For my 40th my wife bought me a Panasonic 15.6v Drill/Driver as an upgrade to my 18v Ryobi One+ which has served me well for the last 2 years. The thinking was that this is the tool I use ALL the time, it might as well be the one I want.
Since I was going to "Cadallic" my driver, I figured this would be a good time to try out some of those fancy McFeely's screws I see people post about. I ordered a selection of pocket hole and Promax screws and got the sampler deal that they are running (12 types x 25 screws for $19 and removes the shipping costs from entire order).
When the order came in I quickly opened the bag and pulled out one of the beasts to see what all the fuss was about. The first thing I noticed was how well defined the thing is, the shaft and threads are two different things on this screw, not some amalgamation of the two which suffices to do it's job. It's almost as if there is a steel spike with this very fine set of threads attached at what almost looks like a 90 degree angle. The second thing I noticed was how sharp the threads are! When I was rubbing the threads with my finger I got that feel we all know of steel cutting skin, no visible harm, but there was that itch later that told me the threads had gotten a bit of purchase and done their job. The third thing was the thickness of the threads, or lack thereof. They are almost concerningly thin, like the fins on an AC unit. Just looking at them has made me rethink what a wood screw is.
My driver came in today and I quickly chucked up the square drive bit and pulled out a #10 3" screw out of my new sampler and eyed a suitable target. I have a 105 year old house, so I've got a great selection of "steel wood" beams and planks around. Previous attempts with my Ryobi + Phillips + generic deck screws often ended in cursing, skating, stalls, broken heads and cam-outs (or strip-outs) so I was really curious to see what my new rig would do. The exciting results: Nothing. Not the bad kind of nothing, the good kind. The screw now sits happily just under the surface in a particularly hard 4x4. No fuss, no cursing, nothing but a properly driven screw. As a sanity check I chucked up a square drive bit in my old Ryobi and grabbed another McFeely's screw and attacked a particular 2x4 stud which had all but beaten me when trying to drive a screw to hang a square on. The screw sits sunken into the 2x4 just below flush, albeit not as effortlessly as the one driven by the Panasonic...but then again, clean new cars always drive so much better than the beater you drove in with.
To sum it up: McFeely's has a new long-term customer and I can confidently recommend that anyone who hasn't tried them do so, I'm positive you will not be disappointed and maybe even positively shocked.
http://www.mcfeelys.com
__
Rob
Since I was going to "Cadallic" my driver, I figured this would be a good time to try out some of those fancy McFeely's screws I see people post about. I ordered a selection of pocket hole and Promax screws and got the sampler deal that they are running (12 types x 25 screws for $19 and removes the shipping costs from entire order).
When the order came in I quickly opened the bag and pulled out one of the beasts to see what all the fuss was about. The first thing I noticed was how well defined the thing is, the shaft and threads are two different things on this screw, not some amalgamation of the two which suffices to do it's job. It's almost as if there is a steel spike with this very fine set of threads attached at what almost looks like a 90 degree angle. The second thing I noticed was how sharp the threads are! When I was rubbing the threads with my finger I got that feel we all know of steel cutting skin, no visible harm, but there was that itch later that told me the threads had gotten a bit of purchase and done their job. The third thing was the thickness of the threads, or lack thereof. They are almost concerningly thin, like the fins on an AC unit. Just looking at them has made me rethink what a wood screw is.
My driver came in today and I quickly chucked up the square drive bit and pulled out a #10 3" screw out of my new sampler and eyed a suitable target. I have a 105 year old house, so I've got a great selection of "steel wood" beams and planks around. Previous attempts with my Ryobi + Phillips + generic deck screws often ended in cursing, skating, stalls, broken heads and cam-outs (or strip-outs) so I was really curious to see what my new rig would do. The exciting results: Nothing. Not the bad kind of nothing, the good kind. The screw now sits happily just under the surface in a particularly hard 4x4. No fuss, no cursing, nothing but a properly driven screw. As a sanity check I chucked up a square drive bit in my old Ryobi and grabbed another McFeely's screw and attacked a particular 2x4 stud which had all but beaten me when trying to drive a screw to hang a square on. The screw sits sunken into the 2x4 just below flush, albeit not as effortlessly as the one driven by the Panasonic...but then again, clean new cars always drive so much better than the beater you drove in with.
To sum it up: McFeely's has a new long-term customer and I can confidently recommend that anyone who hasn't tried them do so, I'm positive you will not be disappointed and maybe even positively shocked.
http://www.mcfeelys.com
__
Rob
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