On Dec 6, 11:36*pm, John Rumm wrote:
On 06/12/2010 21:13, Jim K wrote:



On Dec 6, 8:39 pm, David
wrote:
On Nov 22, 10:06 pm, John *wrote:

Never thought to actually try this, but I just did on myMakita8443D,
and yes I can stop it on setting 16. Its got a fairly strong tug though
at that setting. I would guess a 2" 10 gauge twinthread screw into
softwood without a pilot hole would be about the limit of theclutchon
the highest setting.

Funny you should say that. Today I was using 10g 2.5" single thread
into floorboards with a pilot hole, and at the top setting, when the
screw hit the last cm (i.e. the bit where the pilot hole ended) the
clutchslipped.

I swapped back to the focus DIY model, and at setting 19 (out of 21)
it did the job perfectly. Screws all the way in, without jumping or
snapping, every time.

I wasn't sure before, but now I am: This thing's got to go back!!!

can;t you just learn to use thedrillsetting, on low speed and judge
it manually?

Expecting any tool (never mind powertools) to operate "the same" as
others is asking a little much IMHO

Does your supplier operate a "no quibble" returns policy? if not have
you thought how you are going to justify your return?

Yup to be fair it does not sound as if the OPsclutchperforms that
differently from the one on mine, and I feel the one on mine works very
well. I may be wrong, but I think this is just a difference of
expectation. Personally I would only want to use theclutchfor smaller
fixings where overdriving is a real possibility and you want quick
repeatability. A good example might be sticking loads of 1.25" screws
into 9mm ply as a floorboard covering prior to tiling etc. For a 2"
screw or above I can't really see any value.

John,

I've seen enough of your posts on here to realise that you're almost
certainly right! :-(

With the 12g 4" screws, I was using the drill setting and proceeding
slowly and carefully, because I've always found that to be beyond the
ability of a clutch (sensibly so!).

However, whether I've been spoilt or lucky with these two other drills
or not, there was certainly "value" in switching back to the focus DIY
cheapie yesterday for driving those 2.5" screws - it made the job 5x
faster (no need to be careful, or even to think!), and 5x better (not
a single screw head damaged). A faster and better job - the very
definition of quick repeatability.

Now that I recognise that what I'm expecting may be a little
unusual(!), I think I'll have to resort to try-before-I-buy for the
replacement.

Cheers,
David.