Drywall Screw Gun

[Bird]

I've never owned a drywall screw gun or any other kind of corded power "screwdriver" until today, although I've used regular drills; 3/8", 1/2", corded and cordless, as screwdrivers. But my son-in-law recently had his drywall screw gun stolen in a burglary (along with a lot of other tools, of course), and today I was shopping at Home Depot and they had a special deal; two Ridgid 6.5 amp, "heavy duty", VSR, drywall screw guns, boxed separately, but 2 boxes glued together. So I bought'em.

Now they call them "drywall screw guns" but is there a reason you shouldn't use them as a power screwdriver in wood? I find no mention of it in the manual.

 

[neilly2]

Drywall screw guns are designed to install drywall at high rate of speed.

When the motor runs the driver bit only spins when it is pressed on down on the screw engaging the clutch. The motors can be locked on so drywallers don't have to constantly press the button.

They're not very convenient for everyday home tasks as the motor speed is very high and not adjustable. You can also get flustered if you have to reverse out a screw.

At 6.5 amps its not really strong enough to stand up to screwing into wood especially a longer screw.

For screwing into wood you want to stay above 14 amp with a standard screw gun. Or, Hitachi has a small sized 12 amp Impact screw driver that I think is awesome. The impact feature can put a 3 inch screw into a 2x like butter.

The drywall gun may not be the tool you're looking for if you're not planning on installing a lot of drywall.

I wish I had a father in law like you though.

 

[neilly2]

Just to clarify, the 6.5 amps is suitable for running drywall screws into wood, as there should only be 1" of screw going into the wood, and they are very coarse threads.

I took your post to mean you would screwing together wood assemblies.

 

[Bird]

Yep, you're right about being able to lock the motor on, the clutch, etc., but these (Ridgid model R6000) are supposed to be variable speed reversible.

And yes, you were right; I was talking about screwing wood together; no drywall involved. I don't really have a need or use for a drywall screw gun, but my son-in-law does. And the only reason I bought two? Well, one was $84.95, but then they had these paired up for $99.98 (same model); however, the salesman said if I applied for and was approved for a "commercial account" with Home Depot, he'd give me $40 off that $99.98. I told him I'm not commercial; just an individual, but he said they have lots of just homeowners with commercial accounts. So I now have a commercial account at Home Depot (I do spend a lot of money there) and two drywall screw guns. I'll be giving one to my son-in-law tomorrow, and helping him put up some drywall; haven't decided what I'll do with the other gun.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Bird, Home Depots Commercial account is a joke to us Commercial guys. It gives us the same buying power as the average Joe who walks in to buy a Coke from the cooler by the checkout counters. There is a reason Home Depot doesn't have Contractors lined up outside and forklifts running non stop moving lumber loading their trucks

All the Commercial account does is give you another card for your wallet. I have one but I went to their Credit card that you earn points on. Anytime they have a good deal on things we buy with the card and pay it off immediately to prevent any interest charges. Then we cash the points in for either money off our bill or Home Depot debit cards. When they have the 5 points for every dollar is when you make out on the deal. Buy a few lifts of plywood and OSB and you save a couple dollars using the credit card.

But for all of our lumber, siding and shingles we deal with our local lumber yards and building supply companies. We get much better prices, selection and service from the local guys.

As for your screw guns, they have them at this Home Depot also. We looked at them and thought about buying them but we already have a Milwaukee Drywall gun that works fine. I just don't do enough drywall to get use to that stupid thing and prefer my Dewalt cordless guns with a dimpler bit. I dispise anything mobile tool with a cord

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Robert, I wish banks and companies wouldn't do things like that to try to get our business and I expect I'll cancel my commercial account in the near future, but to save $40 . . . oh, well.

A couple of years ago, my Ford dealer offered a very cheap oil & filter change if I'd sign up for one of their credit cards, so I did, then cancelled it a couple of months after I got it.

I guess the weirdest one is a MasterCard I have from one of the major banks. In 2004, after not using it for many years, I used it once (about $30) just to see if it was still active; it was. So I paid that bill in December, 2004, then called to cancel the card. The guy said, "Oh, you don't want to do that because you already have X number of points." He told me the website to go to, I did, and got a free $50 gift card for Home Depot. So that card hasn't been used since 2004, but last month, I went to their website and intended, once again, to cancel that card, and they showed that I had a $20 credit! So I used that card again a couple of times last month; about $36 worth and then paid the $16.

 

[Egon]

You may be on to something Bird! Sly dog

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Yeah, Robert, I wish banks and companies wouldn't do things like that to try to get our business and I expect I'll cancel my commercial account in the near future, but to save $40 . . . oh, well.

A couple of years ago, my Ford dealer offered a very cheap oil & filter change if I'd sign up for one of their credit cards, so I did, then cancelled it a couple of months after I got it.

I guess the weirdest one is a MasterCard I have from one of the major banks. In 2004, after not using it for many years, I used it once (about $30) just to see if it was still active; it was. So I paid that bill in December, 2004, then called to cancel the card. The guy said, "Oh, you don't want to do that because you already have X number of points." He told me the website to go to, I did, and got a free $50 gift card for Home Depot. So that card hasn't been used since 2004, but last month, I went to their website and intended, once again, to cancel that card, and they showed that I had a $20 credit! So I used that card again a couple of times last month; about $36 worth and then paid the $16.

At least I know which account my Mastercard payment was credited to

 

[escavader]

I've never owned a drywall screw gun or any other kind of corded power "screwdriver" until today, although I've used regular drills; 3/8", 1/2", corded and cordless, as screwdrivers. But my son-in-law recently had his drywall screw gun stolen in a burglary (along with a lot of other tools, of course), and today I was shopping at Home Depot and they had a special deal; two Ridgid 6.5 amp, "heavy duty", VSR, drywall screw guns, boxed separately, but 2 boxes glued together. So I bought'em.

Now they call them "drywall screw guns" but is there a reason you shouldn't use them as a power screwdriver in wood? I find no mention of it in the manual.

BIRD,
I own two,a MAKITA AND A MILWAUKEE.I have used them on many construction jobs,over the years,from sheetrocking ,to building large wooden barn doors.Wooden projects will not harm them.The good thing about them is you can adjust the depth to drive the screws.,and the clutch,to leave it on to avoid wearing out the trigger.However,they havent been used much in the last ten years or so,since the invention of the modern day cordless drills.I even have a attachment for my drill to set the screw depths.It is now my tool of choice,the drywall guns just gather dust
ALAN