Driver drills are superb tools that save time – as well as lots of wear and tear on a person’s wrists and hands. Driver drills are perfectly suited to many shop and home tasks, and offer an endless variety of helpful attachments.
But if you find that you’re project calls for installing lots of hardware, or installing difficult hardware, consider an impact driver. An impact driver has several advantages over a driver drill when it comes to screwing in hardware – starting with the hammer blow action that “hammers” the screws in as the bit rotates. As seen at right, the impact hammer is also smaller, so it reaches into tighter spots. How much faster is an impact driver? I’m glad you asked because I did a test using 6″ contractor’s screws being sunk into the edge of a 2″x10″ piece of scrap lumber. No pilot holes were drilled. I sunk 3 screws with the impact driver in an average of 11 seconds each. The driver drill took 20 seconds BUT the driver dill would not finish sinking 2 of the 3 screws. Impact drivers also make quick work of attaching sheet metal with self-starting screws – no need to pre-drill.
Impact drivers don’t have the range of driver drills – they won’t work with drill bits or many other attachments. But for screwing in hardware, the impact driver has no rivals. You’ll also appreciate the quick bit change system – no loosening and tightening needed, just pop in the bit you need for the project. It’s great for jobs where you’re constantly changing between 2 or 3 bit types or sizes.
