How to Use an Impact Driver

You'll find a good drill driver in pretty much any homeowner’s DIY toolkit, but an impact driver is less common. It's a similar tool but it packs a more powerful punch. With a few helpful tips you'll see how you can use this one.

Using an impact driver

If you know how to use a power drill, using an impact driver is pretty much the same thing but faster. You can select the power, slow is good for smaller fasteners and higher power for longer or larger fasteners. Pull the trigger to drive in your fastener and hold the tool level so the bit is driving the fastener straight up. That distinct tapping sound is normal. Inside the tool, rotation drives a fastener in with the added impact mechanism that pounds it around. The result is a whole lot more torque or turning force and that means it drives fasteners faster in a smaller lighter tool than a drill.

Do you need an impact driver?

If you have projects planned where you'll need to drive a lot of fasteners or large fasteners or even very long fasteners, you need to get an impact driver. It drives fasteners with about two to three times more force than a drill driver and the impact action keeps the force against the fastener, not your hands. Instead of a chuck, an impact driver has a collet that only accepts hex shank bits. Standard drill bits won't work with this tool. For more tips, advice and tools do visit an ACE store near you or check out ACE website. ACE, your local home improvement store committed to delivering quality & helpful service.