appliance) and I played a little game - can I set it up WITHOUT reading the instructions.
Everything went smoothly but when I turned it on there was no air coming out - I though Oh No! I will have to return it to the store, and then thought I better read the instructions.
It turned out the filters were sealed inside plastic bags that had to be removed.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

I will be the odd man out here and ask why an impact driver is necessary in a workshop, why would having to wear ear protection to drive a screw seem like a good idea?

That's kind of what I'm wondering too. Lots of people on YouTube seem to use them but I haven't been able to get a clear answer on the benefit (for in shop use) beyond "not stripping the screw head". Sur everyone tests them by driving a 20mm 10g screw into a piece of hardwood....but I never do that in my shop haha! I wonder if they get used mostly because you get a good deal when buying in combo with a drill?

As a result of this thread, I've been trawling the internet and just discovered these 12v hex chuck screw drivers (https://www.totaltools.com.au/142843...l-skin-df033dz). They have the compact profile, act like a drill, but with the quick release chuck hex chuck (which makes them shorter and lighter by a touch). About the same price as the regular 12v drill. Thinking this might be ideal??

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

My first 10V Bosch purchase was an impact driver but I soon got tired of the noise for not much benefit so I bought an equivalent drill/driver and the impact driver sits in the corner unloved.

My 10.8v Impact Driver starts the hammering long before the 18v Makita does, so yes, you would get sick of the noise. I'm now so familiar with the Makita that I can stop it immediately before hammering, or just one or two beats in.

Originally Posted by lemerv

As a result of this thread, I've been trawling the internet and just discovered these 12v hex chuck screw drivers (MAKITA 12V 1/4inch Hex Chuck Driver Drill Skin DF033DZ | Total Tools). They have the compact profile, act like a drill, but with the quick release chuck hex chuck (which makes them shorter and lighter by a touch). About the same price as the regular 12v drill. Thinking this might be ideal??

That's looks very good, but if you don't already have Makita 12v batteries & charger it's going to be MUCH more than $109.

Edit: With Charger, 2x 2.0Ah batteries it's $219, which is pretty good. Then there's the slightly more robust version for $60 more.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

That's looks very good, but if you don't already have Makita 12v batteries & charger it's going to be MUCH more than $109.

Edit: With Charger, 2x 2.0Ah batteries it's $219, which is pretty good. Then there's the slightly more robust version for $60 more.

I would look at the Makita 10V range and if it seemed like I could use more of it beginning with a drill/driver or just a driver would be a good start. I did that when I bought my first Bosch 10V driver and I have built on it as needed. When looking at tools used on YT don't ignore the fact that they most probably don't know any more than you do about what they are using and it is possible they got it for free as a lot of them start their channel to build a tool collection and work shop as well. I had an approach from someone who shall remain nameless when I was selling Clearvues and he was told I was not going to help him build a workshop and equip it. April Wots her name is a prime example of this.

I think it's worth mentioning on this thread that the decision might be usefully driven by the benefits of the battery system and what else you might do with that battery system.

I use Milwaukee 12v for all my regular impact/regular drill needs and Ryobi 18v for a few extras. The Milwaukee batteries 12v also runs not just an impact driver and drill but a cordless vaccum (dedicated to metal dust), small die-grinder and right-angle die grinder, jigsaw, etc etc.

The 18v Ryobi runs all my gardening stuff as well, cheap spare sanders (for really rubbishy jobs where you suspect you're going to destroy pads in moments), hot glue gun, and a shop blower to clean out my area in half a minute.

I have thought about getting the Festool drivers and drills just because I like their range so much - but I really wouldn't do anything else with the battery system.

Chris

I've looked at the Makita 7.2V drill driver kit several times and it has its plusses and minuses

1) Weight of the 7.2V Makita is really good (650g)

2) As its a driver, to use small odd bit sizes a chuck has to be added - then see point 4 below

3) The speeds are too low for efficient drilling with small bits.
The max of 650 rpm with a say 1.5 mm bit on a piece of ally is just way too slow although its faster than my current 10.8V Bosh (410rpm)
Even the 1500 rpm of the 12V max is too slow.
Occasionally if I have to do more than a few I dig out my old orange corded B&B which I think is 2500 rpm.

4) Users hand is too far from the bit (even in pistol mode) so keeping the bit/driver steady and straight is harder.
Then to drill using small bits a chuck has to be added.
Compare this with the 12V max pistol drill where the trigger finger is almost level with the chuck.

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I think my confusion is because I have Milwaukee gear (18v) for woodworking and cordless makita only for garden tools (one makita hammer drill courtesy of a package deal)
I have this driver Sydney Tools the trigger is variable speed so slow 1-2 rpm is possible and three digital speed settings (one designed for metal gives a few slow revolutions before max speed kicks in) so yes I can drive a standard screw all the way through soft wood if I want but can also screw it in two turns and stop.
my 2 cents, cheers

About 5 years ago I bought a Makita 12volt CXT Drill and Impact Driver combo with charger + 2 batteries for around $220 NZ
Both drill and the driver are lightweight and easy to use, but the driver did not have any torque settings - I have to judge when to stop driving screws by experience which is not always correct. So I would recommend a driver with torque settings as I have broken the heads off screws (not stainless steel) by over-torquing them. With the impact driver it makes so much noise I need to wear earmuffs to protect my hearing.

The biggest thing I have built with these is a 3metre long small retaining wall using dressed 150x50 H4 pinus radiata boards screwed to 150mm diameter H4 pine posts. However I did predrill holes in the boards before I used 100mm 14G screws. The impact driver handled this OK but I dont know how it would go on Australian hardwoods. The drill and driver were good to use because of their lightness and the Makita focus on ergonomics.

However when I went to buy a cordless stick vacuum I decided on 18v in order to get the power. This meant buying an 18v charger + battery as the physical size and voltage of the CXT batteries are incompatible with the Makita 18v LXT system. Now my wife has bought the brushless 18V leaf blower and she is happy with its power - we could not have got the same performance out of the Makita CXT 12v blower.

In summary, I am still glad to use the ergonmic lightweight Makita 12V CXT drill and driver and don't have any need for the 18v versions as I'm not a tradie; I found I had to go up to the Makita 18v system where the task needed more powerful tools (vacuum cleaner, leaf blower).

I got a couple of Bunnings vouchers for my birthday and decided to put them towards a 12V Makita brushless drill and a 1.5Ahr battery. This drill is for my electronics/3D printer bench, alongside an elderly 10.8V Bosch that I have been using for more than 10 years. The Bosch is getting on a bit and recharging doesn't last as long as it used to. Main use is driving small (M6 or smaller, mainly M3) screws, and drilling and tapping small holes in plastic and Al.

One reason I got the Makital and a 1.5Ahr battery was because I wanted something as light as possible. The Makita weighs in at 1040g compared to the old Bosch which is 980g, but the Makita is stubbier (75mm from trigger to end of chuck, the Bosch is 102mm) which makes the Makita a bit more stable to use.

The old Bosch is only a single speed (410rpm) the Makita is two speed (450 and 1500rpm)
A bonus is the Makita chuck can easily hold a 0.4mm acupuncture needle (actually it can hold a 0.2mm needle!) which is handy when unblocking 3D printer filament nozzles.
So far I'm pretty happy with it.

In my shed I have a 18V Makita gear