Monday, November 02, 2015
Standup Screw Gun
Fine Homebuilding: Using screws for decking or subflooring prevents squeaks better than nails. Unfortunately driving hundreds of screws is slow compared to nailing with a framing nailer. But a collated screwgun, like the Quick Drive Pro 300 from Simpson Strong-Tie is a great equalizer. It's also a lot easier on your back than a nailgun because it has an extension tube so you can use it standing up.
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6 comments:
This is one of those things that sounds dumb but is actually super useful. If you are going to be putting in tons and tons of screws than having this clearly speeds up the process. The extension tube is pretty cool but what I really like is that you only have to reload it every 10 screws or so. No more holding screws in place, and no more countersinking. Every screw flush to the floor no time between screws and an extension pole so that you can work on the ground.
That being said, I wouldn't push for the shop to go buy a bunch of these any time soon. For what we do this wouldn't come up that much. Although for laying a deck or making something to big to fit on the tables in the shop, it would certainly be nice to have one around.
I think this is how we should install all Masonite, and other, flooring. I think it could cut the time for installing a floor in half. Granted this could leave divots that might have to be patched (or taped) and painted over, I question how much that would be seen by the audience. It may take longer on to uninstall, but in my experience loading out usually has more labor and, at least in academia, more unskilled labor which unscrewing the floor would fall under. At the very least, I would like to try it for one show and see what happens. I think it might be the best compromise among cost, skill, install labor, and load out labor. I have always wanted to try this to install decking and/or flooring for a show. Maybe I can convince somebody here to buy one. At least if we do, Ben Carter will insist on buying the best one there is!
I had a collated screwdriver for the longest time before I decided to give it away. I bought it thinking I could use it to build various things but really it is only good for installing sub floors. They advertise them as a decking tool but it is hard to get a precise location in the screw. I also found that I would miss fire and not have a consistent depth on the screw. This all could be because I don’t have very much practice with this tool and with a tool like this it can be important to use it for a good amount of time before it becomes second nature. One feature that my drill did not have was the ability to stand while using it, that is something that is very useful and will also save your back by not having to be on your knees for hours.
This seems like a really good invention because leaning over and using a screw gun for a long time can be very painful for your back. You can get more leverage on the screw gun if you are standing instead of on your knees. It is easier to put more weight on the screw gun while you are standing instead of only pushing with your hands and sometimes you can not put all of your weight on top of the gun to drive the screw into the wood or whatever material you are screwing into. It seems like the screws are going into the wood a lot smoother and it is quieter. Since the screws are all lined up and the device moves onto the next screw for you and that can make the process go a lot faster because you do not need to grab a screw every time and line it up with the screw gun.
This comes up in the tool and material projects in class from time to time, I’ve noticed.
I have a few questions:
Is it really any better on your back? The guy in the video has to bend over to actuate the tool. Feels pretty annoying to me.
Does it work upside down? I don’t see why it wouldn’t but it’s a fair question to ask.
Can you buy just the attachment without buying the drill? Is that any more cost effective?
Will this fasten down Masonite in a pleasing way? If so, maybe it’s definitely worth the dollars. If two guys can screw down a maso deck with this in an hour, it’s paid for itself aready.
What size screws are available. It said you can do drywall with it, so probably at least as small as 1-5/8? What about 1”?
A standup screw gun, who would have thought. Something like this could definitely help the strains of screwing in a floor. While this tool seems practical for various uses, it limits the types of screws you can use. Although, what looked like close to two inch screws they seemed to go in quite quickly and effortlessly. Why have something that would take more time to do. What would be really nice about it, is if instead of having a strand of screws that you would have to replace every so often, is adapting it to have a coil, kind of like what you see in some industrial nail guns. Just one of those added features that could help speed up time and save energy. Either which way, you are saving a whole lot of backbreaking by having this, although it would be interesting to see what the best route to take is for certain industries.
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