Looking for some opinions on bits. I have used naileaters and milwaukee's self feed wood boring bits. Both are great out of the box but once you hit that first nail....

Also, with the self feed wood boring bits, if you are drilling more than 2 studs the hole fills up with shavings and you wind up spending 10 minutes digging the bit out of the hole.

What are you using ?

When I'm hot and heavy into new residential, I buy a new Naileater after 2-3 homes.

$30.00 well spent.

Kepp the most recent old one and resist the temptation to keep, sharpen, or use the older ones.

For the vast majority of my stud / top plate drilling, I use the Irwin Speed-Bor Max bits in a cordless impact driver.





The bit has the 1/4" hex shank to snap right into the chuck of the driver. Available in sizes to accommodate Romex, MC, 1/2 and 3/4 EMT, it can also be used with an extension. The three-flute design does a fine job of expelling chips from the hole.
The bits make a fast, very clean hole. If you encounter a nail, while the bit will NOT cut it, the bit will typically just skate over the nail, and drill no further, with little actual damage to the bit. Several nail hits are necessary to significantly dull the bit.
Be advised: The bits require more torque than a 14.4v drill can reliably deliver. Nevertheless, I have no problem powering them with a 9.6v impact driver!

Now, for the impact driver ....





While I am not going to make any claims as to this particular driver being better then others, it has almost completely replaced my drill in daily use. Getting a driver with a larger battery offers very little increase in power - though you can make more holes between charges.

Apart from driving the Irwin bits extremely well, impact drivers have a very short head; this is mainly because they do not use the usual chuck. As a result, the driver and bit will easily fit between 16"OC studs.

Finally ,,,, and I know this is hard to believe ... but an impact driver transmits ZERO twist to your hand. This means no more banged knuckles, sore wrists, or bent bits from striking something with the bit.

For those needing larger holes, Milwaukee has an impact driver designed to accept their "forstener style" bits.

Have to agree with John about the Speedbore bits. This is the first time I have been able to use a cordless drill on a rough-in. Even doubles don't really slow it down.

Does the Bit fit into the Impact Drill like a standard chuck? Does it need a key? How are the RPM's on that, variable?
Thanks

The hex shank of the bit fits into a special chuck that only accepts such hex shanks. The front ring on the chuck will slide, an let you insert the bit, than snap back into place.

RPM's are varied by pressure on the trigger, until the bit meets resistance. At that point, the bit is 'hammered' in the direction of rotation. You will be able to see the bit turn, stop, turn in time to the hammering. The force of the hammering is not something you can control - the strength of each blow is set by the tools' design.

Here's the impact driver thread from around Christmas:
https://www.electrical-contractor.n...l&topic=0&Search=true#Post172107

Ian A.

Thanks,
It sounds like the 1/2" Right Angle Drill I have is going to take a break.

I bought the Dewalt 18 volt today for 199. reg 329 @ Home Depot today.


My elbows are getting painful these days gonna see if this tool helps with less stress on them.

I am in the middle of a new house and almost all the drilling is done with the 18v Milwakee impact and the irwin speed bits like pictured. For the larger holes I have a 28v milwakee right angle drill.
The house I am doing is almost 10,000sq feet and not having to drag cords around is such a time saver. If the drill ends up in the trash when I am done the time I saved will more than offset the cost of it.
Also don't throw the bits away, I have a dremel tool I just sharpen them with and only takes a few minutes to do each one.

I use air powered impact guns with a Milwaukee adapter ( 1/2" square to 7/16" hex - locking ) to drive larger augers and holesaws.

But then, I rarely punch that much wood. I'm too commercial.

I still prefer the hole hawg for drilling out a whole house.
My 12V Hitachi impact is great driving screws and lags but its a bit slow for drilling.

I've been using Lennox 17" ship augers with double cutting edges. It can take quite a few nail hits before it needs touching up. With the 17" length I don't need the ladder with 9' ceilings or less. Also if I hit a nail in an area where I'd rather not make a second hole a can force it through, usually without too much damage to the bit.