Dewalt impact driver buying advice

[Dabop]

The 809 is the older design (but rock solid) which is basically the newer 'slideon battery' version of my old 'plugin battery' 827- which has over 15 years of 'trade use' under its belt...

 

[Nail]

Its just for DIY work and you could well be right, it may get little use but its handy to have two drills on the go, one to drill and another to drive screws, I have several other drills which appear to be all passing away at the same time, I bought a dewalt combi drill last year and its been a revelation, up to any task I have asked of it without a murmur, and there are occasions when an impact driver would have been useful, and I have a few jobs on my daughters newly acquired home that will require an impact driver so thought I would see what all the talk was about and get one, I may regret it but then I will never know without getting one

An impact driver is a revelation to use versus a combi drill used for screwing. I pile say that for diy use I reach for the impact driver more than the combi as there are more screwing tasks than drilling. Even drilling is split into brick work or not so I’ll grab the sds befor the combi.

I would actually miss no lt having an impact driver more than a combi drill.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My preference for a drill/driver is probably coloured by mine being 135Nm not the 50Nm or so of the bottom end offerings, and also not having needs for heavy repetitive use. One thing impact drivers are better at is chewing the heads out of screws - I wouldn't use one where I needed to take them out again. I use mine mostly on seized nuts and bolts.

 

[Chubber]

A set of Milwaukee hex shaft twist drills makes mine even more useful even outside with gloves on.

 

[XTiffy]

I have used Buy a Parcel for power tools and was very satisfied. Genuine item (Bosch drill) and a good price.

 

[whatknot]

I've bought several of my Dewalt 18v tools and batteries from that particular seller and I've been a satisfied customer each time, the only thing I griped about is their use of Evri but fortunately I received the parcels without incident.

Its good to know, it just seems an odd name to use, no doubt they had their reasons, now I know its legit I will bear it in mind for any other purchases

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A set of Milwaukee hex shaft twist drills makes mine even more useful even outside with gloves on.

There's an impact off setting on the Milwaukee for drilling, which is a useful feature.

 

[MikeJhn]

Intrigued by the :

DeWalt DCF850N 18v XR​

DeWalt sits says three speed and torque settings, does anyone know if the torque settings are adjustable or are fixed at each speed setting? And what precision drive is?

 

[ThornOfCamorr]

I've the DCF887

It's a great tool for building works like decking/fencing/sheds/timber framing, etc. Plenty of strength. But using it for finer work like cabinet making, you need to be very careful. For those tasks, the first speed/torque setting is too weak, but then the second/third are too strong. I still use it for such tasks, but you need to develop a good feel for the tool.

 

[Nail]

My preference for a drill/driver is probably coloured by mine being 135Nm not the 50Nm or so of the bottom end offerings, and also not having needs for heavy repetitive use. One thing impact drivers are better at is chewing the heads out of screws - I wouldn't use one where I needed to take them out again. I use mine mostly on seized nuts and bolts.

The right sized bit, a good amount of pressure on the screw and a light touch on the trigger while reversing is key for me. I find that any chewed heads are from one of those not being doing. I have to remind my staff every now and then that it doesn’t need to be screwed/unscrewed at 20mph!

 

[whatknot]

I've the DCF887

It's a great tool for building works like decking/fencing/sheds/timber framing, etc. Plenty of strength. But using it for finer work like cabinet making, you need to be very careful. For those tasks, the first speed/torque setting is too weak, but then the second/third are too strong. I still use it for such tasks, but you need to develop a good feel for the tool.

Yes my need is firstly for building a walkway in the loft and storage area, secondly for some gate posts to extremely hard walls, but unlikely to get used for anything furniture wise but am looking forward to trying it out

 

[Etaf]

just as an aside - re

secondly for some gate posts to extremely hard walls,

have a look at the bosch multipurpose/multi construction drills - thats pretty much all i use now - and for brick i rarely need the hammer action
they do a 4 and 9 set
https://www.toolstation.com/bosch-expert-cyl-9-multi-construction-tct-drill-bit-set/p66729
i have the 9 piece set , but i have also purchased replacements individually
mainly use the 5mm 5.5mm 6mm & 7mm bits
for yellow , red , brown rawl plugs

 

[Stevekane]

Just to follow on, pick up a few hex shaft flat bits, popped into the impact driver,even if they dont lock in, you can still drill holes for cables and pipes through floor joists.
Steve

 

[TheUnicorn]

Just to follow on, pick up a few hex shaft flat bits, popped into the impact driver,even if they dont lock in, you can still drill holes for cables and pipes through floor joists.
Steve

agreed, but get the ones rated for the impact driver not the bog standard sort