micky wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:34:13 -0700 (PDT), leza wang
wrote:

Hi all
In this video minute (0:40) the person is using machine to screw. What this machine is? a drill with special head or what? I have a drill but not cordless and i am thinking to use it as a screw driver to screw a big board for my front house, or do I need special device? Thanks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkOVc9FtozA

A drill that runs on house current is a lot less trouble than a
cordless drill, where one has to recharge the batteries frequently,
replace them every so often (2 years?) and which in many cases don't
have near the power of a drill that runs on house current. I've had
no trouble reaching any part of my house or yard with a long enough
extension cord. Even going up a ladder, though one should be
careful he doesn't trip over the cord, and one should use both hands
going up and down the ladder (shouldn't be holding things with one's
hands) , maybe pulling the drill up after one is up, and lowering it
before going down. A cordless drill presents some of the same
problems. I guess there are holsters, so you can put it on your hip.

As to whether you also need an electric screwdriver, it depends.

First, I'm curious. Did you know that you're supposed to drill a hole
before you try to screw in a screw? When I grew up I didnt' know
that. We had no drill of any sort. We did have a gimlet, and I would
use a gimlet to make a hole 1/4' deep, enough to hold the screw, and
then I would turn the screw until it went all the way into the wood,
usually splitting the wood. I was 8 years old and soft of thought it
shouldn't work like that, but had no idea what was wrong.

Anyhow, you should drill a hole with a drill bit about as thick as the
shank of the screw, minus the threads. Note that the end of the
screw is probably smaller than the part near the head, so the hole in
the second piece of wood should maybe be smaller in diameter.
Especially since it's that second piece of wood that the screw has to
hold to. The head of the screw is enough to hold it to the first.,
the top piece of wood, but the threads have to be in fairly tight in
the bottom piece of wood.

With soft wood you can make the holes a ittle bit smaller, In fact
you should start smaller because you can always make the hole bigger
but you can't make it smaller.

And before you put the screw in the hole, you should pull its threads
once across a bar of soap (not Lava soap. Ivory or something like
that.) to get some on each thread (yes I know t here's really only
one thread) . The soap makes an enormous difference when trying to
screw in the screw, and if you'v e done everything right, it's easy to
make the screw go in and it will still fit tightly.

You might also look for a ratchet screw driver, so you don't have to
take the tip out of the screw head slot, just turn your hand back and
forth.

Do all this one nail or screw at a time and you won't have to take
down the gutter. and you can probably do it yourself.

Do you need an electric screw driver or a drill with screwdriver
speed? Maybe it would speed things up and keep you from getting tired
if you're built like a girl and/or have never done much work with your
hands, that's even more likely.

They also make screw tips that will fit on a socket wrench ratchet,
when using the right socket, I guess. (not metric, I think). I have
socket wrenches to work on the car, and a ratchet with its leverage
and ratcheting is just about as good as electric, afaic. But if you
wouldn't buy socket wrenches otherwise, maybe it's not worth buying
now.


Are your gutters falling off? They are probably nailed on with
"gutter nails" or "gutter spikes". The easiest thing to do if the
nails are loose is to switch to gutter screws, which are designed to
fit in the same holes that the nails did, but be bigger. (but thin
enough that they will still go through the tubes thake keep either the
nails or the screws from crushing the gutter.) They will probably
screw in pretty easily, and will hold your gutters for another 10
years or more. unless the wood is really bad.

(Even then, when the wood is so bad the screws are falling out, you
can probably aim the screws a half inch to the side and find decent
wood. It won't look perfect but who looks up at the screw heads
anyhow. I guess if you're starting a new hole when the wood is old
and part of it is rotting, your starter hole should be even smaller,
or maybe you don't need one??? I'm not up to that point yet and I
don't know. what the wood 1/2 inch from a crumbling, almost rotting
hole is like. It might be almost as good as new. Maybe you can
even switch back to gutter nails. This paragraph needs more work.

And you should probably get in the habit of wearing gloves. People
are twice as strong when they're wearing gloves, and they don't get
calluses either. Cloth garden gloves might be okay. For really hard
work, leather work gloves are better.

But your hands may well get dirty. If there is grease in yoour
finger prints, I recommend waterless hand cleaner that works very well
on grease. But somehow I never use that and I rely on Boraxo powdered
hand soap. It gets all the dirt off, even the dirt in your
fingerprints, without making your hands feel like they are being
attacked. More like massaged.

My mother used Lava soap when her hands were dirty. I don't know how
she could stand it. I hate the stuff. And she must have known about
Boraxo, because my father had died and she was the one who bought it.

Hey,
B4 anything else OP better keep in mind safety practices. What looks
easy on expert's hand can be accident in waiting for amateur or novice.
In my working days if safety engineer catch us breaking safety rules, it
could be cause for losing the job. Could be fired on the spot, very
strict. If not using anti static mat &/or glove handling a circuit
board, static could zap a multi grand CML high current logic board in a
blink.