Impact Driver or Combi Drill?

[Guest111]

Anglia tool centre have some cracking deals at the moment,12v milwaukee impact with 2 batteries lithium ion,£119,12v isds £99 bare unit,12v combi hammer,bare unit £80,all listed in the special offers section.I've got the sds and it's got a decent punch for a 12v unit,also got an impact and that's good too.
Power Tool Deals, Milwaukee Deals (page 2)

 

[longboat]

As others have said, GET an impact driver. You will wonder how you managed before without one.
I have the Makita 451 kit that Skelton has mentioned and i cant fault it after 4 years of abuse.

 

[uksparks]

Ah, you need a cordless SDS for masonry/concrete!

36V Bosch one is great!

I have the Bosch 36v VF-LI drill, it's very good, every time I use it I'm amazed. It gets a lot of abuse too. Sometimes though it's a bit weighty when stretching off the top of a ladder trying to drill a hole at near arms length.

 

[D Skelton]

Sometimes though it's a bit weighty when stretching off the top of a ladder trying to drill a hole at near arms length.

Man up and enlarge your biceps then!

 

[shanky887614]

It shouldn't be a question of one or the other, rather one and the other. My combi is a Makita BHP451, the most powerful 18V combi on the market, I also use an 18V Makita impact driver. They are completely different tools so cannot be compared.

Not anymore I got same drill its been replaced by the 458

Its on offer on amazon for £170 atm

Drills slip when using them for screwing which impact drivers dont normally.

 

[nickblake]

Always hated the things to noisy for my ears !!1 then i used one and wow following day got myself a small milwalkee with the same batteries as the inspection camera gets those tough screw out to not looked back

 

[D Skelton]

Not anymore I got same drill its been replaced by the 458

The new 458 is not as powerful as the old 451, the new 458 also only has two gears as opposed to the three on the 451.

The 451 is the superior drill by.a long way. When mine eventually gives up the ghost I will be replacing parts as opposed to buying the new 458.

 

[Silly Sausage]

The 451 is the superior drill by.a long way. When mine eventually gives up the ghost I will be replacing parts as opposed to buying the new 458.

Makita BHP451 Spare Parts | Miles Tool & Machinery Centre

At those prices I'd be repairing it as well.

 

[D Skelton]

Makita stuff is really easy to work with too! The windings went in one of my impact drivers a little while back, it cost me about a tenner for a new rotor and took me about 10 mins to replace! Beats spending out £100 for a whole new driver!

 

[vxwestie]

Can you actually fix pattresses with an impact driver? I've always wondered?

 

[D Skelton]

Yeah, you just have to go nice and easy on the trigger!

 

[Silly Sausage]

Makita stuff is really easy to work with too! The windings went in one of my impact drivers a little while back, it cost me about a tenner for a new rotor and took me about 10 mins to replace! Beats spending out £100 for a whole new driver!

If you can fix something, with regular hand tools in 2 or 3 hours, for less than half the price of a new job, fix it.

I'm still on my 2nd washing machine in 30 years, such an exciting life I lead!

 

[billyblade]

There are drill bits on the market that are designed to be used in an impact driver. The advantages of using these instead of conventional drill bits in a combi are that they give you one handed drilling (they don't try to whip you round when they come up against torque like a combi would) and they are quite a short power tool so they'll get you in places where your combi won't.

Just don't make the assumption that anything with a 1/4" quick change hex shank will work in impact drivers. Not all of them are impact driver rated. They're not all able to withstand the higher torques that these power tools can kick out. The 1/4" quick change shank is very popular in the USA and they have combi drills that will use this bit holding mechanism rather than a 3 jaw chuck. This means that there are loads of accessories produced with these shanks but they're not all impact driver rated.

The downside of impact drivers are the noise but once you've used one, you can put up with that.

I have a 3 speed impact driver and on it's slowest speed will give you very precise control. Useful for delicate operations like fastening pattress boxes.

The best way to buy would be to wait for a tool show at your local wholesaler or an exhibition like Toolfair where you can pick up a twin pack (combi, impact driver, two batteries and charger) for decent money.

 

[uksparks]

I appreciate all your comments, I keep changing my mind, I'm now contemplating the impact driver now, now that i see you can get drill bits to fit!