I need an electric screwdriver for a bathroom project involving a lot of medium duty work i..e securing floorboards, stud partitions etc.

I just wondering whether I can use my 30 year old Bosch professional two speed corded drill (CB-450) for the screwdrivering part of the work. Although it well pre-dates the era of combi drills.screwdrivers, I seem to recall that it could be used for this, despite the fact that its probably doesn't have a sophiscated torque clutch. It is in fairly good nick.

As I said some of the screwdriving work will 1.5 to 2" no 8 or 10s through chipboard, which i will probably pilot hole before inserting the screw and the rest will be contiboard into softboard battens.

Will the load of screwdrivering burn it out ?

Nick

I need an electric screwdriver for a bathroom project involving a lot of medium duty work i..e securing floorboards, stud partitions etc.

I just wondering whether I can use my 30 year old Bosch professional two speed corded drill (CB-450) for the screwdrivering part of the work. Although it well pre-dates the era of combi drills.screwdrivers, I seem to recall that it could be used for this, despite the fact that its probably doesn't have a sophiscated torque clutch. It is in fairly good nick.

As I said some of the screwdriving work will 1.5 to 2" no 8 or 10s through chipboard, which i will probably pilot hole before inserting the screw and the rest will be contiboard into softboard battens.

Will the load of screwdrivering burn it out ?

Nick

Should not be a problem you control the torque and speed (hand on Chuck as a friction brake and use low speed)

best use a magnetic bit holder and Wiha bits as these are far better than cheaper ones in the big stores - try Axminster.co.uk

If you do decide on a new driver look at the bosch lithium ion battery screwdrivers - will drive the 2" no 8 and no10's with no problems - not cheap but very very good

From experience , I find the chore of changing drill modes a bit OTT- it's better if you use a dedicated drill and a screwdriver . I use a 12v drill as a driver and a B & D prof series 18v cordless as a drill - though for heavier screwing work I'll change them over .Had the B & D for over ten years now - I bought when i was self employed ( elf & safety didn't like mains stuff in works places) ,and before long I ended up using it for almost everything .

.Food for thought on the screws though - have a look at drywall screws ( black ,sharp pointed, designed for plasterboard partition to wooden or aluminium backing) .Try searching for drywall screws on Screwfix .Also noticed a DE Walt cordless 18v drill at £149 against MRP of almost 300 - and personally from work experience I wouldn't go less than 18v .

Agree, if you got a lot of work to do (and I have, bathroom + kitchen) then bit/drill swapping is a pain. Also, given that my existing corded drill is 30 years old, and will in all likelihood give up the ghost ( And be unrepairable) on this job, I was thinking abour getting one of these 18v volters :-

http://www.bosch-pt.co.uk/boptocs2-uk/Product.jsp?country=GB〈=en&division=gw&ccat_id=101327&object_id=16839

Its £300, but there again, gets what you pay for. What impressed me was 88nm or torque, so you could probably drill without pilot holes in wood and screw straight through wood into piloted holes in brick/block i.e. ideal fro batten fixing.

I had a look at the 36volters, but think they are over-the-top for what i want - 150NM torque and £600 price tag !

Nick

Edited 21 July, 201015 yr by Clunkclick

I bought an 18v Ryobi cordless drill & impact driver set (+ 2 batteries and charger) for IIRC £100 from B&Q? around 3 years ago, it's done 3 kitchens, a lounge floor (lots of screws) a couple of ceilings (plasterboard screws) plus lots of other DIY jobs and it's still going as good as the day i bought it (the impact driver is great for removing/replacing wheel nuts).

The only downside to it was it was a bit heavy for screwing the drywall screws into the ceiling plasterboard, but other than that it was every bit as good for DIY work than my son's DeWalt.

Agree, if you got a lot of work to do (and I have, bathroom + kitchen) then bit/drill swapping is a pain. Also, given that my existing corded drill is 30 years old, and will in all likelihood give up the ghost ( And be unrepairable) on this job, I was thinking abour getting one of these 18v volters :-

http://www.bosch-pt.co.uk/boptocs2-uk/Product.jsp?country=GB〈=en&division=gw&ccat_id=101327&object_id=16839

Its £300, but there again, gets what you pay for. What impressed me was 88nm or torque, so you could probably drill without pilot holes in wood and screw straight through wood into piloted holes in brick/block i.e. ideal fro batten fixing.

I had a look at the 36volters, but think they are over-the-top for what i want - 150NM torque and £600 price tag !

Nick

The Bosch drill/driver is pretty decent and its backed up with a 3 year warranty also check out the new Metabo 18v combi drill for around the same price . Metabo's warranty is slightly better than the Bosch warranty as it covers batteries too also for 3 years .

I've just tried the old corded drill to do some wood screwdriving and whilst its got more than enough torque to put 2.5inch no 8's straight into softwood without a pilot hole, its speed is too fast.

As the screw goes into the wood its rotation slows. However, the screw bit does not slow, as the drill has no sophisticated power control or clutch - its either full-on or off at 1000RPM (Low gear).

Even after a few tries its beginning to damage the phillips screw bit.

And, of course, it hasn't got reverse.

So, i think i'll need a modern device to do this job.

Using the formulae on the web my calculations indicate that the existing corded drill, assuming 60% efficiency on 450watt input, will output about 23 Ft Lbs @ 1000 RPM. So if, i get something with 40 -50 ft lbs (54-67 Nm) that should do me.

Nick

Edited 21 July, 201015 yr by Clunkclick

I have a 24v Black & decker cordless job from B&Q that cost about £70. Seems to have a dedicated screw driver setting.

I know someone who did this when putting screws into Rawlplugs, to put some shelves up. The drill was a bit fast, but it worked.

When he came to take the screw out a couple of years later, he had real problems, because the heat generated by the fast drill had melted the rawlplugs and glued the screws into the wall! He had to heat the ends of teh screws to get them out!

Phil

I've taken the plunge and purchased the Bosch 18v Li ion drill (drilling, standard screwing , sans hammer action as that combination of three was reported to have problems) from Toolstation. seems to be up to the job.

Came in plastic box which was sealed with a cable tie, but noticed that the model identication label and bar code which bridges the two halves of the box was already broken along its length. Had it been out of its box ?

Didn't look like the drill had been used. Suppose It could be a returned item. Do the seller's check the contents before they send it out ?

I'll have to give them a ring.

Anyway, you get variable speed through the trigger and variable torque setting so you can match the drill output to the resistance experienced by the screw. So it reduces, though doesn't completly eliminate, the tendency of the bit to jump out of the screw head if the screw suddenly meets increased resistance. It also got overrun braking on the chuck, so that immediately you release the trigger, the chuck rotation speed is actively and promptly reduced to nil. You have to be careful with this feature at higher revs, as I've found that the motor can spark a little if the trigger is suddenly released if the torque load on the chuck is light - mass of the motor greater than chuck ? Design flaw ?

Out of the box, just had to give the batteries a top-up charge of 10 minutes to achieve full-charge. Reverse action is good for removing screws/bits as is the Led illumination. Hand grip permanently attached and by clever design rotates on its fixing from stowed position to usuage position. And the chuck is keyless. The old corded unit had none of this.

Looks like this unit was also made in Switzerland, so, hopefully, should last as long as the corded unit.

So, now onwards and upwards.

First job is to cut up the old bath so I can get it out the house and down to the dump.

Nick

Edited 24 July, 201015 yr by Clunkclick