Do It Yourself

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New to DIY. Are multi tools recommended? (mander.xyz)

submitted 1 year ago by Pandoras_Can_Opener@mander.xyz to c/diy

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See title. I have only very little tools so far, screwdriver with plenty of bits, hammer, drill. I've been thinking of buying more tools for general purpose home improvement. I like to work with wood, unsure what I will expand into later. Is a multitool a good fit for me?

If yes any recommendations what I want to look out for when buying one? If no any alternate recommendations?

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[–] abhibeckert 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes, you have a regular drill (also often called a hammer drill). You absolutely need one of those.

An "impact driver" is a specialised type of drill that works better for 99% of tasks, but it can't do 1% of them at all.

A regular drill is a motor that spins.

A hammer drill is a motor that spins while "hammering" in and out. You need that to drill into materials like concrete.

An "impact" drill is a motor that spins, but there's a special mechanism that "hammers" in a twisting motion instead of in and out.

Imagine a really stubborn screw - so tight that your regular drill wouldn't be able to undo it. So tight if you had a massive drill, you'd risk breaking your arm trying to turn the screw. A cheap impact driver will quickly and turn a screw like that with no fuss and without applying any force at all to your arm/body.

Even with a screw that your regular drill can undo, the impact driver will do it easier and quicker and with less force on your arm.

Also, have you ever stripped a screw head with your drill? Impact drivers never do that. They are more gentle despite being faster and more powerful.

The only drawback is you can't really drill holes with an impact driver. They just don't work well for that. So it would have to be your second drill, not your only one... but it'd be the one you use the most.