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How much cordless drill do you need for drywall? Doc 03-19-2008
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Posted by Doc on March 19, 2008, 6:49 pm
Issue 1

Harbor Freighr had a number of cordless drills that were inexpensive,
but I noticed many had no amp rating listed on the box. Even though
they were 18 and 19 v, the drill bodies seemed small, which I assume
in indicative of a small, low powered motor and the fact that the amps
aren't listed anywhere on the drill or the owners manual probably
isn't an accident.

Since I was in a hurry I picked up a corded 4.2 amp Chicago electric
drywall screwdriver - I'm guessing a Harbor Freight store brand? - by
its shape it loos to have a reduction gear assembly for increasing
torque.

Out of curiosity, how much cordless drill do you feel is enough to do
drywall? Not going to be doing it daily/commercially, at the moment
have a couple of walls that need drywalling. I built a sound booth out
of 2x4's, drywall and R-13 insulation using a B&D 4.5 amp 1350 RPM
corded drill I got at a pawn shop and got a drywall attachment from
Home Depot. Seemed to have more than enough power. I've never owned a
cordless so I don't know how the specs translate compared to a corded
drill.

Issue 2

The reason I went on a quest for another drill is that the
aforementioned B&D 4.5 Amp drill has gotten to where it only wanta to
run when the drill is held at a certain rotation, typically with the
handle parallel to the floor. I took it apart to see if there was
anything obvious broken or out of place, I pulled the center armature
section apart from the rest of it. What I noticed were sections where
the armature has what look like wear marks.

Any theories on why the drill is behaving this way and what bearing
the worn spots might have? I assume this isn't a drill that's worth
sinking a lot of time into to fix.

Thanks for all info.

Posted by Mike Paulsen on March 19, 2008, 7:53 pm
Doc wrote:
> Issue 1
>
> Harbor Freighr had a number of cordless drills
(snip)

If you need to do one small job, and it's cheaper to buy a Harbor
Freight tool than rent one for the day, and you have a high tolerance
for pain, and you're feeling lucky, then you might make out OK.

>
> Out of curiosity, how much cordless drill do you feel is enough to do
> drywall?
(snip)

It doesn't take much torque to drive drywall screws. I use a 12V DeWalt
and prefer it to the 14.4 or 18V.

>
> Issue 2
>
> The reason I went on a quest for another drill is that the
> aforementioned B&D 4.5 Amp drill has gotten to where it only wanta to
> run when the drill is held at a certain rotation, typically with the
> handle parallel to the floor.
(snip)

My first guess would be the cord, second would be brushes.

Posted by Mike Dobony on March 20, 2008, 9:27 am
On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:53:06 -0500, Mike Paulsen wrote:

> Doc wrote:
>> Issue 1
>>
>> Harbor Freighr had a number of cordless drills
> (snip)
>
> If you need to do one small job, and it's cheaper to buy a Harbor
> Freight tool than rent one for the day, and you have a high tolerance
> for pain, and you're feeling lucky, then you might make out OK.
>

My experience with HF brand is that the battery dies quickly. My son's
would not even finish one room of changing out outlets before the battery
died. From what I see you can either buy a good brand (NOT B&D or Skil) or
you can buy a HF brand and buy lots of extra batteries and chargers to keep
going. Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Hilti, Hatachi, etc., from a pawn shop
will cost as much as a new HF with enough batteries to get the job done
with no downtime. I would strongly recommend a minimum of a 12v system.

>>
>> Out of curiosity, how much cordless drill do you feel is enough to do
>> drywall?
> (snip)
>
> It doesn't take much torque to drive drywall screws. I use a 12V DeWalt
> and prefer it to the 14.4 or 18V.
>
>>
>> Issue 2
>>
>> The reason I went on a quest for another drill is that the
>> aforementioned B&D 4.5 Amp drill has gotten to where it only wanta to
>> run when the drill is held at a certain rotation, typically with the
>> handle parallel to the floor.
> (snip)
>
> My first guess would be the cord, second would be brushes.

My guess is it is a B&D. The ones I had needed a rebuild every month or
so. The repair shop knew me by name. I don't know why my dad stuck with
that stupid drill. Circular saws similar experience. My Skil built an
entire house and then some and is still going strong, though after 18 years
of heavy use (for a home owner) the bearing is getting noisy.

Posted by Joseph Meehan on March 19, 2008, 8:51 pm
Harbor Freight usually has less expensive and lower quality tools. They
may be fine for some uses, I buy them on occasion, but keep that in mind.

It is difficult to compare drills based on specs. Find someone who has
one and ask them. It appears you do a lot of work, I would look for
quality, not price. If it is something you are going to use a lot, it
generally pays to buy the best quality tools.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit



> Issue 1
>
> Harbor Freighr had a number of cordless drills that were inexpensive,
> but I noticed many had no amp rating listed on the box. Even though
> they were 18 and 19 v, the drill bodies seemed small, which I assume
> in indicative of a small, low powered motor and the fact that the amps
> aren't listed anywhere on the drill or the owners manual probably
> isn't an accident.
>
> Since I was in a hurry I picked up a corded 4.2 amp Chicago electric
> drywall screwdriver - I'm guessing a Harbor Freight store brand? - by
> its shape it loos to have a reduction gear assembly for increasing
> torque.
>
> Out of curiosity, how much cordless drill do you feel is enough to do
> drywall? Not going to be doing it daily/commercially, at the moment
> have a couple of walls that need drywalling. I built a sound booth out
> of 2x4's, drywall and R-13 insulation using a B&D 4.5 amp 1350 RPM
> corded drill I got at a pawn shop and got a drywall attachment from
> Home Depot. Seemed to have more than enough power. I've never owned a
> cordless so I don't know how the specs translate compared to a corded
> drill.
>
> Issue 2
>
> The reason I went on a quest for another drill is that the
> aforementioned B&D 4.5 Amp drill has gotten to where it only wanta to
> run when the drill is held at a certain rotation, typically with the
> handle parallel to the floor. I took it apart to see if there was
> anything obvious broken or out of place, I pulled the center armature
> section apart from the rest of it. What I noticed were sections where
> the armature has what look like wear marks.
>
> Any theories on why the drill is behaving this way and what bearing
> the worn spots might have? I assume this isn't a drill that's worth
> sinking a lot of time into to fix.
>
> Thanks for all info.


Posted by RosemontCrest on March 19, 2008, 10:06 pm
An 18V cordless drill is probably overkill for installing drywall, but
it would certainly work. Several years ago, I remodeled three rooms in
my house and used a 9.6V Makita drill (6095D) to install the drywall.
I don't know what the current rating is for the motor as it's not
listed on the drill or in the manual. Anyway, it did just fine driving
1-1/4" screws, but I do admit that I own and used two batteries for
it. Each battery lasted longer than the 1 hour recharge time, so there
was no waiting for fresh battery.

I didn't even bother with a drywall clutch attachment. I started out
trying to use the 5-position clutch on the drill, but each stud or
ceiling joist seemed to have different densities, so that didn't work
very well. I ended up setting the Phillips bit almost all the way into
the Jacobs keyless chuck and set the clutch to the drill position.
This resulted in the screws going just far enough into the drywall to
be 'below' the surface without breaking the paper.

Generally, B&D tools tend to be 'handy homeowner' disposables. That's
not necessarily a bad thing because they are relatively inexpensive. I
would just pitch it and buy another brand new one for $30 or so if I
wanted a corded drill.

Regarding Harbor Freight electric tools, I also consider them to be
disposables. I bought a Chicago Electric reciprocating saw from them
for $20 so I would have one that I could beat to death and not worry
about punishing my nicer one.

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