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milwaukee 18 volt impact driverElectric Power Tools have come a long, long way in the past 50 or so years. I remember being amazed that anyone could invent a power drill that ran on batteries, and I'm just as amazed today to see the latest generation of power tools that you can actually control with your Smartphone, and what WILL be the wave of the future ... crazy!
If you think that this is just a trend, or that this is something you would never use, I think you would be a pleasently surprised as I was. It only took me a couple od days to fall in love with this Impact Driver, it's an amazingly versatile tool.
I have often needed in impact driver but never seemed for it to be a high enough priority in my tool selection to actually get one. I told myself I didn't really need one in my woodworking shop and I could  by without one for the DIY projects that often crop up.

When this tool arrived, the first thing I did was take it out of the box, and with what was present for battery power, of course I tried driving some heavy, long woodsrews into a thick piece of Oak I had. Wow, they powered in with very little effort. What was most noticeable was that the driver does not want to twist out of your hand with torque like an 18 volt drill will do. The impacting mechanism really makes a big difference. Much easier to use, and quicker.

 

After I satisfied myself that this really was nice, useful tool for me, I decided to try my hand at downloading and using the Smartphone app.  I went to the Google App store - https://play.google.com/store/apps and typed in milwaukee. There was the One Key app, right at the top of the page. I downloaded it onto my phone and opened up the App.

Honestly, the app oned easily and the openging screen was simple and easy to read and understand. The main function I was interested in was the tool controls so went to that section. Again I found it quick and easy to understant, after all, there are not a lot of controls on an impact driver, but interestingly ... there was more than I expected.

The app gives you 4 preset setting that you can pick that match the same setting on the tool. The one thing you need to make sure is that the tool is on the "sync setting" with the phone before you can make any settings. The first thing I did was pick setting number one and  drop the speed of the driver to it's minumum setting, and the torque of the driver to it's minum setting. Next you need to make sure you save these settings, and if you don't you get a messqage on the phone prompting you to leave them as they are or save them before moving on. A great little reminder.  I then set the other 3 setting to what I thought would be useable setting for me later on saved all of them then exited out of the app.

All I had to do now was to select the correct setting 1, 2, 3, or 4 just by toching the switch and moving between them. As you can see on the video the minum setting was perfect for much of the insertions of screws that I do when making furniture. For deeper and longer screws I can select any ot the other pre-set selections and number f4 is basically the factory setting for maximum speed and torque ... if I need it.

The One Key system does much more than just set the tool, if you have a company with a few One Key Tools, you can record all of them and pre-set any of the controls for any or all of them. I can be used as a tool inventory assistant and can even help you find tools taht "go missing", if the tool is in range of the phone, but even if the tool is turned off. You can read more about the features of the App on the Milwaukee Tool website https://www.milwaukeetool.com/

All in all the Milwaukee Impact Driver was complete and totally plesant surprise for me. Not only does the tool work extremely well, it does far more than I expected and I have found myself using it daily, something I never expected to happen. I am amazed at how much screw, nut and bolt driving I do. This has turned out to be one of my go-to tools and I have a hunch it quickly migrating it'self to the top of the heap for  usage.

Copyright Colin Knecht.
woodworkweb.com