Impact Driver

[Street]

I just got the Dewalt DCF886 and its has been brilliant, many many floor board screws and even straight into masonary makes such light work of it all. I went for two 2ah batteries, not a fan of massive lumps.

This is the one I've got. I've been doing up our new house and I didn't realise how much I needed an impact driver until I had one!

 

[Steampunk]

So best to get a good combi for now?

A combi is more versatile, an impact driver is a bit more specialist. Ideally you'd have both ie, right tool for the job, but if you could only choose one, the combi is a better all-rounder.

Most manufacturers seem to do a combi + 2 batteries + charger, and then later you can get the bare driver to add to it at minimal cost.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

I have the Bosch 10.8v set too and its very good.
I also have the DeWalt 18v XR range; got most of the range and its very good. Got 2 x 3Ah and 1 x 5Ah batteries.

Tbh, you won't go wrong with Makita, DeWalt, Bosch (blue).
You could go for the Ryobi One kit, or the Bosch (green) to save money but for me its DeWalt XR all the way baby.

 

[koolpc]

Got to choose a decent combi with 2 batteries next.

 

[koolpc]

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dc...-ion-cordless-combi-drill-impact-driver/7017j

Looks good but been told battery not good enough?

 

[MassiveJim]

I had a combi for ages without an impact driver and did just fine.

Then someone left an impact driver at my brother's work that happened to be from the same range as my drill/driver (Makita) so after 6 months nobody claimed it he gave it to me, it came with a battery as well which was handy.

I can honestly say I have only recently used the impact driver to any real extent whilst building a shed from scratch and it certainly gets the screws driven in. for everyday use though I found that the combi on drill mode would almost do the same job

 

[Mark A]

You can get along fine with a combi, but an impact driver has like 3x the torque and even at that level it doesn't twist your wrist. For putting in concrete screws/bolts that can sometimes tighten up half way through and nearly twist your arm off they are a god send. I'd sometimes not be able to put the concrete bolts into some super hard bricks like Accrington Nori as even my top spec Dewalt combi didn't have enough torque to drive them in, but the impact driver doesn't break a sweat.

I also like that they are a lot smaller and lighter weight. You can hang them off your belt easily or get into tighter spaces when doing kitchen jobs.

 

[koolpc]

What about the one i linked to as been told the battery is not enough?

 

[Mark A]

1.3ah is a little low, especially on brushed tools. It depends how much use they will get, for DIY they will be fine with 2 batteries.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

What about the one i linked to as been told the battery is not enough?

I used the above DeWalt twin pack and built a small 3m x 2.4m deck on one charge with the impact driver. That was over 300 75mm screws into timber on the 1.3ah battery. They recharge in 30 mins to 60 mins also.

If its just for DIY then 1.3 is fine and you have two. If your a trader then no its not enough.