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When using an impact driver

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:23 pm
by Gurkin
Hi,

quick question from me for a for a change. I bought Cheap impact driver from B & Q, there are no torque adjustments. Can you tell me when using one does it stop when the screw is tight or does the user have to judge for themselves.

Cheers,

Gurkin

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:22 pm
by Only-Me
:scratch:

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:53 pm
by big-all
as it loads up it will slow down that is assuming your talking somthing like 10x2" or above
you need to regulate the trigger as it will keep going and pull through a bit off softwood easily as you have 4 to 6 times the equivilent tork of a normal driver

no 4 or 6s or screws less than 1 1/2" i would use a normal battery drill on slow

Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:39 pm
by Hitch
Your finger will be the depth/torque gauge. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do it will become second nature.
For small screws, i stop at the first few impacts if it looks tight.

Occasionally i will check them with a hand screwdriver if its critical.

And brass, not wise to use one on brass i have found :wink:

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:12 am
by Gurkin
Thanks for your replies. I thought it was a stupid question after I asked it :oops: . I should have mentioned that I was also relating this question to coach screws. Anyway, the coach screws are 8 x 50mm and I'm fixing 1" gravel boards to 3" x 2" checked them with a spanner and they need quite a bit of tightening. Should I presume (rightly or wrongly) that I need a pilot hole as the screws are close to the edge of the gravel boards and that they should be checked with a spanner anyway. I noticed that after about 30 screws I need to swap the battery. I have a decking project coming up, which no doubt after checking the decking section I'll still have questions, so is it a false economy buying the cheapie and would I be better off investing in something like the Ryobi 18V instead of this 14.4V cheapie and what would the benefits be?

Thanks again, Gurkin

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:41 pm
by big-all
with this kit you can set up the hammer drill with a drill bit to pilot and use the free impact to drive them home with the 132nm of torque :lol:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/79355/Pow ... A?ts=75839

and as an aside
i would personaly use 8/10+2.1/4" [4.5/5+ 60mm]screws for gravel boards

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:49 pm
by Hoovie
That is a very good deal Big-All :thumbright:

Gurkin - this is likely to sell out, so don't wait too long to decide. the £100 kits that include the impact drivers are not very common

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:00 pm
by chippymike
im a carpenter and have had my ryobi impact driver since january and use it everyday and swear by it for the money. I cant go back to using a cordless drill driver for driving screws anymore, make sure you use good wera pozi 2 bits and not cheap crap out of B&Q or you will have to take shares in screwdriver bits