Replies

1. 
   DDay | Mar 17, 2005 03:29am | #1

   The best place to ask this is in the breaktime forum.  The link is toward the top of the page, and right in the middle.

2. 
   nikkiwood | Mar 18, 2005 07:29am | #2

   I just bought one and used it for sheetrocking a kitchen. I got the 14v model, which I don't think would have enough guts to drive 3" screws in wood -- but maybe with a pilot.

   The gun definitely has some idiosyncrasies that take getting used to -- i.e. you should keep the trigger depressed, and the gun has to be dead-on straight (to your surface) for the screws to go in properly.

   I'm a pretty decent rocker, and my colleague in this project was at about my skill level. I'd say he drove about twice as many screws as I did using a conventional drywall gun.

   I would say your money is better spent on an impact driver. Then, if you're operating the gun with your right hand, practice taking a handful of screws with your left hand, and maneuvering an individual screw with your fingers, so it is ready to load to the gun when the last screw is driven.

1. 
   Manchild | Mar 18, 2005 03:13pm | #3

   I used to sheetrock a fair amount and for the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would get one of these things.

   Spend you money elsewhere. The impact/drill combos look usefull. I've heard that driving screws is like they are going into butter.

1. 
   nikkiwood | Mar 18, 2005 03:52pm | #4

   I bought mainly on the advice of a friend who does a lock of sheetrocking. He swears by it, and thinks it's great. But I agree with you. Anybody want to buy a A new Duraspin -- used only for one job?

1. 
   Manchild | Mar 18, 2005 04:47pm | #5

   Your friend can use his duraspin. But if I was hiring a drywall guy I would have serious doughts about one who uses one of these.

   To me there's a point where you need to stop looking for easier better ways of doing things and just do it. There's kind of a trade satisfaction knowing that your skills and back are what's making things happen. Working with someone while this happens is even more satisfying.

   The fancy tools don't contribute to this. They separate you from others because they don't have one.

1. 
   IronDog | Mar 18, 2005 04:55pm | #6

   I purchased the Duraspin a while back and after a bit of time learning how to use it, I absolutely love it!There are a couple of things you learn not to do with this gun.
   Putting in screws at an angle doesn't work well.And you have to understand the mechanism that advances the strip of screws. If you are tentative about depressing the tip of the gun and
   sinking the screw fully you will be frustrated and waste screws.Other than that it is fast fast fast. No fumbling for screws.
   I don't use it for everything, mostly drywall.My 2 cents...Tom

2. 
   nikkiwood | Mar 19, 2005 04:36am | #9

   Yours is an interesting, but harsh attitude. If you're making money with your tools, then the main criterion -- it seems to me -- should be whether or not a new fangled tool will save time, and therefore make you more money.Your response tempts a long response about one's ability to embrace change and adapt to it -- but this is probably not the time nor the place............

3. 
   jptenberg | Mar 18, 2005 06:39pm | #7

   I haven't used the senco, but a couple seasons ago, I bought a Quickdrive setup--I had been doing decks for a while with a conventional drill, and after about 3000sf one spring, my wrist was about to fall off.

   Anyway, i have been very pleased with the QD, and although it's not a cordless, it sure speeds things up.  I estimated that I paid for the cost of the tool in about 2 days.  There are different nose piesce that you can put on for different length screws.  I have used it for driving 2 1/2 inch Trapease screws into Trex, and I have also driven 3" screws into cedar.  It works very well for both.

   As with any tool, there is a slight learning curve, but after about 20 minutes with the tool, I was driving about 15 screws/min.  Probably at least 4 or five times faster that doing it by hand.

   The cost of the tool was around 250 give or take, but some of the screws are close to 10 cents a piece!  Expensive, but worht the saved labor and wrist strain.

    

   Peter

   jpswoodworking.com

1. 
   bsmith | Mar 18, 2005 11:11pm | #8

   Thanks for all the help. The dealer let me try one in the store. For my purposes I'm going to stick with impacts. I appreciate all the input.