Hi Dave,

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?

I reckon I've gone through 100 ish Makita bits and 50 odd (some other
cheap brand I can't remember bits). As you probably well know, bits have
a habit of shattering under the workload of an impact driver.

My local hire shop used to have tubs of the Makita PZ2 50mm on the
counter, I'd pick up a tub as and when I felt the need. I *thought* I
was going through Makita bits quickly until I bought this other brand.
I've still got some of this other brand left but they're so bad I've
taken to keeping screws in one side of my pouch and bits in the other
:-(

I'll be running out very soon :-(

Anyway, I've found someone selling tubs of 50 x Pz2 50mm at a sensible
price, just wondered (before I order them) if you know of a better
option? I don't fancy trying them all until I find a good 'un!

TIA
Someone

somebody wrote:
Hi Dave,

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?

I reckon I've gone through 100 ish Makita bits and 50 odd (some other
cheap brand I can't remember bits). As you probably well know, bits
have a habit of shattering under the workload of an impact driver.

I use fairly cheap bits, last lot from Wickes about £3 for 20. Never had
one shatter ever.

I reckon the 'better quality' bits are far too hard - I've had them shatter
in drill drivers, let alone impact drivers. Especially the gold coloured
ones.

Using the Wickes el cheapos I just change them at first sign of cam out &
use maybe 4 on a deck - 1200 screws?

My local Screfix had some DeWalt ones on offer last week, about £5 a box.
These seem fine, but I since gone over to an autofeed screwdriver which now
does the bulk of the work, the impact driver just doing odd & ends.

I reckon cheap & chuck is the way to go. Last time I looked in Wickes they
didn't have the cheap bits, only sets of three gold ones, I'd try the
Screwfix/DeWalt ones - can't find them on the site, they had loads on the
counter last time I went in.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:
somebody wrote:
Hi Dave,

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?

I reckon I've gone through 100 ish Makita bits and 50 odd (some other
cheap brand I can't remember bits). As you probably well know, bits
have a habit of shattering under the workload of an impact driver.

I use fairly cheap bits, last lot from Wickes about £3 for 20. Never
had one shatter ever.

I reckon the 'better quality' bits are far too hard - I've had them
shatter in drill drivers, let alone impact drivers. Especially the
gold coloured ones.

Using the Wickes el cheapos I just change them at first sign of cam
out & use maybe 4 on a deck - 1200 screws?

My local Screfix had some DeWalt ones on offer last week, about £5 a
box. These seem fine, but I since gone over to an autofeed
screwdriver which now does the bulk of the work, the impact driver
just doing odd & ends.
I reckon cheap & chuck is the way to go. Last time I looked in
Wickes they didn't have the cheap bits, only sets of three gold ones,
I'd try the Screwfix/DeWalt ones - can't find them on the site, they
had loads on the counter last time I went in.

Got a catalogue from ITS London, big tool shop in Leytonstone. They list
the DeWalt bits here
http://www.itslondon.co.uk/pd_DEWDT7...xPH225m m.htm

Good catalouge, worth having. Lots of good deals & unusual items.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Got a catalogue from ITS London, big tool shop in Leytonstone. They list
the DeWalt bits here
http://www.itslondon.co.uk/pd_DEWDT7...xPH225m m.htm

Good catalouge, worth having. Lots of good deals & unusual items.


Look identical to the Screwfix ones - which I bought. Think they were
cheaper (for one box) - 5-99 ? Can't see them on web - were they shop only?

I quite like the 50mm ones from Axminster. Can't say they are earth
shattering but I find the length is sometimes very convenient.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

Rod wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Got a catalogue from ITS London, big tool shop in Leytonstone. They
list the DeWalt bits here
http://www.itslondon.co.uk/pd_DEWDT7...xPH225m m.htm

Good catalouge, worth having. Lots of good deals & unusual items.


Look identical to the Screwfix ones - which I bought. Think they were
cheaper (for one box) - 5-99 ? Can't see them on web - were they shop
only?

I reckon they must be.



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In message , The Medway
Handyman writes


somebody wrote:
Hi Dave,

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?

I reckon I've gone through 100 ish Makita bits and 50 odd (some other
cheap brand I can't remember bits). As you probably well know, bits
have a habit of shattering under the workload of an impact driver.

I use fairly cheap bits, last lot from Wickes about £3 for 20. Never had
one shatter ever.

[snip]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for that, I had also gone the 'cheap & chuck' way but was shocked
at how many I was chucking :-( Maybe it was the real el cheapo bits I
was using. Seriously, I was throwing them away because they shattered,
never because they wore out.

To the various other posters - thankyou too. I hadn't thought about the
different screws that I'm using and how they affect the bits. In the
last few days I've been having a laugh with some 'shed type' 4" screws
which rattle and bend and have no head left - but don't shatter the
bits! Wierd :-) I reckon its a balance between hardness of the screws
versus hardness of the bits? I have no idea to be honest but will give
it some thought / monitoring.

I've since found a source of some reasonably priced Makita bits. I used
to use them (when the hire shop stocked them) and I think they're
probably the middle ground for me.

I'll let you all know how I do or don't get on with them!

In the meantime, this little baby has been reponsible for 20 ish bits,
maybe more, could even be 30 or 40 :-(

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...4062008068.jpg

Admittedly it is all screwed together, not a nail in sight but that is
still a lot of bits to go through.

Cheers
Someone

somebody wrote:

In the meantime, this little baby has been reponsible for 20 ish bits,
maybe more, could even be 30 or 40 :-(

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...4062008068.jpg

Nice looking job!

Admittedly it is all screwed together, not a nail in sight but that is
still a lot of bits to go through.

Even if its £30 worth of bits, that fairly small beer compared to the
cost of the timber I am sure.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

somebody wrote:
In message , The Medway
Handyman writes


somebody wrote:
Hi Dave,

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?

I reckon I've gone through 100 ish Makita bits and 50 odd (some
other cheap brand I can't remember bits). As you probably well
know, bits have a habit of shattering under the workload of an
impact driver.

I use fairly cheap bits, last lot from Wickes about £3 for 20. Never had
one shatter ever.

[snip]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for that, I had also gone the 'cheap & chuck' way but was
shocked at how many I was chucking :-( Maybe it was the real el
cheapo bits I was using. Seriously, I was throwing them away because
they shattered, never because they wore out.

My experience of cheap bits is that they start to cam out as they wear. As
soon as they start to do so, I change them, so I've never had one shatter.
Maybe they would if I hadnt changed them?

To the various other posters - thankyou too. I hadn't thought about
the different screws that I'm using and how they affect the bits. In
the last few days I've been having a laugh with some 'shed type' 4"
screws which rattle and bend and have no head left - but don't
shatter the bits! Wierd :-) I reckon its a balance between hardness
of the screws versus hardness of the bits? I have no idea to be
honest but will give it some thought / monitoring.

Could be. I only use three types of screw; quicksilver for plugs, turbogold
for wood & decking screws. Quicksilver are easy to chew the recess,
turbogold much less likely,

I've since found a source of some reasonably priced Makita bits. I
used to use them (when the hire shop stocked them) and I think they're
probably the middle ground for me.

I'll let you all know how I do or don't get on with them!

In the meantime, this little baby has been reponsible for 20 ish bits,
maybe more, could even be 30 or 40 :-(

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...4062008068.jpg


Ooh that is lurvely!!!! Your new workshop?

Admittedly it is all screwed together, not a nail in sight but that is
still a lot of bits to go through.

Hmmm. Boarding a deck (prior to the autofeed) with say 2000 screws (hence
the autofeed) would have knocked out maybe 6 cheap bits?



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

somebody wrote:

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?

I reckon I've gone through 100 ish Makita bits and 50 odd (some other
cheap brand I can't remember bits). As you probably well know, bits have
a habit of shattering under the workload of an impact driver.

With the harder bits you have to take great care to control any rattle
in the screw head - get sloppy and they shatter. Careful control of the
speed helps as well - try and ramp up and down the power rather than
going for digital control.

My local hire shop used to have tubs of the Makita PZ2 50mm on the
counter, I'd pick up a tub as and when I felt the need. I *thought* I
was going through Makita bits quickly until I bought this other brand.
I've still got some of this other brand left but they're so bad I've
taken to keeping screws in one side of my pouch and bits in the other :-(

I'll be running out very soon :-(

I tend to use short Wiha bits in a bit holder in mine. Last time I did a
bunch of 2" twinthread 10 gauge screws (a few hundred) - I probably
broke about 3 or four bits.

I have noticed that the screw makes a difference as well - the
twinthreads take more driving and have a higher attrition rate than gold
screws (having said that they drive in half the time).

Lower power impact drivers are also less likely to kill bits as quickly.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:
somebody wrote:

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?

I reckon I've gone through 100 ish Makita bits and 50 odd (some other
cheap brand I can't remember bits). As you probably well know, bits
have a habit of shattering under the workload of an impact driver.

With the harder bits you have to take great care to control any rattle
in the screw head - get sloppy and they shatter. Careful control of
the speed helps as well - try and ramp up and down the power rather
than going for digital control.

My local hire shop used to have tubs of the Makita PZ2 50mm on the
counter, I'd pick up a tub as and when I felt the need. I *thought* I
was going through Makita bits quickly until I bought this other
brand. I've still got some of this other brand left but they're so
bad I've taken to keeping screws in one side of my pouch and bits in
the other :-( I'll be running out very soon :-(

I tend to use short Wiha bits in a bit holder in mine. Last time I
did a bunch of 2" twinthread 10 gauge screws (a few hundred) - I
probably broke about 3 or four bits.

Similar experience with a chipboard floor turned me off Wiha bits. I think
they are probably great for more precision driving in the workshop, but less
good for the on site productio line jobs.

I have noticed that the screw makes a difference as well - the
twinthreads take more driving and have a higher attrition rate than
gold screws (having said that they drive in half the time).

Could that be stated as Quicksilver v Turbogold?



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
somebody wrote:

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?

I reckon I've gone through 100 ish Makita bits and 50 odd (some other
cheap brand I can't remember bits). As you probably well know, bits
have a habit of shattering under the workload of an impact driver.
With the harder bits you have to take great care to control any rattle
in the screw head - get sloppy and they shatter. Careful control of
the speed helps as well - try and ramp up and down the power rather
than going for digital control.

My local hire shop used to have tubs of the Makita PZ2 50mm on the
counter, I'd pick up a tub as and when I felt the need. I *thought* I
was going through Makita bits quickly until I bought this other
brand. I've still got some of this other brand left but they're so
bad I've taken to keeping screws in one side of my pouch and bits in
the other :-( I'll be running out very soon :-(
I tend to use short Wiha bits in a bit holder in mine. Last time I
did a bunch of 2" twinthread 10 gauge screws (a few hundred) - I
probably broke about 3 or four bits.

Similar experience with a chipboard floor turned me off Wiha bits. I think
they are probably great for more precision driving in the workshop, but less
good for the on site productio line jobs.

I started using them (and other similar hard coated bits) before the
impact driver - and found they were noticeably better for power driving
than some bits. Much better grip and less tendency to cam out.

Sometimes its just a case of finding a bit that fits your favoured brand
of screw really well.

With the impact driver the result are a bit different. Use soft steel
bits and they won't shatter, but you can reduce them to a useless pointy
thing with no useful edges quite easily,

I have noticed that the screw makes a difference as well - the
twinthreads take more driving and have a higher attrition rate than
gold screws (having said that they drive in half the time).

Could that be stated as Quicksilver v Turbogold?

Yup.

After your previous comments about not breaking bits I thought I would
try some turbogold to see if there was a difference. To which the answer
seems to be yes. The turbogold drive more easily into wood, and will
"pull in" tighter as well - which I suppose is to be expected. The
quicksilver seem to work better (or maybe just quicker) into wall plugs.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
et...


After your previous comments about not breaking bits I thought I would try
some turbogold to see if there was a difference. To which the answer seems
to be yes. The turbogold drive more easily into wood, and will "pull in"
tighter as well - which I suppose is to be expected. The quicksilver seem
to work better (or maybe just quicker) into wall plugs.

Turbogold have self drilling tips, I would think they churn up plastic plugs
quite well. I haven't done any tests but I bet they reduce the extraction
force by a lot.
I don't use them in plugs.

dennis@home wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
et...


After your previous comments about not breaking bits I thought I
would try some turbogold to see if there was a difference. To which
the answer seems to be yes. The turbogold drive more easily into
wood, and will "pull in" tighter as well - which I suppose is to be
expected. The quicksilver seem to work better (or maybe just
quicker) into wall plugs.

Turbogold have self drilling tips, I would think they churn up
plastic plugs quite well. I haven't done any tests but I bet they
reduce the extraction force by a lot.
I don't use them in plugs.

I haven't tested either, but I think you are definately right - I reckon
they cut into the plug rather than expand it. I use turbogold in wood &
quicksilver in plugs.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

dennis@home wrote:


"John Rumm" wrote in message
et...


After your previous comments about not breaking bits I thought I would
try some turbogold to see if there was a difference. To which the
answer seems to be yes. The turbogold drive more easily into wood, and
will "pull in" tighter as well - which I suppose is to be expected.
The quicksilver seem to work better (or maybe just quicker) into wall
plugs.

Turbogold have self drilling tips, I would think they churn up plastic
plugs quite well. I haven't done any tests but I bet they reduce the
extraction force by a lot.
I don't use them in plugs.
Good Point Dennis!
I'd not really considered that before but I'm sure you are right.

Bob

dennis@home wrote:


"John Rumm" wrote in message
et...


After your previous comments about not breaking bits I thought I would
try some turbogold to see if there was a difference. To which the
answer seems to be yes. The turbogold drive more easily into wood, and
will "pull in" tighter as well - which I suppose is to be expected.
The quicksilver seem to work better (or maybe just quicker) into wall
plugs.

Turbogold have self drilling tips, I would think they churn up plastic
plugs quite well. I haven't done any tests but I bet they reduce the
extraction force by a lot.
I don't use them in plugs.

The drilling tip should only clear a hole large enough for the shank and
not the threads, so I would expect them to still hold quite well in a plug.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 13 Jun, 00:24, somebody wrote:
Hi Dave,

I know you are a fan of the impact driver for your decking work. Any
thoughts, experiences on Pz2 bits for the driver?


He's a late convert, years and years after some people. It was
distinctly awkward being someone who used one and recognised their
fabulousness when about the only other person who had obviously
experienced one was Drivel.

I've had mixed success over the 6/7 years or so I've been using one -
the top-end gold/diamond wera/wiha stuff definitely doesn't work- they
do shatter too easily as TMH says. I've had a few cheapo dewalt/makita
tic-tac boxes which have lasted pretty well - given that each box of
20 or whatever is under a tenner, you can afford to have them let go
now and then. But seemingly randomly, other boxes are just hopeless.
On of the W companies sells impact specific bits (scrwefix) and I
tried those - pretty impressed, much much better than anything else
for longevity. Cost/longevity ratio is a bit more tricky, I never
count.