Why I Still Reach for a Manual Screwdriver (Even Though I Own 3 Impact Drivers)
I love my impact driver. It drives 3-inch deck screws like they're going into butter. But there was a moment during my Basement Bar build that made me put the power tool down and never pick it up again for finish work.
I was installing the beautiful (and expensive) brass handles on the custom cabinetry. I was tired, so I grabbed the drill. Zip. Snap.
""In a split second, I snapped the head off a brass screw, leaving the shank buried deep in my freshly painted cabinet door.""
The torque was too high, and I had zero "feel" for when the screw was seated. I spent the next two hours carefully drilling out the broken screw and repairing the damage. That was the day I rediscovered the importance of the manual screwdriver.
Control is King
When you're doing fine woodworking, you need feedback. You need to feel the resistance of the wood. You need to know exactly when that screw is tight enough to hold, but not so tight that it strips the hole.
This was crucial when I was adjusting the pivot hinges on my Hidden Bookcase Door. The gap tolerances were less than 1/8th of an inch. A quarter-turn of a screw changed the entire swing of the door.
An impact driver is a sledgehammer. A manual screwdriver is a scalpel. When precision matters, choose the scalpel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Impact drivers have massive torque. For delicate tasks like installing cabinet hardware or working with brass screws, they provide zero feedback. You can snap a screw head or crack a cabinet door in a split second.
Size matters. A #2 Phillips is the standard for most drywall and deck screws. A #1 is smaller (often for hinges), and a #3 is larger (for lag bolts). Using the wrong size is the #1 cause of stripped screws.
It's the square drive screw, and it's superior to Phillips in almost every way. It holds the screw on the driver tip without a magnet and almost never cams out (slips). If you have a choice, buy square drive screws.
A good multi-bit driver (like a 10-in-1) is perfect for the junk drawer in your kitchen. But for the workshop, a dedicated set of screwdrivers feels better in the hand and fits into tighter spaces.