By Dennis Oda , Star-Bulletin
Using a regular electric drill to drive in screws can be a frustrating experience: It requires about eight hands to hold everything in place and, depending on either the steel quality of either the chucked bit or screw, something's going to get stripped, guaranteed. Screw it! Fast
Half the answer is a screw gun. It's like a high-torque electric drill with a clutch built in. When the screw is firmly seated, the clutch overrides the drive and disengages it, keeping the bit or the screw from being stripped. There are dozens of models available, and they all pretty much work the same way. Expect to pay between $75 and $175 for one; they're more complicated than drills.
The other half is holding and aligning the screws. This can be a major pain on a large job like putting up drywall, assembling steel-frame or laying in decking or sub-floor. The answer is new belt-feed mechanisms that fit over the head of the screw-gun, feeding in a stiff belt of screws like a Japanese machine gun from World War II.
The QuikDrive QD2000 clips over the end of your screwgun and feeds in a belt of screws that are attached to a strip of extruded plastic. It can seat screws as quickly as you can pull the trigger. The unit costs $99.95 and is primarily designed for DeWalt screwguns; adaptors for other models run about $10. Also available is an extension tube that lengthens the nose by several feet, which means that flooring or shingles can be screwed into place without bending over. Saves your back on those long jobs.
The QD2000DW drives 1- to 2-inch screws, the QD200MT drives 1-1/4- to 2-1/2-inch screws, and there is an attachment that can help the MT drive shorter screws.
Screw prices vary, but are roughly twice the price of loose screws.
QuikDrive also has a Drywall Fastening Kit available for $289.95, which includes the QD2000DW head, the extension tubes, a "quiver" to carry screw strips, a DeWalt screwgun and a hard case to put everything in.
QuikDrive products are available at GW Killebrew, 2276 Pahounui Drive on Sand Island.
Grabber Pacific, at 2970 Mokumoa, also has belt-feed attachment available. The SuperDrive 55, $99, uses a different kind of plastic belt and fits most kinds of DeWalt or Black & Decker screw guns. Bring your own screw gun to see if it fits or needs to be modified.
Both outlets may have periodic sales on these items: GW Killebrew is at 841-5819, Grabber Pacific is at 836-1161.
Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin
