– Drywalling Perfection?
For a start, the build quality is absolutely first class, and although there are no fancy rubberized bits, the plastic body moulding is designed to fit into your hand for comfort and ease of use – and easy cleaning of plaster!
The big black trigger housing sits over the orange body, and my guess is that this design is meant to protect the inner workings from fine plaster dust associated with drywall work and also associated with killing electric motors. The lock-on button is not conspicuous but available, again unlikely to be regularly used, but may be needed occasionally. The motor has a no load speed of 0 to 4,000 rpm adjustable via the trigger finger of the user.
Behind the main handle is a hook and loop adjustable strap with a large rubber pad attached. For drywalling where you may be on a ladder or where putting the drill down easily is not an option, this strap is essential. Fein have made it even better by having the top of the strap run round a semi-circular rail on the top of the casing so the strap can follow the hand in its various working and resting positions. Just in front of that rail is a small black plastic hook. As it is quite flat it won’t get in the way of work, but should you be working on a scaffolding or tower, a strong black auxiliary hook can be slid onto it. The extra hook can be hooked over scaffold poles or tower guards when the tool needs to be safely put down. The black battery casing has a flat bottom so it can be placed on a flat surface when necessary and it also features a simple four light system to check the remaining power in the 14.4v Lithium Ion battery. I am very much in favour of batteries that slide in like the Fein’s rather than the “pull out” versions because I find that the clips on “pull out” batteries can stick, making it hard to pull the battery out easily. At the “driving end” there is a small sleeve-operated hex chuck. Into this are slotted the drivers, short or long, for whatever driver option you want – the short driver for driving individual screws or the long driver for
when the collated screw magazine nose is fitted. Behind the chuck there are a couple of spanner flats. By removing this nose the screwdriving torque can be minutely adjusted for larger or smaller screws. Again, you wouldn’t expect this level of sophistication on a cheaper driver, but since drilling screws to an exact depth is critical when drywalling, it is a sophistication that ensures a perfect result every time.
Last of all in the “short” version, once the driver bit is locked into place, you can fit a plastic nose cone over the bit. This simply clicks into place and it, in turn, has an adjustable nose that can be rotated to adjust the space behind the springloaded screwdriver bit to ensure that screws get driven flush with the plasterboard surface. You might have thought that fitting the collated screw magazine option would be a hassle, but it takes literally no more than a few seconds. Simply remove the nose cone and “short bit” and then insert the long bit into the hex chuck. The collated screw nose is then just clicked into place. This nose is also very robustly made but as we already have come to expect, it is a sophisticated system part, shaped to fit a guiding left or right hand. On the screw feeder a knurled knob is used to adjust the length of screws being used – from 25 to 55 mm. On the left hand side of this nose, another knurled plastic knob is used to adjust the driving depth of the screw heads. Feeding the collated screws into place is simple, just ensure that the first screw in the screw strip is exactly in the centre of the screw stop. Once the screws are in place and depth adjustments set, it is simply a matter of pushing the tool nose down in the place required and pulling the trigger till the screw is set. You can do this almost as fast as you like because the machine is certainly faster than you are. There is something quite fascinating about the ability to screw in screws quickly, to the exact depth, at the push of a trigger. The Fein driver is indeed just that –Fine. It has a guaranteed long service life and with its great ergonomics and light weight I am sure that vast numbers of drywallers would regard it as THE tool to aspire to or own. Once again Fein has delivered quality and design – at a price – but a price worth paying in my opinion.
Reply No. 205 Power Tools & Equipment Update
Don’t get snowed in this winter!
Moving snow with a traditional snow shovel is hard work and tough onthe back. The powerful new range of snow blowers from MTD provide an efficient and effective way of clearing snow from small to larger areas.
There are two types of machine available all of which are powered by an MTD SnowThorX OHV petrol engine. This engine was developed especially for use in very cold winters which allows for easy, smooth starting even at low temperatures. The single-stage snow blower features an auger that pulls the snow blower forward into the snow and then blows it out through the discharge chute. The two-stage machines have Xtreme augers which slice through icy snow deposits feed back to the rotor and then blow the snow out via the discharge chute.
The entry level, single-stage M53 Snow Blower is a lightweight, compact design with excellent manoeuvrability making it ideal for use in smaller areas. The machine has a clearing width of 53cm and an intake height of 28cm. The two-stage snow blowers are more suited for clearing medium-sized and larger areas. The M56 is the smaller, lighter machine but has a powerful 179cc engine, a clearing width of 56cm and an intake height of 4 1cm. The M61 has 5 forward and 2 reverse gears and an intake height of 53cm which can cope easily with deeper snow. For icy slopes and surfaces, the heavy-duty ME 66T is equipped with a track drive that ensures optimum traction and a steering control that allows for easy and effortless manoeuvring
Reply No. 26 telephone 01444 440188 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE 13
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