Cordless drill vs screwgun

[pegasush]

I have used cordless drills to drive screws as long as I have had cordless drills. No obvious reliability issues, but have never screwed entire decks and so forth. I had another user who warned me that using the cordless this way would shorten its life by 3/4.

In what ways is a screw gun better at driving screws?

And, will driving screws (lots of them - it's the main use of a cordless) ruin the drill?

[Pokey]

To me the obvious advantage of a screw gun is it speed. For example, the rpm's generated from screw gun make screwing a sheet of drywall a great deal quicker than using a cordless drill. Also if the screw gun has a quick drive attachment you will not have to handle each individual screw, but an entire strip of screws. Saves a lot of time handling each screw and inserting it on the drill bit. As for the life of a cordless drill beind diminished, i'm not sure. but it sounds like it is possible.

[Dragon]

I have a Muro that I use on decks. Quick, efficient, and you can use it standing up.

[fasteners07]

I guess it also depends on the design of the screw.

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[ctdecks]

i use my cordless impact gun fro everything!

paul

[Mike44]

I had another user who warned me that using the cordless this way would shorten its life by 3/4.

Sounds like your friend might be referring to the constant start and stop strain on the motor. Depending on how large the deck is, you might be putting in close to 1000 screws in about a day. Since cordless drills usually have a brake mechanism to stop the drill from spinning down, continual use of this mechanism might put a strain on it? I seriously doubt though that it will shorten it by 3/4 as that seems to be excessively high - companies do do quality checks to make sure drills don't break in a day. Unless your friend got his information from using some cheap black and decker drill or something :-D.

Mike

[rwanders]

Don't know about strain on cordless for big deck job but, the speed and consistent depth control of a good screwgun makes it an easy choice for me----my back votes for a screwgun---especially one capable of standup operation.

[RTF]

Buy a quality cordless impact screwgun by Hilti, we use them all day. Other dependable models are Mikita and Hitachi.

[timbertom]

I always prefer a tool with a cord if it is possible to use one. Aside from the power factor, worrying about batteries is a major pain. In reference to your comment about shortening its life by 3/4, are you talking about the cordless drill itself, or the batteries? All rechargeable batteries degrade over time, and you will never truly have a %100 charge other than the first charge in the life of the battery.

[spearbuilders]

The new Hitachi with lithium ion battery is great.