Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Dumb question, I'm sure. I bought the £150 Dewalt set from Screwfix that was recommended earlier in the thread.

The drill has a torque selector but the impact driver does not. Looking around, it seems like most (if not all) impact drivers lack one.

Why is that? I'd have thought this feature was more important on the driver than on the drill?
 
garnett said:
Dumb question, I'm sure. I bought the £150 Dewalt set from Screwfix that was recommended earlier in the thread.

The drill has a torque selector but the impact driver does not. Looking around, it seems like most (if not all) impact drivers lack one.

Why is that? I'd have thought this feature was more important on the driver than on the drill?
Click to expand...

On impact drivers is it not based on how heavy you hold down the trigger? Think that's what it does on my Makita (also has 2 speed settings)
 
Yup, the Dewalt is the same. I just thought it'd have a max torque setting too.
 
The posher drivers (Dewalt DCF887 for example) have 3 torque settings. I can't really see the need for it. Impact drivers are for the heavier jobs, for example this week I have been driving some 8 inch coach bolts into some wooden sleepers (with no pilot holes). It's a job that doesn't require much finesse and my combi drill would probably struggle with. Equally if I was fitting some much smaller screws to some furniture or something, I would use my combi as I wouldn't need the impact feature to drive them in and the torque settings would stop me over-tightening them and damaging either the furniture or the screw heads.

Dave
 
garnett said:
Yup, the Dewalt is the same. I just thought it'd have a max torque setting too.
Click to expand...
As Dave above says, not every job is for your impact driver. They're for the tough jobs, for things like plaster board, softer woods and even some masonry I wouldn't use my impact driver at all.
 
Ah, OK! I put together some ikea furniture and reveling in the speed! One for the Combi drill instead then!
 
With an impact things happen slower than with a drill, so it's easy to release the trigger when required, mostly.

With the combi you'll just set the torque low and ride the clutch when it kicks in, not a big deal either way.
 
garnett said:
Dumb question, I'm sure. I bought the £150 Dewalt set from Screwfix that was recommended earlier in the thread.

The drill has a torque selector but the impact driver does not. Looking around, it seems like most (if not all) impact drivers lack one.

Why is that? I'd have thought this feature was more important on the driver than on the drill?
Click to expand...
My DeWalt impact driver has 3 torque settings, but I only ever use the highest one.
 
divuk83 said:
The posher drivers (Dewalt DCF887 for example) have 3 torque settings. I can't really see the need for it. Impact drivers are for the heavier jobs, for example this week I have been driving some 8 inch coach bolts into some wooden sleepers (with no pilot holes). It's a job that doesn't require much finesse and my combi drill would probably struggle with. Equally if I was fitting some much smaller screws to some furniture or something, I would use my combi as I wouldn't need the impact feature to drive them in and the torque settings would stop me over-tightening them and damaging either the furniture or the screw heads.

Dave
Click to expand...

My Impact driver has 3 settings and have found the slow speed ideal for small screws in cabinets, I pretty much use it for any screw driving job, delicate or tough. I'm not sure if its the same with all impact drivers, but with mine the impact function only kicks in once a certain torque is hit. So for drivings small screws the impact doesn't even kick in until the screw is fully home, after one click i release the trigger, perfect every time. The compact size of the impact driver lends itself perfectly to work in small cabinets or kitchen building etc.

Also makes it great for self tappers on the full speed as it spins so fast it drills the self tapper in much better than a combi driver and doesn't hit the impact function until the screw if fully home to tighten it down.
 
On a slightly drill-related query: are there any cutting discs you can get that will suite a drill, kind of Dremel-esq (basically a chuck type fitting with a cutting disc on it) Can't seem to find anything specific, just Dremel related stuff and discs that appear to be for angle grinders.
 
I could be wrong but I don't think a drill is anywhere near fast enough for a cutting disk to work with such a small diameter disc. Dremels are like 30,000rpm and a drill is more like 2000rpm. Plus it would be dangerous with no guard around the blade. You can get sanding drums for drills, but i've never seen a cutting disc.

What are you wanting to cut with it? You can get 115mm angle grinders very cheap these days if that would do the job.
 
Fair enough.
It was actually some hardwood skirting around a chimney breast. The installers took the small return pieces off the front when we had the wood burner put in and left the pieces that go along the side of the chimney in place. They were mitred joints so I wanted to cut them off square, its carpeted so a hand saw might be tricky.
Don't necessarily want as small discs as Dremel ones just 'a disc' to cut the wood with :)
 
An oscillating tool would be ideal for that job if you know anyone that has one. I dont think a disk in a drill would work and it has the potential to walk and damage your floor.
 
I had no idea you could get a battery powered SDS. My SDS is 850w, only a little one, must take a lot of batter power - how long can they run?
 
cheesyboy said:
I had no idea you could get a battery powered SDS. My SDS is 850w, only a little one, must take a lot of batter power - how long can they run?
Click to expand...

No idea. I haven't used it yet, but reviews are positive and comparable to 24v tools of old. Milwaukee even do a 12v SDS, though I'm not sure how good it is. The review all seem to recommend high capacity batteries though, so I think they'll go through them at quite a rate. I have access to 2x 4ah and 2x 1.5ah between my dad and I, so should be able to get them charged on a rotation.
 
I had a Bosch 24v GBH drill - two batteries but only Nic-cad but they lasted well - used to drill quite large holes at work - Best one I have seen these days is Bosch 36v - shock absorbing handle and very light - down side is the cost of about three hundred quid.

If anyone is after a cheap SDS mains drill Lidl has them in tomorrow for £40

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offers.htm?articleId=2615 - I have one of these and it's great for that occasion you need a large hole in brick or concrete.
 
My job for the summer is to relay the paving in our yard. Would you say an SDS with chisel would be the way forward for getting all the mortar out between the existing stones or something like an angle grinder?

And as a follow up, any idea how that Lidl SDS would compare to the Titan one at Screwfix for £60
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom