NecroJoe
Stool Chef
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2005
- Messages
- 23,764
- Location
- San Francisco area, CA, USA
- Car(s)
- 2015 Mazda 3 S GT, 2015 VW e-Golf
Ha, indeed. But even with the term "impact", there's an impact driver (like an electric screwdriver on steroids) and an impact wrench, which is what you're more likely to use on a car, as it works with sockets.
An impact driver is designed to quickly and easily drive long screws into hard materials. A drill might have a harder time driving the same screws, and is more likely to cam-out on the screw head.
Actually, an impact is just handy to have as a 2nd driver. That way you can drill holes with your drill and drive screws with the bit driver, without having to constantly take the drill bit in and out a whole bunch of times.
So in short:
Drill: has an adjustable chuck to drill holes, or hold driver bits.
Hammer drill: can operate just like a normal drill, with a "hammer" mode for drilling into concrete or brick.
Impact driver: like a bit driver electric screwdriver on steroids, with a quick-release screwdriver bit holder instead of a drill chuck, and the power to drive long or large screws into hard wood. You can actually also get drill bits with hex bases for use in them. You should only use drill and driver bits rated for use with an impact driver, though, as others could break.
Impact wrench: often built identically to an impact driver, but instead of a screwdriver bit holder, there's a square socket mount, most commonly used on cars where you have bolts or nuts to tighten/loosen.
An impact driver is designed to quickly and easily drive long screws into hard materials. A drill might have a harder time driving the same screws, and is more likely to cam-out on the screw head.
Actually, an impact is just handy to have as a 2nd driver. That way you can drill holes with your drill and drive screws with the bit driver, without having to constantly take the drill bit in and out a whole bunch of times.
So in short:
Drill: has an adjustable chuck to drill holes, or hold driver bits.
Hammer drill: can operate just like a normal drill, with a "hammer" mode for drilling into concrete or brick.
Impact driver: like a bit driver electric screwdriver on steroids, with a quick-release screwdriver bit holder instead of a drill chuck, and the power to drive long or large screws into hard wood. You can actually also get drill bits with hex bases for use in them. You should only use drill and driver bits rated for use with an impact driver, though, as others could break.
Impact wrench: often built identically to an impact driver, but instead of a screwdriver bit holder, there's a square socket mount, most commonly used on cars where you have bolts or nuts to tighten/loosen.