Anyone screw gun owners out there? I'm looking for a screw gun to use for putting up some steel roofing & siding. Also would use it on decks, putting up OSB etc. I wouldn't be doing much drywall work. In the past, I have used my variable speed drill, but I'm sure a screw gun would work better. Now that I have a fairly decent job of probably driving in 500 or so screws for the steel siding, I'm looking for suggestions on which one to buy. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]
i have always liked my dewalt drill/drivers. i am a fan of cordless. millwalkee (sp?) and mykita are also great. and the new stuff from rigid is soposed to be really nice. however i dont like the way the ryobi products feel. its more the ergonomics are wrong that low quality.
hope this helps
I too wanted a screw gun, as I had been using DeWalt 12v and 14v drill drivers for several years, and was happy with them. However, I thought I still would like a screw gun. So I bought a Milwaukee a year ago, and used it on a deck project. Wasn't real impressed [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] , and reverted back to the DeWalts. After that, my son had a big drywall project. Aha! That screw gun will work good there. But again, reverted back to liking the feel and control of the DeWalts.
So, in my opinion, they are not what I thought they would be, and now it just sits there - waiting for a project that might be more suited for the screw gun than the portable DeWalts. But I am more knowledgeable than I used to be, so not complaining. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
I have a Milwaukee and its real nice - sturdy as anything and it can be run hard all day long. However, the balance isn't as nice as a DeWalt. If/when I need a replacement, I'll look real close at the DeWalts.
I have 3 cordless drills. All 14.4 volts. Riobie,Skill and dewalt. Dont even waste your money....get the dewalt. I buy my hand power tools at chase pitkin for the most part. They have life time warentee. Ive returned the skill 3 times in 2 years. The riobie once in 2 years. the delwalt never returned yet. These are not screw guns though. Those screw guns dont have the power or ability to stay in the screw and they strip the head out
I'm having a shop built using 6 in. 14 ga. metal studs. The local building codes on top of the Hurricanne Code requires the metal studs. The guys builting this are using DeWalt, but are not using battery powered ones. They don't like the short life of battery charges for driving lots of screws. This building has approximately 21,000 screws in it. They do use DeWalt battery powered guns on occasions. I'm attaching a picture of the stucture.
Leo
Leo
I have a makita screw gun that I've hung a fair amount of sheetrock with as well as doing decks - lot of torque. That said I don't use it for metal siding or metal roof. The screw gun's designed to countersink which is not what you do with metal siding. The hex head screws with neoprene washers have to get tightened to the right torque to just compress the washer but not TOO much. The cordless drills where you can set the torque on the chuck work the best for that application.
I've found that the screw guns are only good for doing drywall. They just don't have the power to drive stuff like deck screws or self tapping screws for metal. I use an 18V Milwaukee drill/driver (I use this tool almost every weekend). If you set the clutch right, then they serve the same purpose and sink the screw heads or properly torque your self tapping screws. I built a deck and some metal buildings with the Milwaukee, the nice thing is that the batteries charge in about an hour. So when you burn up each battery (about an hour of heavy use) the second one is already fully charged. The other nice feature on the Milwaukee is that the battery can be installed in two positions. One position provides better balance, while the other allows you to get in tight spaces. Buy a drill/driver that's 18V. I wouldn't bother with a 12V or 14.4V and the larger ones are just too heavy.
I bought a mid-range Milwaukee drywall screw gun last year. Put down over 700 sq ft of plywood underlayment screwed every 6" for ceramic tile. It worked just fine and I hope to be hanging some sheetrock in our basement this weekend with it. For these applications I would definitely stick with corded. It's a minor inconvenience and you are not moving very far as you work. Not sure about the metal siding but it doesn't sound like you want a countersink. Let us know what you end up with [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
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