[Closed] Drills - why do I need a combi and an impact driver?

If you are putting a lot of screws in they are nice to use but not essential especially for DIY. A good quality combi will whack in big screws easily enough. Much quieter too so more neighbour friendly

You'll get by fine with just a combi. Impact drivers are lighter and have higher torque so are better for putting in loads of screws.

Impact drivers are dope!
Set your combi up for pilot holes etc, and the impact driver for amazing power on big screws.
They really are brilliant.

Impact drivers are great for bigger jobs. 6" screws into wet joists frinstance, your combi will struggle with that.

I've been out of the DIY loop for some time and it sounds like an impact driver isn't what I thought it was. What is it, then?

I also don't know the difference between an SDS and a rotary hammer, if anyone is feeling descripty. Last time I bought such things there were drills and electric screwdrivers.

Sds and hammer do their impacting along the bit so you can drill holes into brick and concrete more easily. An impact driver applies a rotary impact so it effectively applies a lot of torque which makes putting in screws much easier. Similar to the windy gun a mechanic uses to put your wheel nuts on too tight

I've been out of the DIY loop for some time and it sounds like an impact driver isn't what I thought it was. What is it, then?

It's essentially a way of getting more oomph.

I bought an impact driver a week or so ago and since then have driven ~3500 screws. Its bl00dy amazing. It is smaller and lighter than a combi drill plus the action transmits virtually zero torque back to your wrists so a day with this isn't tiring like the combi. plus it has far more torque so easily drives big screws and easily self countersinks, so really speeds up some jobs. Finally its percussion acton means the bit rarely slips in the screw. 3500 screws on one bit and no screws with mangled heads half in and half out. I used to hate doing screws, i think because i'm left handed I struggle to get hard screws finished by hand and always find the bit will slip from the screw head on a combi, I've now found the answer and am utterly sold.

An impact driver applies a rotary impact so it effectively applies a lot of torque which makes putting in screws much easier. Similar to the windy gun a mechanic uses to put your wheel nuts on too tight

Ah! *penny drops* Thank you.

as i understand it sds uses actual hammer to hit the shaft and create the hammer action of the bit. its a real sharp edge compression wave force and powerful. a non sds hammer uses a cam to push the shaft and bit forward, a softer and less powerful compression. sds+ has a rotation stop/hammer only so you can chisel. sds is a knife through butter on even rock hard brick, stone and concrete that a standard hammer will struggle with.

oh and forgot to say, with the impact driver you have oodles of control too, no fiddling with a clutch and still over or under driving.

I'd argue you actually have less control with an impact driver. I wouldn't use one on a delicate job (but buy one anyway, because they're awesome)

they tend to make a mess of ikea furniture if you use it to put the screws in, screwdriver you can set the torque nice and low

well i've been putting some plaster board up with mine today, reckon i had more control on the trigger, had to go careful and blip trigger as screw got close, but none ripped through and still quicker than adjusting the clutch as normally needed on a combi. impact driver and combi i have are bosch blue btw.

My dad offered to buy me a new drill as a moving in present for our house back around christmas- mine was absolutely knackered. There was a drill/impact driver set that wasn't much more than getting a second battery, so though 'might as well'. Wasn't sure how much I would use it. I use it a lot! Particularly useful to be able to pair the drill with the driver for pilot holes.

I haven't tried it on anything delicate yet but could see how it could make a mess

Why do I need a combi and an impact driver?

You don't [i]need[/i] one. Its useful to have two drill drivers so that you can be drilling /piloting/countersinking with one and driving with the other without having to keep changing bits. It used to be the case that when you'd get pairs of drill drivers bundled together - one 'combi' with hammer action, so that it can do masonry drilling, and one non-hammer (so that its a bit lighter and a bit shorter).

Now that impact drivers are more mainstream (and much more useful now that they have variable speed) and impact now gets bundled in the place of the second drill driver

I use my impact way more than the drill drivers.
Plasterboard no probs
Wood without pilot holes no probs
Removing stubborn screws no probs
Etc etc
Got 2 Makita sets 18v for general house bashing work, 10.8v for more delicate work such as putting furniture or kitchen units together.

If you're doing any job that requires lots of drilling and screwing

Particularly useful to be able to pair the drill with the driver for pilot holes.

This, more so than the extra power for me. Minimises faffing with swapping over bits, and usually have enough control with the impact driver. I have an IXO too for small/delicate stuff though.

It is really impressive how well they drive in bigger screws too.

I have found that the Impact driver is a lot less forgiving with weak screws or poor alignment, chews through the heads in seconds, with a combi it skips out.

That video was brilliant - I never knew that's how they worked!

DrP

That video was brilliant

+1