Swapped Milwaukee for Makita on a duct job near Nashville and it cost me a whole afternoon

My impact driver died halfway through hanging 30 feet of 10-inch spiral, so I borrowed my buddy's Makita and spent the next two hours fighting stripped screws because the torque curve is totally different. Anyone else try switching brands mid-job and just regret it?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavina731mo ago

Set the clutch to 3 next time, that fixes the Makita torque curve issue.

milestaylor1mo ago

Oh jeez, @gavina73 I gotta disagree a little here. Clutch setting 3 might actually be too low for most drilling applications with that Makita. I've found if you're driving screws into hardwood, setting 3 will just stop before the screw is fully seated. For drywall or softwood it's fine, but try setting 5 or 6 instead and see if that torque curve smooths out better for you. The sweet spot on those impact drivers is usually around 4-6 depending on what you're doing.