"Leon" wrote in message
om...
I am looking at getting the Makita 12 volt Impact Driver. Bought before
the
end of the year and Makita sends you an MForce cordless drill.

The unit is a 1/4" hex drive. With out a clutch how do you know if the
screw is getting too tight?

I have the Hitachi 12v model, which I bought on the advice of many people at
Fine Homebuilding's forum and Amazon reviews. It's a beast. I have to be
very careful driving stainless steel screws, most of the time they'll snap.
Very easy to drive a galvanized 4" deck screw right through a deck post.
You just have to go easy on it. I know Bosch has either just come out with
impact drivers or is about to, and I'd have bought one of them if I didn't
really need an impact driver right away (house building project). Someone
else, can't remember who, has just introduced a variable speed model.
Possibly Panasonic.

I find that if you need to be concerned about too tight, or about snapping
it off, use a cordless drill and predrill your holes, or a hand screwdriver,
or even better, a bit and brace. I can get a boatload of torque out of a
14" swing brace and a square drive bit.

Jon E