4500 Drywall screw gun - Discontinued in USA

[Michael Kellough]

@Cheese, are these easy to find or did you have to special order the bits?

 

[Cheese]

@Cheese, are these easy to find or did you have to special order the bits?

They were hanging on the wall at Woodcraft Michael... ...easier to purchase them now than a year from now. Also noticed that Festool offers a version for Torx 20 screws, I wonder what those are used for?

 

[six-point socket II]

Collated OSB (wood panel) or collated universal screws.

SPAX® screws

adunox.com

Just scroll past the first product.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Coen]

They were hanging on the wall at Woodcraft Michael... ...easier to purchase them now than a year from now. Also noticed that Festool offers a version for Torx 20 screws, I wonder what those are used for?

I have them in PZ2 as well; some other OSB screws -collated- with that head too.

Like Makita F-31780;

F-31780 - Schroeflint spaanplaat 4,0x40mm

www.makita.nl

 

[Coen]

I haven't found that to be the case with decent quality bits. The cheapo ones I buy in bulk absolutely yes, I drive them to destruction, but I can't remember the last time I destroyed a good bit in a driver, and I easily go through probably 5k or so screws a year, mostly into very old Aussie hardwood studs. Snapped screws are the real issue there.

It definitely does help to "get in the groove" when using collated guns, to avoid camming out or ruining the nose end, just a little off angle or lack of tension can be costly.

My brother has the 2500 Festool, I have the 4200rpm (previous) Bosch version. Both required insane pressure and then still it cammed out. Was Knauf diamondboard onto 120+ year old bone dry wood, insanely dense and slow-growth. About 25% needed to be driven deeper... which we ended up using the impact driver for.

For that application... I kinda wondered why they don't offer more Torx-head drywall screws.

 

[redcliff]

Will other bits that are 55mm long work? Does anyone have any experience?

 

[Coen]

They were hanging on the wall at Woodcraft Michael... ...easier to purchase them now than a year from now. Also noticed that Festool offers a version for Torx 20 screws, I wonder what those are used for?

Hmm, Festool seems to use regular 152mm bits while Bosch uses oddball 145mm bits.

Having said that; I can't find 145mm TX20. I never used TX20 collated, but lacking the collated one, I have used them with the same machine but one by one.

 

[Cheese]

Thanks for the insight Oliver & Coen...

Just curious how easily those Torx screws release as they don't really "cam-out" like the Phillips and Pozidriv do.

Those collated screw strips seem similar to the Milwaukee ones I use in the Duradrive. The Milwaukee Sharp Fire drive unit was manufactured by PAM which is also German I think.

 

[Coen]

Will other bits that are 55mm long work? Does anyone have any experience?

How did you arrive at the idea of 55mm bits working? Bit holder + bit is way longer than that for single-screw use. See; https://festoolownersgroup.com/threads/4500-drywall-screw-gun-discontinued-in-usa.75732/#post-732977
Looks more like 75mm total.

The 55 in the Festool naming as in "Bit PH 2-AF-55 3x" refers to it's use in AF-55. AF-55 being the adapter for collated screws; supporting screws up to 55mm. The bits itself are marked as 152mm.

 

[Michael Kellough]

How did you arrive at the idea of 55mm bits working? Bit holder + bit is way longer than that for single-screw use. See; https://festoolownersgroup.com/threads/4500-drywall-screw-gun-discontinued-in-usa.75732/#post-732977
Looks more like 75mm total.

The 55 in the Festool naming as in "Bit PH 2-AF-55 3x" refers to it's use in AF-55. AF-55 being the adapter for collated screws; supporting screws up to 55mm. The bits itself are marked as 152mm.

Great info Coen!

 

[six-point socket II]

@Cheese

I can only speak for the depth stop and its use with TX20 drive screws, no issue at all, releases just the same as/ as smooth as with PH/PZ. And to be precise, the screws were HECO-TOPIX-PLUS A2 5,0 X 50, DECKING SCREW, RAISED COUNTERSUNK HEAD, HECO-DRIVE, ST. ( https://www.heco-schrauben.com/HECO...countersunk-head-HECO-Drive-ST-200-pcs./61756 ) By the way, Heco Drive is just another drive type based on Torx … .

I have not used collated TX20 drive screws with the magazine attachment so far. I did look for them back when I built the deck, but they weren’t readily/easily available. I’m sure they could have been special ordered. So I went for single screws + depth stop. That was completely painless as already said.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[leakyroof]

What's our current feelings about buying screws for the Gun. As in, most available, commonly found., etc I still have some Festool stock ones as I never used this drywall gun as much as I thought I was going to when I bought it. But, when those run out... Would be Coarse Screws since I don't work with Steel Studs.

 

[luvmytoolz]

The bits are the same size as for the Makita's. I bought a bunch of after market ones that I've used in the Makita with excellent results so far.

 

[luvmytoolz]

What's our current feelings about buying screws for the Gun. As in, most available, commonly found., etc I still have some Festool stock ones as I never used this drywall gun as much as I thought I was going to when I bought it. But, when those run out... Would be Coarse Screws since I don't work with Steel Studs.

The better quality coarse ones I've found to be the best to drive into anything harder than pine, and are still only around $15AUD per carton. The fine thread ones snap really easily.

 

[six-point socket II]

Most recent ones (collated) I got from Würth. No issues.


Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Coen]

Würth

You never know what you get with Würth. They just use whatever is cheapest for them and supply it under their label. In fact, Würth re-supplied my employer... and the new bins included three different types of self-cutting bolts under the same article number...
They also made up their own variant of Torx, which is annoying too.

Same with corrugated washers; for 3 years you can have them perfectly sharp, cutting straight through the powder coating and the next re-supply you get some kind of pancake washers that doesn't cut through a single sheet of paper.

 

[six-point socket II]

I’ve never had a product from them not working as expected or up to spec. . With one exception, the last batch of ‘wall plug screws’ had some in the package with a seriously damaged head/drive and the stamping off. Not enough of them to bother with a return/ or make a claim, though.

Other than that, I’m extremely happy. And yes, I know that their products can change without notice. I’ve heard that before, I have yet to see it with my own eyes/ experience some sort of ‘failure’ with something that is re-supplied and not working like the product before.

That said, I’m such a small and unimportant low volume customer - the hardware I buy lasts me quite some time and when I re-order, its highly likely already 2, 3 maybe even 4 production runs later. So if they had a bad batch in between, I probably wouldn’t even have noticed.

What matters a lot more to me are their chemical-technical products, and those I’ve never had a single issue with.

Again, I’m a happy customer - but I have an incredible amount of options as well, thanks to my highly valuable network.

What really matters, information wise for this thread, is that the Festool screw gun does not use proprietary collated screws, and most if not all collated screws on the market can be used - obviously except for ‘coil’. I’ve used Adunox, Hilti, Würth, Festool, (…) all worked as expected.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[mike_aa]

The bit holder that comes with the screw gun is a bit longer, did you accidentally swap that for another one?

Let me get a picture …

Kind regards,
Oliver

@six-point socket II I finally got a chance to look at my screw gun. The bit holder on mine looks pretty much the same as Oliver's. It seems to measure a little less than 3 inches - maybe 2 and 31/32 inches or around 75 mm. I was using a standard PH-2 Festool bit. Is there a different one for the DWC that's may be a little longer? Maybe it's user error on my part and I need to be more forceful. After putting it back together I tried it again and unless I really bear down, the screw is still a tiny bit proud. I have to back it out and drive it again to get it to seat properly.

 

[six-point socket II]

That is odd. Not aware of any ‘special’ DWC 25mm bit. I also have the standard Festool PH2 in mine currently. You can always try another one, but it really shouldn’t make a difference. Definitely looks like the correct bitholder!

If you get the screw seated properly the second time, you might have let go to early on the first drive. This does take a bit of force/ trust in the equipment to press down and let the machine do everything else until it stops. And you need to keep that force applied/ keep up with the speed of the screw gun.

Maybe tell us a bit more about what materials you are using?

Coen posted about an interesting case in post #25. This is also something to take into account - and !could! explain why your’s manages to seat the screw only in the second run, kinda like it utilizing the first run as ‘pre drill’ and only then managing to seat the screw properly because of ‘insufficient’ torque. (This is just thinking outside the box, and should not happen with metal studs or typical current softwood/ construction lumber.)

The only times I had not properly seated screws were in awkward positions when I couldn’t keep the force applied in line with the screw and/or keep up with the speed of the machine. Most of the time that is then accompanied by a ‘scream’ of the screw gun as the bit damages the screw head/drive.

I’d probably start with giving the screw gun a little workout on some scraps and get really used to it, just push down and keep up with the speed. If that then still results in not properly seated screws all/ most of the time, we need to asses further.


Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[mike_aa]

That is odd. Not aware of any ‘special’ DWC 25mm bit. I also have the standard Festool PH2 in mine currently. You can always try another one, but it really shouldn’t make a difference. Definitely looks like the correct bitholder!

If you get the screw seated properly the second time, you might have let go to early on the first drive. This does take a bit of force/ trust in the equipment to press down and let the machine do everything else until it stops. And you need to keep that force applied/ keep up with the speed of the screw gun.

Maybe tell us a bit more about what materials you are using?

Coen posted about an interesting case in post #25. This is also something to take into account - and !could! explain why your’s manages to seat the screw only in the second run, kinda like it utilizing the first run as ‘pre drill’ and only then managing to seat the screw properly because of ‘insufficient’ torque. (This is just thinking outside the box, and should not happen with metal studs or typical current softwood/ construction lumber.)

The only times I had not properly seated screws were in awkward positions when I couldn’t keep the force applied in line with the screw and/or keep up with the speed of the machine. Most of the time that is then accompanied by a ‘scream’ of the screw gun as the bit damages the screw head/drive.

I’d probably start with giving the screw gun a little workout on some scraps and get really used to it, just push down and keep up with the speed. If that then still results in not properly seated screws all/ most of the time, we need to asses further.


Kind regards,
Oliver

Previously, I've only used this tool to patch holes. Two of the houses (built in the mid 50's) had I think what was called "rock lath" (2' x 4' gypsum board) with plaster applied on top. I basically screwed in a piece of drywall into the patch and filled in with durabond or some other hot mud to roughly level with the surrounding plaster so getting the right dimple on the drywall patch really didn't matter as long as it was held in place.

I'm currently working on a 1969 house with all 1/2" drywall. I imagine the studs are pretty dried out and harder to screw into. I also noticed that when the gun stops and is restarted there is a surging. That doesn't happen if I back the screw out slightly first and redrive. There are a few patches and a bunch of nail pops so I'm paying closer attention to getting the screws at the right depth. It's hit and miss. Some screws set perfectly while others don't. I've been using the gun on manual if that makes a difference. Most of the patching is now done, but I'll be back here in a couple of weeks to pretty much tackle all the nail pops. I'll see if my technique improves then or maybe I need to build some muscle!

Thanks for the replies - I now have a better understanding of what might be going on.