DWC-18 First Project Experience

[rsenechal]

I bought the DWC-18 right when it came out because I happened to just be starting to sheetrock a 12 foot high 3-car garage.  Just finished it and was really impressed with the battery. I did the entire garage with 1 battery and never had to charge it. The tool took a bit of getting used to (i had never used a drywall gun before) but it ended up saving me a bunch of time and instead of hiring the job out was able to use that money to buy the tools to make the job easier. I absolutely do not regret that purchase.

 

[johnledbetter]

The arrival of this tool was timely for me as well, as my wife and I are renovating our older home. We removed thin wood panels and put new drywall over the (very) old drywall underneath. I noticed the same impressive battery performance. The four ~10 x 8 walls were done on the factory charge of one battery. After using a regular driver on the last room we renovated, I had sworn off doing any more drywall. This tool took out the most frustrating aspect of that work for me.

My one point of pain was that the long screwdriver bit would often fall out when I removed the collated screw attachment to back out a miss-driven screw. It was also tricky to get the bit re-seated in the drill. Except for this (and remembering to put it back in "Auto" mode before ramming it against the sheetrock) it was a far superior experience to using a regular drill.

 

[Nat X]

While I am very frustrated by all the fiddliness involved in swapping "chucks," by and large you really shouldn't be doing it that frequently. Just drive all the screws you can and then come back around to either snug the proud ones up or back them out and re-do. Even if you're the sort who doesn't believe in sanding, drywall's always a multi-pass affair any way you slice it. It goes a lot faster if you just accept the assembly line mentality from the beginning.

What I do hate is the fact that you're more-or-less locked in to buying Festool bits since all the long ones at the regular old hardware store are hex all the way down and don't fit in the little hole so well, but at least they don't force you into buying their screws. Honestly, not sure why they even bothered producing their own. It's surely just a pointless rebrand.

I'm not fan of the plastic hanging hook, either, but by and large it's a good tool and the price is right about where it should be for what you get. Not sure I'd do it if I didn't already have Festool batteries, but I'm happy with mine.

 

[1toolshort]

I bought this about a month ago for a basement I am finishing out.  I'm hanging about 40 sheets on walls and ceiling and I thought this might be the right answer.  The battery is awesome.  The first day I used it non-stop for 8 hrs. with one changeout of battery.  The balance is good.  I love the adjustments.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that I must be a real idiot because I cammed out BOTH long bits on the auto feed.  I got 2 1/2 days use out of them.  That has to be me.  I ordered 4 more in the hopes that I will learn how to hit the screw direct without sending the screw off center.  The shorter bit works fine.  All in all, a great buy...I just hope the long bits get here tomorrow.

 

[1toolshort]

i finished hanging the drywall a few weeks ago in the basement.  In the first few days of using the new Festool, DWC, I was not hitting the screw central.  And I was moving the gun around too much.  As a result, I stripped the two supplied bits in no time.  My bad.  I ordered plenty as replacements, but after adjusting the distance guard at the end of the autofeed, it worked like a dream.  Problem solved.  batteries rock, and the screw advancing mechanism is terrific.  Can't say enough good about it.

 

[demographic]

Over here Hilti make a very good cordless collated feed drywall gun.
How does it compare to the Hilti?

 

[1toolshort]

Quality on par with Hilti; quieter in use and better battery life.

 

[deltafunction]

I have the hilti and my only complaint is the strip of screws.  Hilti has proprietary screws and doesn't hold enough.  If this is on par with hilti in other aspects it will definitely be a winner

 

[demographic]

I ha e the hilti and my only complaint is the strip of screws.  Hilti has proprietary screws and doesn't hold enough.  If this is on par with hilti in other aspects it will definitely be a winner

To me its by far the cheapest option as well so I reckon I'll be buying the Festool, I've used the Hiltis and they are great machines but I already have a Festool HKC with two batteries and the charger so can pick up the DWC for less than three hundred quid.

As opposed to the Hilti which would be more like five hundred or more? Which would me I just wouldn't buy it at all.

 

[LDBecker]

Just got the DWC-18 4500 (only one available in the US, I believe) - It's great. Very fun to use, especially on Auto. Using Festool strip screws (coarse, 35mm),  I didn't have any problems at all. Like a poster above, I had to learn to keep it straight - but once sorted out, it's a great option for screwing drywall. The Festool drywall attachment for my T18 is $130, so $300 for the whole gun, including an attachment and the strip option, seemed a good deal.

 

[BJM9818]

I have owned the DWC 4500 since Feb. it was a great buy for a recent remodel that required a ton of Sheetrock patches. Yesterday I hung a 24x 80" piece to patch a hole with ease. 

The only fault as others have mentioned is removing the feeder to back out a screw. The bit usually goes flying somewhere.

I just found Amazon has duraspin 1000ct 1 1/4 #6 screws for $16.50 free delivery with prime. I have been buying the 800ct buckets at HD for $18.xx. Just ordered 10 buckets. I really wish they would come in boxes. Storing the buckets is far from ideal

 

[ear3]

Got my first chance to try the DWC two days ago.  We had to hang all this OSB, but in such a way that it could be easily removed (art installation that will be taken down once completed in the warehouse and then rebuilt someplace else).  My friend had just picked up the DWC since he does a lot of drywall, so we were curious whether we could use it for the OSB and speed up the process.  It did not work -- most of the screw heads remained proud, even on max depth/torque.  So just in case you were curious whether it can be used for other sheet materials, I can confirm that it is drywall only  [tongue]

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

Very interesting observation, now I need to get some OSB to try. I would have thought that if the DWC 4500 fails at OSB, it's because of the speed (screws spinning, not enough retention) but not because it couldn't sink the screws.

I did this video for another thread, but I think it shows why I wouldn't have thought of OSB being a problem.
https://vimeo.com/217973752

Like I said, very interesting observation. I'll go get some OSB tomorrow.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Brice Burrell]

Hi,

Very interesting observation, now I need to get some OSB to try. I would have thought that if the DWC 4500 fails at OSB, it's because of the speed (screws spinning, not enough retention) but not because it couldn't sink the screws.

I did this video for another thread, but I think it shows why I wouldn't have thought of OSB being a problem.

I'm sure you can get a more torque out of the short depth stop attachment over the magazine attachment.  My guess is the long bit is where you're losing most of that torque. 

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

I will consider that and use collated screws and the auto-feed attachment with long bit.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[peter halle]

If you are going to install OSB I might suggest making sure that the underside of the screw head has the "nibs" for cutting a recess.  Not all screws do and certainly those for possibly hanging sheetrock don't - and shouldn't.

Peter

 

[six-point socket II]

Check.  [big grin]

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

Quick update. I bought a piece of OSB today, I'm waiting on confirmation of my order with my hardware dealer for collated Spax screws (with the recess cutting nibs) as I only have drywall screws fine and coarse at hand.

Couple of days and I'll post a video

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[ear3]

They did not.  Was using collated drywall screws

If you are going to install OSB I might suggest making sure that the underside of the screw head has the "nibs" for cutting a recess.  Not all screws do and certainly those for possibly hanging sheetrock don't - and shouldn't.

Peter

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

first screws arrived today, expect a video in the next couple of days.

Kind regards,
Oliver