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Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

Does what it says on the tin
Andy46
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Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241666

Postby Andy46 » August 4th, 2019, 5:41 pm

Hi,

I'm hoping to replace my wooden garden fence. Its 1.5m high.

I don't really do DIY so sorry if this is a silly question.

Would a standard cordless screwdriver be good enough to screw directly into wood such as this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Cordless ... pons&psc=1

Or do I really need something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Cordless ... r=8-5&th=1

Thanks

AsleepInYorkshire
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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241674

Postby AsleepInYorkshire » August 4th, 2019, 5:54 pm

No

Yes

Pilot holes will help

Alternatively use galvanised nails - 100mm for the rails (assuming they're 50mm thick) & 65mm for the boards (assuming they're 20-25mm thick)

AiY

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241677

Postby sg31 » August 4th, 2019, 5:58 pm

To a large extent it depends on the size of the screws and the number of them. The 3.6 volt unit will be ok for relatively small screws or larger screws if you drill pilot holes but it's battery is small and it won't do much work before needing recharging.

The larger unit will handle larger screws and more of them. With 2 batteries you can recharge one while using the other. One hour charge is ok for DIY use, if you end up with 2 flat batteries you can just have a cup of tea while waiting for 1 to finish charging. A 20 minute charge time is better but more expensive and probably not necessary.

ReformedCharacter
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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241680

Postby ReformedCharacter » August 4th, 2019, 6:05 pm

Andy46 wrote:Hi,

Would a standard cordless screwdriver be good enough to screw directly into wood such as this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Cordless ... pons&psc=1

Thanks

I have this model and it has proved to be very effective.

Definitely drill pilot holes as AIY suggests. Choose screws carefully, there seem to be some types that are specifically designed for electric screwdrivers, when I had a similar task to do a few years ago, I bought a few boxes and each box came with a bit for my screwdriver designed to fit the screw which proved very useful.

RC

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241693

Postby jfgw » August 4th, 2019, 7:51 pm

What sort of fence? What are the screws for? How many screws are there?

Are you just fixing brackets to take fence panels or are you using arris rail and feather-edge?

The small screwdriver will be ok for a few screws if they are not too big but you will spend most of your time waiting for it to recharge if you have a lot to do. The drill in the second link will screw in a lot more screws on one charge, and you can swap the battery and keep screwing when the first battery runs out. It is also a far more versatile tool to have.

I use an 18V drill for most things and very rarely drill a pilot hole first. I am more likely to drill a pilot hole to prevent splitting than to make screwing easier. If you rub the screw on a bar of soap first, it will go in more easily. The easiest screws to use that I have found are the Reisser cutter ones, https://www.toolstation.com/screws-fixi ... nd=Reisser . They are expensive so I have only ever bought them once but the 6mm x 70mm ones ones I used went in easily without pre-drilling.

I am assuming that you are screwing into pine. If you are fixing brackets to oak posts, you will need to drill pilot holes first. Stainless steel is best for oak but be careful not to break the screws as stainless steel is much weaker than carbon steel.

Julian F. G. W.

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241707

Postby Maroochydore » August 4th, 2019, 9:29 pm

Alternatively use galvanised nails ...

If you go this route make sure you use annular ring nails. Great grip and won't pull out or work themselves out.

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241714

Postby Howard » August 4th, 2019, 10:58 pm

I recently bought a modestly priced Black and Decker screwdriver as a second drill and used it to drive a lot of woodscrews into a wooden frame, similar to fencing. It performed well and only needed one re-charge which was very quick.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1

The price paid was £39, it seems to have gone up a bit at Amazon.

I did drill pilot holes to stop the wood splitting and had the luxury of a much more expensive DeWalt drill, to save time changing a drill for screwdriver bit. The B and D drill compared favourably with this.

The Black and Decker drill would, in my opinion, be fine for a typical fence job for someone who wasn't going to use a drill very frequently. Only disadvantage, having to keep changing from a pilot drill to a screwdriver bit :( . Unless you are much better than me in judging where all the pilot holes have to be and drilling them all first. ;)

Good luck with the fence.

Howard

sg31
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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241746

Postby sg31 » August 5th, 2019, 8:14 am

Please be aware that the first item doesn't have a standard chuck. It will take a screwdriver bit but not standard round wood drills. If you need to drilll pilot holes this won't do it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Cordless ... pons&psc=1

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241771

Postby Bminusrob » August 5th, 2019, 9:09 am

I agree with most of the comments, namely that a drill used as a screwdriver is a much better, more flexible option. From personal experience, I have one of the Bosch drills you have a link to, and it is brilliant, both for screws and drills. It also has an impact mode, so it does a pretty good job with a masonry bit. I also have an electric screwdriver, but I never use it I actually have a second cordless drill, which I often use to make gi=uide holes before using the other drill as a screwdriver.

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241777

Postby Bminusrob » August 5th, 2019, 9:22 am

PS. Before buying using the Amazon link, do a bit of research. A second battery is useful, but in my experience, the batteries last a long time, and I get tired well before the battery does, so if you can do without the second battery (and the bundled bits), B&Q do the same drill with one battery for £55, or with two batteries for £80.

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#241778

Postby redsturgeon » August 5th, 2019, 9:26 am

Bminusrob wrote:PS. Before buying using the Amazon link, do a bit of research. A second battery is useful, but in my experience, the batteries last a long time, and I get tired well before the battery does, so if you can do without the second battery (and the bundled bits), B&Q do the same drill with one battery for £55, or with two batteries for £80.


If you look though, those batteries are only 1.5ah so not that high capacity. Actually though I'd rather have one higher capacity than two 1.5s

On the subject of pilot holes though, if you use the right screws and if you are not having to screw near to the edge of the wood then plot holes are not really necessary.

John

Andy46
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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#243133

Postby Andy46 » August 9th, 2019, 7:26 pm

Thanks for the info

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#243135

Postby Dod101 » August 9th, 2019, 7:38 pm

And here was me thinking that a hammer and a few nails might do the job, (as they would have a few years ago) Have things changed that much?

Dod

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#243157

Postby kempiejon » August 9th, 2019, 10:13 pm

I do a fair amount of DIY and was interested to hear that average male grip strength has reduced by 20% over the past 20 years, with that info I generally try to use hand tools over power tools. I use mostly screws for fences, though if you've already bought the consumables, ribbed nails will work if you've already a big hammer. Fencing is hard repetitive work and I'd default to powered in fact I bought an SDS drill to break the concrete from the previous instal in my last run of fencing.

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#243159

Postby Itsallaguess » August 9th, 2019, 10:24 pm

Dod101 wrote:
And here was me thinking that a hammer and a few nails might do the job..


I fail to see how taking that particular approach will allow the purchase of a new tool for the task in hand, and as such, this is just the sort of advice that people need to be really careful in taking on board....

:?

Me? I use a Bosch battery screwdriver to create the pilot holes, and then a battery drill for screwing in the screws.

This way, there's no swapping of bits required, and there's more than enough power in the battery drill for all of the screwing tasks required.....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#243160

Postby ReformedCharacter » August 9th, 2019, 10:27 pm

kempiejon wrote:I do a fair amount of DIY and was interested to hear that average male grip strength has reduced by 20% over the past 20 years,

Apparently up to a third of young men now experience erectile dysfunction, I wonder if the two facts could be related?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... ysfunction

RC

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#243162

Postby Dod101 » August 9th, 2019, 10:38 pm

My father was an old fashioned joiner and I often wonder what he would make of today's power tools. He used saws which he sharpened himself and I still understand the principle and have the tool which he used to offset the sharpened teeth. He used a powered circular saw but that was about the extent of the power tools.

As for flooring, it was of course tongued and grooved 3/4 inch and nailed in place. Now that I am on the subject, when building a garden shed I was always impressed when he used Pythagoras to set out the floor.

Electric anything - bah humbug!

Dod

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#244433

Postby bionichamster » August 15th, 2019, 10:00 am

An electric screwdrivers is normally at the lower end of the capability scale both in power and endurance, a well made rechargeable drill is perfectly competent at driving screws, but...

For heavy duty driving of screws the purpose built device is the impact driver. They are generally higher torque than a standard drill, and using one leaves your drill free for drilling, hence why so many are sold in pairs with drills.

If you are not pre-drilling the screws and the wood is tough (or screws long) then it's an option to consider

https://www.finepowertools.com/drills/impact-driver/

BH

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#244445

Postby Howard » August 15th, 2019, 10:23 am

bionichamster wrote:An electric screwdrivers is normally at the lower end of the capability scale both in power and endurance, a well made rechargeable drill is perfectly competent at driving screws, but...

For heavy duty driving of screws the purpose built device is the impact driver. They are generally higher torque than a standard drill, and using one leaves your drill free for drilling, hence why so many are sold in pairs with drills.

If you are not pre-drilling the screws and the wood is tough (or screws long) then it's an option to consider

https://www.finepowertools.com/drills/impact-driver/

BH


Thank you for explaining the use of an impact driver. I wondered what the second tool in the Screwfix offers were.

However the most difficult screws I have to remove are not modern cross head types but the old single slot woodscrews. Adjusting the side gate by moving the hinge recently produced the usual problem that one of the old-fashioned screw heads had rusted over 20 years and was a devil to to get out. I'm not sure an impact driver would have got a purchase on the head. Luckily I had a Dremel style drill with a rotary abrasive disc which could be used to cut a deeper groove and a brace and bit which did the trick.

Regards

Howard

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Re: Electric Screwdriver - Wooden Fence

#244568

Postby sg31 » August 15th, 2019, 5:28 pm

A brace and bit? I've not used one of those for a very long time. Mine is long gone but in it's day it was very useful. Sometimes the old technology still comes up trumps.


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