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Picked up my first impact driver

5K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  thehammer01 
#1 · (Edited)
My screws are screwed.

A while back I had already bought into the Ryobi one+ 18v tool kit with a cordless drill. Back then I thought a drill was just a drill. I knew I could not drill concrete but at the time I had not needed that. Some time goes by and I realize that I have a project that will need that hammer drill, so once again, Ryobi I go and I picked up the hammer drill. It has sat in my bag unused since the project I picked it up for I ended up getting side tracked on, as many of my projects.

Anyway, back to one of my projects, I was thinking on getting an electric hackzall (milwaukee) but ended up being a day late on the sale and I missed out on a spare battery for the kit I was eyeballing and I was asking my self, why another drill? I had two, albeit 18v then I learned of a kit that had a impact driver so I looked into that. A bit more and I thought, what the heck is an impact driver? So, I hit up youtube and the first video I seen gave me an idea.

So thought a little bit, I don't like swapping out bits... in other words, drilling a hole, then changing the bit to a driver and repeat. Well I had two drills, a hamer and a regular but fairly large 18v so I thought perhaps the milwaukee then I thought why not get some Makita at 180 bucks at the local HD then I talked my self into a Ryobi imapact driver since I had a few batteries anyway.

The thing looks like a large phaser from star track. The difference between the impact driver and my drill was obvious from the first 2" gold screw I sunk into to some weathered 2x4s. The screw bit into the wood and just kept going. Then the driver went into impact mode. Gee, my older drill does sound like this... while its stripping the bit or screw.

I pitted the thing up against my moms 12v lithium ryobi drill. My mom got the screw in, it struggled a bit, slowing down near the finish, then I showed her the new impact driver, then let her try it. She almost took it after words!

Another reason for yet a 3rd drill is for putting tapcons into concrete

EDIT. Sorry, not much of a post. Just felt like sharing... hope thats okay
 
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#2 ·
I too purchased my first impactor after reading about em and seeing em used here and there. I went with the Ridgid model. I got it home and played with it, just driving screws in and out of some scrap wood. I can't believe I ever went without one of these. the Screw went in so smooth and not even one small slip of the bit. One of the best tool investments you can make.
 
#3 ·
The difference between the impact driver and my drill was obvious from the first 2" gold screw I sunk into to some weathered 2x4s.
:thumbsup:

Since you have a hammer drill I'll share this one with you. I tried for several years to get my boss to buy one, in addition to the other drills at our shop. "So why do you need a hammer drill?" Well one day he had some extra money in the budget and went to HD and got one. Did I mention that was Friday afternoon and that he was remodeling a basement? He was furring in some studs on a concrete wall.

The moral of the story: He came in Monday morning grinning like a cat in the birdhouse! NOW I know why you wanted one! 'Nuff said.
 
#6 ·
i also had a ryobi drill kit so I purchased the impact drill to work with the batteries. I love the impact drill, it works great. I just wish I didn'y get the ryobi. I'm thinking of getting a dewalt saw kit because I don't like ryobi cordless saws. keeping the ryobi impact driver just means i'll have two types of batteries.

just a word of warning. never purchase a ryobi cordless saw. It may seem fine the first time you use it but the minute your batteries are more than 3 months old....forget about it. I can't cut through a cedar shingle without it dying. stick to ryobi drills.
 
#8 ·
I actually had the Ryobi P230 in my hand while I was in the store, but opted for the Makita instead even though it was a bit more expensive. It just felt a lot more solid than the Ryobi and even though I am not going to be using it every day, as soon as I finish the deck I still have shelves in the basement, the kitchen overhaul and the shed in the backyard lined up so it'll see a fair share of use.

I was blown away at how light it is compared to the Dewalt - I think it was 2.8lbs compared to 4.6.
 
#9 ·
screwed screws

Hey AJ, my name is Ray the Hammer, and I dig my impacts too. I am a blacksmith and also work at Home Depot, so I get to play with a lot of toys. I've got several brands of impacts of varying voltages, and very seldom use a dill any more. Ive discovered that they are great for removing damaged screws too. I put a phillps bit in, reverse it, and apply a little pressure and out they come. Nut drivers work as well.
It doesnt work on everything, but it's got me out of a bind on several occasions.
 
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