DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

Can Someone Explain The Whole Drill/Driver Thing? Impact Driver As well Please?

9K views 45 replies 19 participants last post by  jeffnc 
#1 ·
I have googled this and came away more confused then anything else.. Don't even get me started on me asking my "friend" who is a green builder for clarification on the subject and how that ended up..

Here is my Example:



Anyways Maybe someone here can break it down in laymens terms for me..

1. What exactly is a Drill/Driver tool for?

2. What is the Impact Driver for?

3. Why do they package them together(mayhaps cuz I don't understand but it seems kind of redundant)

4. Hammer Drill for?


My apologies if this is basic but I have not been able to get a solid answer on this and still in my mind I have this unkown about them and would just like clarification on the matter!


oNe
 
See less See more
1 1
#21 ·
You must not drive many screws. I can pretty much say for sure that if we started side by side, each with a box of 3" deck screws, me with an impact driver and you with a regular drill, I'd be done and have my first beer down waiting for you to catch up. And if they're phillips heads, I'll have 2 beers down while you change bits and replace screws that cammed out.
 
#22 ·
That's kind of my take on it. I was an impact driver skeptic also. I have various screw driving tools including dedicated screw guns and a pretty high powered corded half inch drill. SO I figured that impact drivers were just a gimmick. Until I tried one. Had to revise my opinion of them. They really do work better. I assume that it's the impact action (what else would it be?) which drives screws better than a constant torque, much like an impact wrench loosens rusty fasteners better than applying constant torque with a wrench.

And I agree that an impact driver seems to have a lot less tendency to cam the bit out of the screw than a drill/driver does

The other factor not mentioned, is the size. Impact drivers are very compact compared to the driving power they deliver. You may have a drill that drives screws as quickly as an impact driver, but I guarantee you that you're not going to find a drill driver as compact as an impact driver that drives screws as fast as a impact driver.


JustinK said:
Dewalts Cordless hammerdrill will do everything but it is just to heavy for me unless i need it.
Exactly.

Not to knock anyone who prefers a drill/driver over an impact driver, use whatever works for you. But, there are real advantages to the impact driver. It ain't just marketing.
 
#44 ·
A cordless impact driver uses 1/4" hex drive bits, while an impact wrench has a square drive and uses sockets. I've used a socket adapter in my impact driver to run some pretty hefty lag screws and it worked fine. I used it to change the wheels on my golf cart too, but I don't know if it's got the ooomf to loosen the lugs on my truck. That impact wrench is on my "need to own" list.
 
#2 ·
A drill uses a chuck that holds drill bits and is used for well, drilling. It simply twists whatever but you put into it. A hammer drill is useful for drilling through masonry. It makes it much quicker and easier. It exerts as the name says a hammering force along with the twisting motion.

An impact driver imparts again an impact force along with a twisting force, though not the same. Impact drivers have collets which hold hex bits like screwdriver bits and nut driver bits as that is what they are used for, driving screws and bolts.

Now you can put hex shank drill bits in an impact driver, but the uses are limited. And you can chuck a screwdriver bit in a drill and it will work. But neither will do the others job as well as its own.
 
#3 ·
With an impact driver, the impact is a rotational impact. The impact is helping to turn whatever you're turning. it's like a battery operated version of air powered impact wrenches used to loosen and tighten lug nuts in a tire place. One of the things an impact driver really excels at is driving long screws, like deck screws. The hammering action in the direction of turning helps to jolt the screw into turning. I've screwed in 3/8 inch lag screws easily with an inpact driver which would have been much harder to sink with a drill.. It's also good at loosening difficult to turn nuts and bolts.

The hammer drill , like iminaquagmire said, puts an impact along the drill, like you were hitting the back of it with a hammer as the bit was turning. About the only thing this is good for is drilling masonry (bricks, concrete, stone, etc) a masonry bit is really just a rotating chisel, and it doesn't do much unless there's some hammering action. That doesn't man that the hammer drill is useless for anything else. Every one I've ever seen has a way to turn the hemmer action off, then it's just like a regular drill.
 
#4 ·
1. A drill/driver is like a Corvette. Great at going fast, but also has a trunk in case you need to get groceries. A drill/driver is great at drilling holes, and can be used to drive screws if you only have the one tool.

2. An impact driver is only good at driving screws. Ever have a stubborn bolt that you give your wrench a little tap with a hammer to try to break it loose? That's basically what an impact driver does.

3. They're packaged together because they compliment one another. Next time you build a deck, you can use the drill/driver to drill pilot holes while another dude comes behind you with the impact driver driving the screws. Or you can do it by yourself without changing bits 10,000,000 times.

4. Hammer drill is like trying to remove that same bolt, but hitting the head of it with your hammer instead of the wrench.
 
#7 ·
My man, you hit it square in the head, this is exactly what i was looking for!!! THank You, THANK YOU!! This breakdown is what this laymen needed.. I got it now!!

I bought the Porter Set similar(if not the exact same one) as above.. $145 at my Local Farm&Fleet!!


oNe

P.S. Also big thank you to everyone else as well, google is d@m good but ALL of yall broke it down in plain english that I got it now!!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Ever have a drill or screw lock up on you and the drill/driver almost twist your wrist off, or slam your hand into something ?

An Impact driver does not transmit torque forces to the wrist like a drill/driver does.

It also has a lot more power. You need to be careful that you don't overdrive things.
A drill driver with a good clutch is better for more delicate work.

The two tools compliment each other.
 
#12 ·
A lot of interchangability, but each tool has its' place, and you definitely won't regret having the set, particularly for tasks that require pilot holes, etc. No more switching back and forth, chucking, drilling, unchucking, chucking, driving, unchucking, ... between a drill bit and screw bit.
 
#15 ·
Ive yet to meet the screw that my dewalt 985 hammer drill cant drive in with ease. Infact, some beefy lag bolts were the first time I even had to kick it down into low gear. deck screws and the like are nothing to it.

Id suggest they package the 2 because they get a little bit more money, where 99% of home DIYers would be fine with just a drill and would never come back to buy the impact gun.

perhaps an impact gun would be more useful if I did more automotive work where I might encounter more nuts and bolts, particularly seized ones.

YMMV.
 
#16 ·
A drill driver in the number 1 position you can drill holes as it is fast.
Number 2 position slows it down and increases torque so you can drive small to medium screws, stir things like paint.
Impact driver= big screws, lag bolts. No stirring, no drilling, loads of torque.
 
#18 ·
That's the God's honest truth. You drive much more, much faster, much longer and with greater control, except for the delicate jobs, as mentioned.

I bought the corded Porter Cable similar to the cordless one posted to complement my cordless set for the bigger jobs and save battery life.
 
#43 · (Edited)
I believe I am responsible for derailing this thread. Here's my attempt to get it back on track. When someone asked about the cordless impacts, they were referring to the 1/4" drive for screws and small bolts. Something that most people use a cordless drill for.

At the time, I just saw "impact" and the first thing I thought of was the pneumatic impact tools for working on cars. I didn't know the difference and asked if I could pull lugnuts off with one.

After doing some reading, I have found that this thread started out asking about Impact Drivers. What I was looking for was an Impact Wrench. There is a difference.

Impact drivers usually have a quick change bit on them, and the power it delivers is measured in in/lbs.

Impact wrenches come in standard ratchet sizes (3/8", 1/2", 3/4"). They create more torque, which is measured in ft/lbs.

Another way to think about it is this: The driver is for bolts. The wrench is for nuts. The thread was asking about bolts, and I was looking for nuts.

But, I did find what I was looking for.



I used it to rotate the tires on my truck. I had all 5 lugnuts off of the first wheel in the time it would have taken me to get 1 of them off with a 4-way, and they were torqued on with a pneumatic impact from the local tire shop. It took me longer to get the truck up on jack stands, than it did to rotate all 4 wheels. I look forward to wearing this tool out.

Now, my gf gets to learn how to change brakes on her truck. She goes through a set of pads twice as fast as I do. :yes:



The only thing that stopped me from getting the Ryobi was that the DeWalt was stronger.

Ryobi = 200 ft. lbs. of torque
DeWalt = 300 ft. lb. of torque
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top