looking for an impact driver

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pcatterall

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I have a specific need for one just now and think that I should have one in my tool kit.
years ago I had one of those 'manual' ones where you 'brayed' ( excuse the dialect!) the end of the tool.
This seemed to work OK but I see there are now cordless versions which may or may not be an improvement.
The manual appeals for use in my onboard kit ( less space and no flat battery issues!)

Any recommendations on manual v electric and suggestions as to 'best buys'.

Thanks all
 
If your hobby involves dismantling rusty landrovers, then the electric sort, either mains, 12V or battery is the best invention since the socket set.
The hammer manual sort is particularly appropriate for use on negelcted/abused japanese motorbikes, where the hammer blow stops the bit 'camming out' of the Philips screw head.
Neither should be needed on a well maintained boat.
But I've found a mate with a LiIon 'windy gun' is a good friend to have.
 
Neither should be needed on a well maintained boat.

Should is the operative word. It assumes all threaded fixings were correctly with an appropriate anti-seize product and never left to soak in sea water. Hand on heart, who can say that applies to their boat?

I have a manual impact driver that's been rattling around in my toolbox for years and rarely used; offhand, I can't remember it ever doing what it was supposed to, but maybe that's simply because it's rubbish. OTO, my DeWalt impact screwdriver is regularly used - it's one of those tools I didn't know I couldn't live without until I had one
 
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I gather Sebastian Vettel will be free at the end of the season :)

I can't see that an electric one can apply anything like the amount of torque that you can get with the kind that you bash with a hammer although it would perhaps be gentler
 
bedouin said:
I gather Sebastian Vettel will be free at the end of the season :)

I can't see that an electric one can apply anything like the amount of torque that you can get with the kind that you bash with a hammer although it would perhaps be gentler
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Electric ones can apply orders of magnitude more torque than the manual types, try and have a go of one, they are wunderbar.
 
bedouin said:
I gather Sebastian Vettel will be free at the end of the season :)

I can't see that an electric one can apply anything like the amount of torque that you can get with the kind that you bash with a hammer although it would perhaps be gentler
Click to expand...
A friend down the pontoon here in Albufeira had one, useless, my 1/2” breaker bar with a straight screwdriver head did the biz!
 
The Li ion cordless ones are simply amazing, the 3/8 ones will do most things on cars and the 1/2 ones will do most things on trucks including the wheel nuts which are approx 700nm.

Weirdly there are some things they wont undo and a bar and scaffold tube is needed, I think is mainly becasue the fastener is not into somehting solid so the hammer loses some of its grunt.

Like most things in life get a good one (Milwaukke for example) and you will be a convert, buy a cheapie and you will slate them til the day you die.
 
Stemar said:
... - it's one of those tools I didn't know I couldn't live without until I had one
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Totally agree.

i got a Bosch pro 12v Li one a few years back after using a friends one. Will safely do screws and bolts both big and rusted to precision small screws, they are very sensitive. Best bit is they don’t chew crosshead screws.
 
The problem with the manual ones comes if the thing you are working on is not properly supported, or is made of cheesy Jap alloy that breaks if you hit it. Specially true on some Jap bikes! I wouldn't want to use one on the flywheel nut of an outboard for example.

12 v ones sold for car wheel nuts are generally rubbish, with a few exceptions,. I had an old Goliath bought at a boat jumble, that lasted over 20 years abuse, even shifting a 36 mm crank nut on which I had bent 3 ft scaffold pole! Its replacement broke on the 3rd wheel nut! Can't get Goliath's now. I never ever needed to use it on the boat though!
 
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I agree you *shouldn't* need one. However... a manual one resides in my toolkit and on the day whenever my mate couldn't get the engine anode bolt out of his engine block (he'd already rounded the head), a hammered on socket and then a couple of decent wallops on the 'impact screwdriver' sorted his issue.

Funnily enough my other hobbies involve old Landrovers and old Japanese motorcycles, so I have a varied toolkit - it's useful as the number of times I use a tool I shouldn't have to...
 
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