Perpetual DIY thoughts, musings, learnings, and small projects

That video looks like it's comparing drill driver to impact driver. I know about that.

However. Impact Wrench seems to just be an Impact Driver, but with way more torque and ½" chuck as opposed to ¼".

I had not really ever spotted those. That said, I've never come across a job my impact driver couldn't handle. Obviously my jobs are not hardcore enough.

Live and learn.

You said:

What are you calling an "impact driver"? Is it an electric screwdriver with an impact setting?

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which is why I put that video up. Impact wrench is, well, think the air socket guns your mechanic uses for your lugs. Those are wrenches. Impact wrenches take the impact style to a smaller electric device, and in this case battery powered by standard sized portable devices batteries (generally a 18-20v platform).

Basically a somewhat scaled up impact driver that uses an anvil to fit sockets on directly.

I've never had a problem breaking bolts with a 12V impact driver. YMMV

For me it's not about breaking bolts loose. It's about providing a lot of torque to screw in lag bolts into a hard pack to extremely solid hard pack desert surface to act as anchors for tents, shade structures, etc.

Sadly you can't see the images of the tripod & force gauge they did for their tests, but the previous standard was rebar (generally 18", but with 2-3" still above the surface). They pulled straight up, so worst possible case (normally it's guyed out so at an angle).

The re-bar failed under 36 kg of upward force and as soon as it lost grip, popped right out
Timber screw under 91 kg of force but it failed slowly and continued to grip w/ about 40 kg until the last 4" or so

* Lag screw didn't fail until 202 kg of force was applied (almost 450 lbs of frikken force people!) , and as the close up photo shows it heaved the ground around it to a diameter of about 18" *

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However, part of why it has some amazing hold is the ground is (at the Burn) an ancient dried up lakebed, so the surface is dried/compacted clay down several feet. And when fully dry (it does rain there some amount during the winters), it's a very hard, very flat surface. The other location is dry desert, specifically the greater Mojave desert area, which for this years Regional Burn, it was even more compacted and harder, seemed damn near concrete hardness, and was tremendously difficult to drive in the 1/2" diameter, 18" lag screws.

So very much a non-standard use case. But amazing that we have such relatively cheap tools that are so portable and powerful.

Not loose. Just breaking

You can do that with a 5 lb sledge and a bit of proper usage.

Silly question but would drilling pilot holes with a masonry bit make the process any easier?

Probably depends on the lag screw. Some need the compaction of the masonry for their rated holding power. Others require the minor diameter to be drilled out first. (In which case a hammer drill makes all the difference for masonry drilling).

The worst thing I've ever had to sink them into are resin composite countertops. So much friction.

Powder actuated fasteners are a nice alternative whenever you can use them.

Drizzt321 said:

Impact wrenches take the impact style to a smaller electric device, and in this case battery powered by standard sized portable devices batteries (generally a 18-20v platform).

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Yea, I think this is what we call an impact driver.

Scifigod said:

Silly question but would drilling pilot holes with a masonry bit make the process any easier?

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In theory, but that's a long freaking masonry bit. Which do exist. But then you'd want to use a hammer drill as well (2nd tool). Also you don't actually want to remove all that much material, because you want it to end up gripping the threads & sides to a large degree. And honestly, typically, it's not too bad.

It really was just the surface for the Regional this year...yeah, I wouldn't have minded a 1/4" or 3/16" 12+" long masonry bit with a hammer drill to get down pretty well. That's actually a neat idea. Maybe next year if it's so incredibly hard.

EDIT: So...right now Amazon has the DCF900 bare tool for just about it's lowest price ever, only about $30 above the DCF891 (what I was planning on getting), or about $50-60 above it's lowest price. So...I just bought the DCF900. It's pretty damn crazy powerful. Way overkill (the right kind)


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd7PFxvptBk



Although not quite the ludicrous like the DCF961


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Nv3aCOGkg

von Chaps said:

That video looks like it's comparing drill driver to impact driver. I know about that.

However. Impact Wrench seems to just be an Impact Driver, but with way more torque and ½" chuck as opposed to ¼".

I had not really ever spotted those. That said, I've never come across a job my impact driver couldn't handle. Obviously my jobs are not hardcore enough.

Live and learn.

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Ya know when you walk by an auto shop or a rebel hangar and hear the brrrtwheeeaaa sound? That’s a pneumatic impact wrench doing what they’ve done forever in taking apart any part of a car or truck. The cordless impact wrenches are simply electric versions. It’s at least to me easier to compare the electric to the pneumatic versions than to look at an impact driver and say that the impact wrench is a bigger version. Ones for screws, the latter is for nuts and bolts and is thus vastly more powerful and quite a different tool.

Carhole said:

Ya know when you walk by an auto shop or a rebel hangar and hear the brrrtwheeeaaa sound? That’s a pneumatic impact wrench doing what they’ve done forever in taking apart any part of a car or truck. The cordless impact wrenches are simply electric versions. It’s at least to me easier to compare the electric to the pneumatic versions than to look at an impact driver and say that the impact wrench is a bigger version. Ones for screws, the latter is for nuts and bolts and is thus vastly more powerful and quite a different tool.

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The wrench tends to have a much bigger hammer and more stroke to provide much more force and harder individual strikes than an impact driver, which is a lot more compact. Generally also designed for harder reverse torque, for knocking loose stuck bolts and such, rather than a driver which tends to have more forward striking power.

Finished up the dust collection arm today. It works pretty decent even if I don't use the dust collection in the saw itself. Though when doing a skimming cut I can still feel stuff coming out from under it and hitting my arm. But if I don't use it I can see a lot more dust in the air when making the same type of cut so it is still helping even if it's not getting everything. Also had a happy accident in that when I rotate it up for storage it just clears the light above it on the way past. Still need to work on the hose management a bit since while this would work want to tidy it up a bit.

Visigoth said:

Finished up the dust collection arm today. It works pretty decent even if I don't use the dust collection in the saw itself. Though when doing a skimming cut I can still feel stuff coming out from under it and hitting my arm. But if I don't use it I can see a lot more dust in the air when making the same type of cut so it is still helping even if it's not getting everything. Also had a happy accident in that when I rotate it up for storage it just clears the light above it on the way past. Still need to work on the hose management a bit since while this would work want to tidy it up a bit.
View attachment 83711View attachment 83712

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Nice job! The tradeoff in going brushless is that the little bit of leakage is unavoidable without ridiculous static pressure, but you’ve got much better visibility without brush bristles making a mess of that nice assembly. Very cool.

Edit: got myself enquotified

Murphy is a real son of a bitch. In preparation to start making some doors and drawers I decided to give the blade a good cleaning as it has been a bit since I've done it. Got the blade all clean and the carbide teeth looking like new again. Reinstalled the blade and as I was dropping it down suddenly the handle starts free spinning and the blade stops moving. Thinking/hoping I just broke the pin that keeps the handle connected to the shaft I start taking things apart. Unfortunately the issue is worse and it seems like the cast aluminum threads in the carriage gave up the ghost. I suspect this has been an ongoing thing and this was just the straw that broke the final thread. And while it's not completely stripped it's enough that it doesn't engage enough with the shaft threads to actually move.


I'd liked to be shocked that they didn't use something stronger to engage with the steel shaft on this, but obviously that would cost more so might as well cheap out on it. Now need to decide what I want to do next.

One would be to see if I could buy just that part but seeing as this saw is 8 years old and DeWalt loves to make different versions of the same thing it could range from hard to impossible. In the past I've been able to buy some parts for this but they were smaller less critical parts and this could be something they just never made as a replacement part.

Another option would be to pull it out, drill out the opening and insert something with a matching thread (and not aluminum) and pin it into the assembly. Potentially doable, but would depend on finding something that would match the threading of the shaft and also being able to drill the opening straight and square to allow it to smoothly operate

And what might be the actual solution would be just buy a new saw. One option would be to get the same model again since I've been happy with it, until this point, and would work with the existing workbench I have for the saw and with the various mods I've made to it. But if I'm buying a new one might as well look to upgrade to a non-jobsite saw and last time I had some electrical done in the garage I did add a couple of 240V outlets to give me the option of going to a bigger cabinet saw at some point. Of course that would up the expense quite a bit, but would hope/expect it to also be something that will last me for the rest of my life. Space is a consideration since I'm kind of stuck in a 10'x10' section of the garage to stuff all my woodworking stuff so a massive (and super costly) cabinet saw won't be in the cards.

This is not something I was expecting to deal with today...

Visigoth said:

Another option would be to pull it out, drill out the opening and insert something with a matching thread (and not aluminum) and pin it into the assembly. Potentially doable, but would depend on finding something that would match the threading of the shaft and also being able to drill the opening straight and square to allow it to smoothly operate

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If you can find the threading of the shaft, you can order a screw thread insert (Helicoil is one brand), drill it out using an STI drill guide, tap it, and then thread in the STI. Big gator tools sells STI drill and tap guides for a reasonable cost, so if you think the surface of that adjacent boss is square to the hole, it may be workable at a pretty decent price.

Xenocrates said:

If you can find the threading of the shaft, you can order a screw thread insert (Helicoil is one brand), drill it out using an STI drill guide, tap it, and then thread in the STI. Big gator tools sells STI drill and tap guides for a reasonable cost, so if you think the surface of that adjacent boss is square to the hole, it may be workable at a pretty decent price.

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Looks like the threading is M14-2.0 on it. So could get a kit and rethread the hole. Though the inserts are cheap the drill and tap are a little pricey. Much cheaper than a new saw of course, but still gives me a little pause for what would be a one use tool. I wonder if one could rent those similar to how some auto stores do for specialized tools. As it's something that can wear I'd lean towards no, but might call around to some places to see.

Need to see if one of the ends would be a good reference surface since if it ends up non-square then it would be a bit of a waste. Also have to see what I need to do to get it out since it would be easier to work on it outside of the saw and could possibly mount it up to I could use the drill press to assist in the drilling.

It is tempting to upgrade to a Sawstop since they certainly are the popular saw on YT. But I'm still kind of iffy on them due to some of their business practices over the years. And yes, they aren't cheap either and come with the potential for ongoing costs if you have to replace the cartridges. Or having to buy one just to use my dado stack which may or may not work with it.

FWIW they're quality saws. I'm not a fan of some of their IP shenanigans either, but if I ever shell out for a true cabinet saw then they're high on my list of possibilities. I think every comunal/teaching shop should exclusively use them - but that's the safety professional in me taking over.

von Chaps said:

That video looks like it's comparing drill driver to impact driver. I know about that.

However. Impact Wrench seems to just be an Impact Driver, but with way more torque and ½" chuck as opposed to ¼".

I had not really ever spotted those. That said, I've never come across a job my impact driver couldn't handle. Obviously my jobs are not hardcore enough.

Live and learn.

Click to expand...

Each has its place. For home use the usual impact driver/drill combo works nicely. For example drill runs pilot hole drill but then impact drives fastener unless fastener is small then I chuck the impact adapter in the drill instead (for example driving flanged stainless screws to hold chicken coop 1/4" hardware cloth). Impact drivers let me drive 1/4"/3/8"/1/2" sockets etc with one tool.

If ya break fasteners like lug nuts loose via the easy on the body method of stomping one arm of a +-shaped lug wrench (all my rides get one, preferably Ken-tool or other quality lug wrench because when ya need one bending sux) to break torque running the nuts with the impact works a treat on most cars and light trucks.

The lightweight drivers are much nicer to handle than a heavy impact, but for vehicle and other heavy use impacts are sweet. Thanks to quality reviewers like Torque Test Channel it's easy to find deals and last years tools may be more than adequate even for pro-tier use. Dragging air hose sux almost as much as reeling it in while I can take cordless tools where I can't easily use air (self-service auto salvage etc).

After a drill and light impact the next tool I'd get if I had none is a 6" corded angle grinder. The higher edge speed of the 6" thin kerf cutting discs can make slow but clean cuts through steel plate if you take your time and let the tool work. I've cut 3/8" and 1/2" thick steel plate (slowly) with mine. Because they will take smaller accessories I mostly use 4-1/2" cup style knotted wire brushes (beware flat knotted wire wheels as they devour fabric then flesh). Flap discs polish as they cut making them ideal for sharpening mower blades, shovel edges and pick heads, and for spall removal and rough cleanup of any too needing it.

m0nckywrench said:

Each has its place. For home use the usual impact driver/drill combo works nicely. For example drill runs pilot hole drill but then impact drives fastener unless fastener is small then I chuck the impact adapter in the drill instead (for example driving flanged stainless screws to hold chicken coop 1/4" hardware cloth). Impact drivers let me drive 1/4"/3/8"/1/2" sockets etc with one tool.

If ya break fasteners like lug nuts loose via the easy on the body method of stomping one arm of a +-shaped lug wrench (all my rides get one, preferably Ken-tool or other quality lug wrench because when ya need one bending sux) to break torque running the nuts with the impact works a treat on most cars and light trucks.

The lightweight drivers are much nicer to handle than a heavy impact, but for vehicle and other heavy use impacts are sweet. Thanks to quality reviewers like Torque Test Channel it's easy to find deals and last years tools may be more than adequate even for pro-tier use. Dragging air hose sux almost as much as reeling it in while I can take cordless tools where I can't easily use air (self-service auto salvage etc).

After a drill and light impact the next tool I'd get if I had none is a 6" corded angle grinder. The higher edge speed of the 6" thin kerf cutting discs can make slow but clean cuts through steel plate if you take your time and let the tool work. I've cut 3/8" and 1/2" thick steel plate (slowly) with mine. Because they will take smaller accessories I mostly use 4-1/2" cup style knotted wire brushes (beware flat knotted wire wheels as they devour fabric then flesh). Flap discs polish as they cut making them ideal for sharpening mower blades, shovel edges and pick heads, and for spall removal and rough cleanup of any too needing it.

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Yeah, the impact wrench is HEAVY. Super heavy, and bulky, compared to the impact driver. But I can tell, this thing is going to be a monster at driving in the ground anchors. This has a serious hammer inside, just from the weight of this thing. I wonder if I'll actually have to reduce it to the medium (#2) setting, to avoid it putting too much force. Probably not. Turn it all the way up and hit it as hard as it can

I do have a 4 1/2" corded angle grinder. 6" is more than I can see myself needing right now, and a decent 6" isn't too terribly expensive if I find I have a need.

Drizzt321 said:

EDIT: So...right now Amazon has the DCF900 bare tool for just about it's lowest price ever, only about $30 above the DCF891 (what I was planning on getting). or about $50-60 above it's lowest price. So...I just bought the DCF900. It's pretty damn crazy powerful. Way overkill (the right kind)

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My DCF900 easily loosens frozen lug nuts etc when gorging at pullapart. I've flogged it since March '23 and am delighted.
Their 60V recip saw easily cuts the nose off a wrecked Suburban including both frame rails.

@Drizzt321
I have the DCF900, pretty sure that's the one, was the biggest 1/2" available a few years ago. I've driven 50" long foundation screws into the ground with it, my 1/4" driver would never have budged that, definitely the more correct tool for the job you are putting to it.

Visigoth said:

Another option would be to pull it out, drill out the opening and insert something with a matching thread (and not aluminum) and pin it into the assembly. Potentially doable, but would depend on finding something that would match the threading of the shaft and also being able to drill the opening straight and square to allow it to smoothly operate

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Your local machine shop should be able true the hole using a milling machine Threaded reducer bushings exist for this kind of common repair if material removed from parent prohibits use of conventional thin threaded helical or barrel inserts. I'd check Ebay as much high quality industrial surplus is sold there often for pennies on the dollar.

Drizzt321 said:

I do have a 4 1/2" corded angle grinder. 6" is more than I can see myself needing right now, and a decent 6" isn't too terribly expensive if I find I have a need.

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I run 6" guards on my 4-1/2" cordless Dewalt and Makita grinders with excellent results. The Dewalt was easiest as I ordered a 6" guard from a similar grinder then filed off the new guards guide nubs to not conflict with the old guard mount. My Makita got a guard clamp section from its original guard welded to the rest of a random 6" guard. The extra reach and faster edge speed are well worth it. Guards are cheap online.

Some scrap wood and a few quick cuts on the table saw...


And my arcade stick is coming along. This version is made from scrap wood, which I'll keep for myself. I'll use the lesson learned to make one out of some maple and walnut, for my son.

Pont said:

maple and walnut

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Probably my favorite pairing ever. (Except maybe cocobolo and ebony, but that's not exactly legal these days).

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to drill a 1/4" hole in a 3/8" dowel? The hole would need to be reasonably straight and centered, and not more than 1" deep.

Cool Modine said:

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to drill a 1/4" hole in a 3/8" dowel? The hole would need to be reasonably straight and centered, and not more than 1" deep.

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Use a drill press, clamp the dowel in place well?

3D print a jig, to center the the drill bit when you drill in?

Use a screw or punch to put a dent into the middle to do a "starter" to help guide the drill, and then with dowel clamped slowly drill in?

In all cases, put a bit of tape on the drill bit for ~1" depth.

Sounds like a lathe job. A wood dowel? At a wall thickness of 1/16" you're really going to be approaching the edge of material limits, I'd imagine. A forstner bit may help reduce the inclination to tear out the sides.

If it's a new piece (not an existing item)

1. Drill the ¼" hole in larger stock.
2. Use the drilled hole to center the job.
3. Spin the stock and sand down carefully to ⅜"

headache said:

A wood dowel? At a wall thickness of 1/16" you're really going to be approaching the edge of material limits, I'd imagine.

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This.

Double plus double downs on the lathe comment. I've taken wood to translucent on a lathe (properly supported), but it ain't easy. More regularly I'll go down to 1/32 or possibly less for pens where I'm approaching hardware junctions, but I'm going to already have glued in a metal tube support on the inside before I approach that; it'd never hold up otherwise.

There's also some treatments available one can apply to stabilize wood that really help if you don't have dense closed cell wood grain.

Cool Modine said:

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to drill a 1/4" hole in a 3/8" dowel? The hole would need to be reasonably straight and centered, and not more than 1" deep.

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V block to hold it, nice sharp bit, as others mention, likely a forstner bit. If you can use a lathe to reduce the diameter, I'd do as other recommend, although potentially with a plug in the hole temporarily to support it off the tailstock.

Xenocrates said:

If you can use a lathe to reduce the diameter, I'd do as other recommend, although potentially with a plug in the hole temporarily to support it off the tailstock.

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The plug is a great suggestion. I'd also recommend a collet instead of a chuck on the headstock if you can manage.

Alternatively drill the first hole in an oversized dowel and then friction fit it over a custom turned plug held by the chuck. Then turn that between centers to reduce your OD to the desired dimension.

Overall length will dictate some of your methods.

No lathe, but I do have a marginally useful drill press. I think I have a path forward. 1/4” drill bit, 3/8” drill bit, step bit, and a scrap block of wood. Drill through at 1/4”, enlarge to 3/8” with the step, then drill to mid depth with the 3/8” bit. Jam the dowel in one end, and 1/4” bit through the other. That should keep things reasonably concentric.

Well, it’s not perfect, but it should do the job. The hole is definitely not centered, about 0.017” off.

In use I don’t think it’ll be noticeable.

So here's a bit of a process question. I've started working on a cutting board and everything is always just a little bit off. One piece might be a little longer than it should be or they shift slightly when gluing.
What would you suggest is a good way to get everything back somewhat uniform?

Edit: at this point nothing has been glued yet but I'm just trying to get ahead of the problems I see coming up.

Scifigod said:

What would you suggest is a good way to get everything back somewhat uniform?

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Figure out why everything is off (e.g. use the five-cut method on your table saw to see if your fence is square). That will probably be the best way to inform you of a systematic way to fix the problem. Otherwise, you're left to fix things by hand (plane, sand paper, etc…) and you will keep having the problem.

Can anyone point me in the direction of how to power two light sockets off of a single cord?

Long story short: I’m refurbishing two antique lamp bodies. One is a standard Aladdin that needs to be converted to electric. The second is a double student lamp like this that’s already been electrified.

I’ve electrified/reworked a lot of the former, but nothing like the latter. I’m hesitant to just replace/follow the existing wiring, because I’ve seen some scary stuff in electrified antiques. The existing wiring might be correct, but I’d like to check it against something professional.

Google is coming up short, but that’s probably in part just me lacking the correct terminology.

It will probably power two 40w equivalent LED bulbs (maybe 25w), so the actual power draw should be minimal.