Tool Report

I have enough water under the bridge to start to talk about some of the tools that are really having an impact on our work progress. I would like to focus on two items that I am really big fans of. First I need to acknowledge one of the suggestion of the Mobile Cottage Blog by Jeff and Arlene. He suggested that his best results came from Star drive screws. I can say emphatically that that is an awesome suggestion. While I am using nails on most of the framing, all plywood attachment is with screws, and a lot of the large gap fastening and angled 2x4 fastening has all been done with screws.

  

I was not able to find this product at any of the big box stores but it readily available at smaller hardware stores, I have found them at True Value branded stores. Do It Best Stores sell a different brand that I have not tried but the star head is so much better the Phillips head I would go to great lengths to get type of screw head. So this product goes into highly recommend bucket.

The other side of this equation is getting the screw into the wood. The difference between a 12volt drill and an 18volt drill is significant. I would say you get a 50% increase in productivity by going with a good 18volt drill. We have several on site, but one has become the "favorite" and there is a little jockeying to make sure it is close by when a significant fastening project is getting started. This drill is light to handle, can fit in tight spaces and is a major work horse. While I have not tried it, I bet it would screw right through a brick, actually a hundred bricks. I got it with two batteries but you could get away with one for a days work. If under heavy use you may want to throw it on the charger at lunch. At our work level I have not had that need. The funny thing about this unit is that it does not let on the battery is getting low. It works hard and then it just stops and you get nothing, time to change batteries. I love this thing. So another tool in the highly recommend bucket.