Longer screw support for DWC 18

[EWTHeckman]

I've been working on a project soundproofing my office. I had planned to buy a DWC 18 to make the drywall work easier. However, I was disappointed to discover that it's limited to screws no longer than 1 5/8 inches.

One of the keys to soundproofing is multiple layers of materials, usually drywall, or drywall plus something else. In my case, the something else is 3/4 inch thick, plus 5/8 drywall. And for the ceiling, those materials are just going to go over the existing 3/8 drywall to avoid a whole world of pain. (Blown in insulation just above that drywall.) That's a total of 1 3/8 to 1 3/4 inches before even getting to the joist. 1 5\8 screws just can't do the job.

I wound up going with a Senco that supports up to 3 inch screws, but I would really have preferred to stay within the Festool ecosystem.

In reading the forum, it seems that Festool used to have a separate 2500 RPM version. If the lower RPM is what's needed for the longer screws, it should be pretty easy to add a speed control like is on the TID 18 impact driver and add a longer screw handling accessory.

 

[squall_line]

Festool still sells the 2500 RPM model in Europe.  It has the same limitations, it's just spec'ed for wood rather than drywall.

DWC 18-4500
– Gypsum plaster boards on metal profile rails (≤ 0.88 mm) with drywall screws with fine thread
– Gypsum plaster boards on metal profile rails (≤ 2.25 mm) with drywall screws, self-drilling
– Gypsum plaster boards on wooden constructions with drywall screws with coarse thread

DWC 18-2500
– Gypsum fibre boards on metal and wooden con- structions with drywall screws with milling ribs
– Chip boards/OSB on wooden constructions with wood construction and chip board screws up to dia. 5 mm

Festool would likely officially tell you that the screw length is only limited when using collated screws, but that the bullet-nosed depth stop can be used for longer screws.

 

[Hawkeye0001]

Out of curiosity and for future projects: I put a small room seperation in last year with one layer of 18mm OSB followed by two layers of plaster board; all screwed in with the fine threaded screws into metal profiles. Would that call for a 2500 (because of the OSB) or a 4500 then (because of the metal profile / fine thread)?

 

[EWTHeckman]

Festool would likely officially tell you that the screw length is only limited when using collated screws, but that the bullet-nosed depth stop can be used for longer screws.

True. But having to use a two handed one at a time process, especially on the ceiling, is barely any better than what I can already do with the T18 and a drywall bit. I'm not real keen on being that much of a masochist, especially since I'm doing this by myself.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I bought the DWC 18-4500 and it's definitely less torque than my Makita's, but in testing it, I could drive 45mm coarse collated screws into soft hardwood through 1/2" MDF sheet no problem, so normal pine framing isn't an issue with longer screws. Into more dense, older hardwood it snapped a few heads off, but that's to be expected. Plaster is obviously no issue here.

Apart from that, the DWC is an absolutely sensational screwgun, and the mechanism feels superior to my Fein and Makita ones, so much so that I'm selling both my Fein's, although I'll probably never get rid of my Makita's as the torque is great.

In driver mode it really punches.

If I had a choice though, I would absolutely buy the 2500 over the 4500.

 

[Coen]

I've been working on a project soundproofing my office. I had planned to buy a DWC 18 to make the drywall work easier. However, I was disappointed to discover that it's limited to screws no longer than 1 5/8 inches.
[...]

(1+(5/8))*25.4 = 41mm

No, that isn't right. The DWC supports up to 55mm screws. I don't think they have a separate part to limit that to something less in the US of drywAll.

They have two models;
2500 rpm with 7/18 Nm
and one with
4500 rpm with 5/14 Nm

But both support 55mm for screws on band. The adapter is called "AF 55-DWC" for a reason.

My brother has the 2500 model on account of using 100 year old wood that is insanely dense. However, the Phillips heads become a problem (cam out) long before the machine torque limit is reached.

I have the (now discontinued) Bosch GSR 18 V-EC TE that is -according to Bosch- 4200 rpm and 5/25 Nm (probably different definition of the 2nd torque value) and we got the same result on that wood; cam-out before the machine couldn't handle it.

I have used the same machine for Swedish rebate on wood structure with the single-screw head just fine too.

If using new wood... it's all fluffy fast-grown stuff anyway, so the torque requirement isn't there.

Festool USA website seems to take a nap right now, so I can't see what their story is on screw length.

There are some other brands with 75mm support or separate magazine adapters. Sadly, Bosch and Festool aren't among those.