DOES ANYONE HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH THE CRAFTSMAN 14.4V IMPACT DRIVER? I’M THINKING OF BUYING IT OR THE HITACHI 12V GARY K REVIEWED.
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I don't know anything about the craftsman, but I'd suggesting waiting a couple weeks (Bosch is supposed to have one out very soon...I have a beta version I've been using and it's very nice), and Makita and Panasonic have new models out, too. The panasonic is very interesting: it has a 3.2 amp hour battery (I think that's right but I don't have the drill in front of me right now), and it also has the all-important flashlight. The best thing about the new flashlights is that they are activated by the trigger, so as soon as you pull just a little on the trigger, the light comes on and helps you guide the driver into the screw and the screw into the material. Unfortunately, the old Hitachi had an on/off switch for the flashight, which was/is a pain...you can forget to turn it off, and you have to turn it on each time you want it to come on.
I've been testing the Panasonic and it seems to be a good tool, except for one thing: There doesn't seem to be enough room for my hand on the handle. The hook and base of the grip, and the top of the motor, are a little too close together for comfort. But I'll have a lot more to say about these once I've worked with them for a while.
Gary
Thanks for the info, I really can't wait that long though. so, your not happy with the hitachi?
GKATZZ, question for you on that Panasonic impact driver you are testing.
Is it the 12 volt model? If so I believe it comes with a 3.5 amp hour nickle metal hydride battery - NICE
I have the old 12 volt and had a small complaint about the chuck. On the one I have, you can not insert the standard/slotted end of a double ended bit in the chuck and get it to lock in around the detent. The phillips end will fit in the chuck allright, but, not the slotted. Seems the outside edges of the blade hit the cone shaped side of the chuck before it is in far enough to engage the detent. Curious if they fixed this problem on the new chuck.
Would also be nice if they would magnatize the chuck so you could put in a short bit that would hold the screw without having to add the length of a magnatized bit holder. Also would be nice if the chuck was a quick connect style that you could just push a bit in rather than having to pull the collar.
Despite these minor shortcommings, I really like my old 12 volt Panasonic.
Like the idea of the new one coming with a light, built in hook, and 3.5 amp battery standard. Oh yeah, like that the new one has two power settings - haven't had the chance to try one, but, can imagine they are very nice.
First of all turn off your capital letters. Don't like screamers. Look at the Makita or the Panasonic.
Cheers
Mac
Thanks for the info. didn't mean to scream
not a problem
Cheers
Mac
I love my Milwalkee driver. 'course, I already had 3 14.4 Milwalkee batteries....
Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the Handyman
Vancouver, Canada
Someone clue me in... what are these useful for? Some of the guys I work with have them, and occasionally I hear one being used, but have standard cordless drills myself. I guess the only thing I've heard is that they're good for driving screws thru the harder decking materials...
Dave, it's a good question and it deserves a good answer.
Instead of using a 3/8" ratchet and a socket, I use the driver for attaching ledger boards to a house; with adaptors, driving screws; attaching handrails when doing stairways, etc.
I love using it for driving square socket screws (Robertson, invented by a Canadian). It just goes through like butter.
Building gates, bolting garden arbors, making sure stringers stay put ...
I now use Stainless Steel bolts where I used to use multiple nails, and faster and MUCH better holding power. I can do a small carpentry job with hand nailing, impact driving and without getting the compressor and framing nailer out of the van. I'm willing to bet a lot of the guys and girls here could give lot's more examples.
Gee, I was just on a ride down to Seattle last weekend. If I would have known, I would have come through, looked you up and had a frothy one.Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the HandymanVancouver, Canada
Next time you're going by, get on the ferry and come on over. They make froth right down there by the pier, and as America goes, this is one of the better spots. In fact, when we get on the ferry and go to the mainland we say we're 'going to 'America'
Funny 'bout that.
When I swing a leg over the Honda's saddle and head off to the border, I say the same thing.Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the HandymanVancouver, Canada
Instead of relying merely upon torque, the hammer drives the fastener further than a screwgun or drill of the same power. I never used cordless till I got a Makita 12 volt screwgun. I still surprises me what that thing can drive. Because of the discrete nature of the hammer hits, it is also suprisingly accurate. If find it easier to dial in how much depth I want than with an ordinary driver.
It is a noisy little critter, however.....
Do you currantly have a cordless? If so you might keep with that brand, makes for extra batteries.
same as Aaron above. Milwaukee drivers, so got the Milwaukee impact.
Edited 8/30/2004 11:38 pm ET by [email protected]
Yes i do . four different drills but one is 14.4v Craftsman which would give me four batts for the impact
Make sure they are the same 14.4 style battery, Sears has had many different and not interchangeable batteries. At the risk of being beaten, I have the 12V DeWalt and love it, had a Makita 12 V and sold it. One reason was because I had two matching drills and 5 batteries. Another was it just did not fit my hand as well.
They are very handy and I use mine more than any of the drills. I have a good supply of quick change drill bits, spade, auger, HSS, and use them all with it. Need to learn when to let off the trigger as there is no clutch and you can bury or break a screw if you are not careful. It should set the new Fastenmaster ledgerlock screws that are a lag replacement very well.
I thought someone was in here complaining about their wife and the family car again.
"Criticism without instruction is little more than abuse." D.Sweet
I am actually looking for an electric impact driver. You know, with a cord. I just finished a job using a pnuematic impact and my jobsite compressor. Although its a good size compressor I had to wait for it to catch up too often.
Makes me wonder how far you could go on batteries. Or would I be waiting around again waiting on a charge up.
Some times you just can't beat electric.
If you are getting one to drive mainly screws and only occasionally smaller lag bolts, get the battery model. The batteries hold up great for driving screws.
If you want one to drive lag bolts, get the corded one. You can use the cordless in a pinch but it would be like using a cordless to drill a bunch of 5/8 holes through 4x4 post ie it is possible to do it but the tool is not designed for that.
My only beef with my panasonic impact driver is the noise. It is so much more compact than my cordless drill though that I can easily overlook the noise level.
karl
Makita make one just like the cordless. Check their website for the model #.
I own a 12 volt makita driver, I have a 12 volt driver on order with a light built in excellent tool don't know how i could live with out it!!!!1man found sitting on toilet is said to be high on pot!
Milwaukee-enough said
I couldn't be happier with my 15.6V Panasonic. That being said, however, using hearing protection is advisable; impact drivers are definitely noisier than a regular drill/driver, especially if you'll be driving screws into resonant materials like steel siding.
-Jazzdogg-
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.
I have the 14 volt Makita. Great tool. Very well balanced and seems to have plenty of power to spare.
I just bought the DeWalt 14.4 V impact driver and I don't know how I survived without it. I use it for installing cabinets and I found it to be the best. We drive 3" square drive cabinet hangers and it's amazing how much torque and how deep you can drive with an impact. Especially in the old studs that are hard as a rock.
Also, they will save your wrist.
Truely, an amazing tool that I wish I had years ago.
good choice I have the same one and I also use it for hanging cabinets and have had very good liuck. One thing I have noticed is my wrist does not hurt as much at the end of the day .. I have discovered this because I was not holding against the torque of the regular drill as it began to bored into the stud. One learning curve I have noticed is to tell when you are drawing the cabinet tight because if you stay on the trigger the tool has enough power to run the screw right thru the back of the cabinet.
hello to all mike
Seem to be getting pretty good response here, but, in the future, you may want to post threads like this in the "Tools for Homebuilding" section of the forum.
You won't regret getting yourself and impact driver. I got a 12volt Panasonic not quite a year ago, and rarely even grab my drills anymore.
Thanks for all the info folks, it has been a lot of help
I have a 12v lo end Hitachi I got from Lowe's for $170. I've been using it hard every day for 8 months. It has a light in the adjustable hook that I have to turn on, then turns off by itself after 5 min or so. I'll bet I've used the light 5 or 6 times, but it nice when I need it.
I'm not endorsing any brand, but, and this is totally thanks to Gary Katz and his reviews, I am endorsing impact drivers. If you have a good screwdriver tip and are driving at a parallel angle, that screw head's not stripping out. Even stainless steel's not stripping out, not even the knockoff deckmate brands, not even drywall screws, not even trim screws.
Mr. Natural said get the right tool for the job...so, if you're screwin' around, get some kind of impact driver. NOW<G> Don't worry, we can fix that later!
I have the DeWalt 12Volt impact driver(the older style one) and I like it alot, I've bought the Makita Jacob's chuck for it so that I could use it as an all purpose drill. I like it and it works well for drilling and driving screws with that chuck attatchment; I use alot of Forstner bits, wirebrushes, and random things that don't come in a hex shank. That all being said, I've only encountered one situation where it was needed over a regular cordless, I had left my chopsaw setup on the workbench in the temporary garage/shop and didn't change the blade for several months during the winter , I couldn't loosen the blade arbor with a ratchet and breaker bar, luckily the impact driver got it right off. They are probably faster and the depth adjustment is a bit better, certaintly helpful at times but not something I routinely bother bringing on site with me as it just isn't necessary. The other down side of it is commercial work, isn't the best for alot of metal work.(though this is fine homebuilding so that's irrelevant).
-Ray
I own the 15.6V Panasonic impact driver and highy recommend it. It has a slide switch that allows you to switch back and forth between a drill/driver mode, and impact mode. In the drill/driver mode, you have a multi-position clutch.
The drive mechanism is a triple threat, which starts with a beefy half-inch square drive to which you can attach 1/2" sockets. There is also a 1/4" hex drive that attaches directly to the square drive. You can insert hex-shank driver bits directly into the hex drive. Remove the hex drive and attach a keyless drill chuck. Panasonic doesn't recommend using the impact mode in conjunction with the drill chuck.
In the impact mode it provides tremendous control. Another big plus is that it will remove screws better than any standard drill/driver - even those with damaged heads - in impact mode.
The batteries are stout and recharge very quickly. I recently spent an entire day, in impact mode, attaching corrugated steel siding to a barn and never had to swap out batteries.-Jazzdogg-
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.
I just looked a little, and couldn't find one. Short attention span... Where'd you get it? And is is it heavy? Sounds like the ticket<G> Don't worry, we can fix that later!
BB,
As I recall, I got it at a woodworking show from All Pro Tools (I think their web address is http://www.allprotools.com). I'd done all of the homework, and was prepared to drop full retail, but when I got to the show, these guys were selling them at a discount and throwing in goodies like a belt hook, t-shirts, hats, etc.
It's a terrific tool, and not too heavy - though heavier than a less powerful and far less versatile tool like the 12V Makita.
I'd buy another one in a heartbeat - and several of the guys who used it when we were hanging tin on my buddy's barn were really enthusiastic about getting one of their own.
It's a purchase you're not likely to regret.-Jazzdogg-
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.
I've been using the Milwaukee impack driver and it is a workhorse. Depending on what you would be using it for, I'd go with the larger version.
Unless you don't already have a compressor, I'd recommend you go pneumatic for the impact driver rather than electric. An air tool is generally lighter, smaller, and more powerful--and from the comments made by others probably less noisy....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Stop a second.
I have a Emglo single dog compressor and last year we built a deck. We tried using the pneumatic driver and to drive in the lag screws. I really needed to have a much larger compressor. Screnshaw had better check his CFM output before he gets pneumatic. Electric is a possibility, but battery is portable and good for me.Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the HandymanVancouver, Canada
I run a twin hot-dog CH Professional 2.5hp compressor that's over 10 years old, and yeah, when I have to run big (½"x8") lags into undrilled hemlock 8x8's, it sucks up a lot of air and takes a minute or so. But I have trouble imagining how big an electric tool would have to be to do the same job at all. I don't believe a 14.4v cordless could do more than one lag bolt like that on a battery. Of course, to be fair, I've never tried it--but I do drill a few thousand 16" deep x 1-3/8" dia. holes in ice every winter using 18v hammer drills, so I think I've got a pretty good feeling for what a cordless drill can handle.
On that big roof job I posted last year, I ran over 600 5/16"x6" lags into a bone-dry red-pine roof deck, and the compressor kept up okay (although it did run constantly). This is, of course, pushing the envelope, and I don't run the compressor that hard every day or it'd probably die. But nobody who has that kind of need would even consider buying a Crapsman in the first place, so I don't think our friend has to worry about that. For occasional heavy impact gun use, a pancake or hot-dog compressor will just teach you a little patience...and the rest of the time it will handle things okay.
.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
O.K. you got me. What do you drill all those little holes in the ice for?
Planting bamboo, of course. The growing season up here is kinda short, so I like to get a jump on the season and plant in mid winter.
No, seriously, they're for planting bamboo poles on the ski trails where I work as a patroller in the winter. Groomed artificial snow isn't like real snow at all; it's basically ice, and you have to drill a hole in it to be able to stick the bamboo in. We use bamboos to mark hazards and set up barrier rope and snow-fence and stuff like that. The patrol has a fleet of about 15 DeWalt 18v hammer drills with 24"-long x 1-3/8"-diameter ice bits. The bits are really way too big for the drill, and there are a lot of non-tool-user types in the patrol who just lean on the battery end of the handgrip if the bit isn't biting, so we trash about 9 or 10 drill trannies per winter....Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Thanks for the quick response. At least it wasn't something where I had to kick myself for not knowing. I scratched my head and posteriour for a while trying to come up with the answer on my own before asking.
My brother tells me some guys around here - Minnesota - acutually use a large (specialized 6"?) auger bit to drill holes for ice fishing with cordless drills.
I have yet to see it done or see the bit for this. Seems to me they must be very sharp, as the ice is often up to 2' deep and you need a good size hole to fish through. Seems the gas powered augers have a few horse motor on them.
Now I gotta ask him more about this and make sure I'm not just making something up.
I own a 5" hand auger made for drilling ice-fishing holes--it's a fairly common item up here and I found this one in a garage sale for 5 bucks. I bought it so I could drill through and drop a pump into the lake for flooding the ice to make a decent skating rink.
Ice here is about 3½-4' thick in mid winter. It takes me about 10 minutes of grinding away with the hand auger to go through all that. I've never seen anyone using a cordless drill to power one, though many serious fishermen have a gas engine set up to drive one. They are similar to the big 8" or 10" dirt auger engines we use for boring holes to sink sonotubes, but the ice models have only one handle instead of two, and a much smaller engine with a higher drive speed.Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I have the Graingers electrc impact... It'll wring off 5/8" lags..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
So I guess it'll wring the head off a squirrel, too??Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
No... It turns "em inside out and winds them up into a little bitty ball..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Well, if yer not usin' it at the moment, I got some critters you kin practice on....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I have a half inch square drive electric impact that is the same as DeWalt sells only a LOT cheaper. It has a rocker switch for direction or turn and plenty of torque as it is made for automotive type work. I got the idea of using one for tough jobs when I saw the garage door guys using one to assemble the doors and frame work. I bought mine from Harbor Freight for $39 on sale and I used it with a small generator to put up a 4000 sq. ft. metal building frame. It's loud but it has paid for itself many times over. You will need adapters to get it to drive square, or phillips head screws though and you will have to put up with the cord. It's great for changing tires on motor homes as they have 120v power available.
Well, I went out and bought one of the Dewalt 14.4 impact drivers today and all I can say is: IT ROCKS!
I was able to easily drive 1/2" X6" lags into predrilled holes. I did about 12 of them and the battery was just fine. Pretty amazing. It made screwing plywood on my windows (hurricane preperation) SO much faster too. I'm sold.
Congratulations on your purchase of an impact driver. Your life will never be the same.
Uh, not to burst your bubble, but with pre-drilled holes, I can turn ½x6 lags in by hand with a speed handle on a socket, given a bit of candle-wax or soap on the threads....
Anyway, glad you're prepared for the hurricane. Sounds like it's gonna be another whomper....Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I have the Hitachi 12V. It is great. The lite is useful getting into dark places like hanging cabinets.