DanG wrote in :

On 1/29/2012 9:36 PM, mcp6453 wrote:
On 1/29/2012 10:32 PM, DanG wrote:
On 1/29/2012 9:09 PM, mcp6453 wrote:
Often on Holmes Inspection and This Old House, the workers use what
appear to be hammer drills as electric screwdrivers, particularly
for lag bolts or long screws. Are they really using hammer drills,
or does it just sound like a hammer drill?


Impact driver. Yes, I suppose it is a bit like a hammer drill.
I've not torn mine apart yet to see what is impacting, but they sure
make Tapcons, lags, and Phillips screws work wonders.

Here is some information: type "impact driver" in google. These
things are all the rage, but it would be the first tool I would
replace if lost or dead.



If you were going to buy one tomorrow morning, which one would you
buy? Impact makes more sense than hammer.


Way back when, I started my battery tool collection with commercial
Black & Decker (before DeWalt). Once you have charger(s) and
batteries it just seems to make sense to stay interchangeable and
compatible. I sometimes wish I had started out with Milwaukee, yet,
the DeWalt has proved durable. I'm sure others will laud other major
brands.


a hammer drill is intended for drilling concrete. How often do you do that?
although,I guess you can disable the hammer function and use it as a drill-
driver.

OTOH,an impact driver is intended for driving screws,bolts and nuts,with
more torque than a regular drill-driver. I can see a lot of that sort of
use. I don't see them as very good drills,however.


Since you can use a drill-driver for both drilling and driving,that would
be my first priority. YMMV.

if you do a lot of deck screw or bolt/nut driving,then you need an impact
driver more.


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com