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I needed to be able to use the Senco square head bit so I disassembled the nose of the gun, matched the square head bit up with a matching size drill bit, and then made the hole just a bit larger. This is a great screw gun. I've used it to drive close to 1,000 screws so far and haven't had a bit of trouble. It worked perfectly. The comment on making sure you don't bump the nose of the gun is accurate, but outside of that I've had no issues at all.You actually can use the Senco bit in this gun, it just takes a bit of modification to the sleeve in which the bit paases through.
Conceptually, and for the most part.works well. This unit would benefit from some sort of collar that holds the screws more securely as they are being driven. I do find that the angle must be perfectly perpendicular or the unit tends to kick the screws free of the belt and drops them on the floor.
The other problem is that it can only use a phillips head bit. The first one I got worked for 2 days then quit. Amazon dropped the ball on this one. The only return they will do is if the unit does not work. This is Makita's old model, and you will most likely get a reconditioned item. I've talked to Makita twice now, and they don't manufacture or sell any other bits such as a square drive, etc. The description was misleading and the item is an old obsolete model. AND you can't return it if you're not happy with it.
I used the Senco brand for the first time yesterday and had no end of problems getting the strips to feed properly. With the Senco screws, I could not screw more then two or three screws without a jam. There are a few tricks to get down in order to have the tool function as it should. This also insures that the head will be set to the correct depth. A box of Makita 1 1/4 screws are around $27 or so but the Senco's are around $15 (plus they are available the morning of the job.).All in all this was a good purchase and a real time saver that I would buy again. First of all I'd like to say that I bought this unit from CPO Makita about two months ago and once I received it, I found that it was refurbished.
Having said that, I have used it on a number of drywall and sub flooring jobs and have not had an ounce of problem from it. I have found that it is much less likely to jam when the metal nose piece is as close to 90 degrees to the work surface as possible. I would have given it five stars but they should advertise it as a refurb.Update: Despite the fact that the Senco screws are advertised to fit this screw gun, they do not work well at all. That's a nice feature for a couple of reasons; any big box store will carry a good selection of them and they are also cheaper then buying the Makita screws online. I didn't see it say that in the description anywhere and it's important to take note. I also strongly agree with another reviewer saying that if you accidentally dump the nose piece against the work surface by accident, then that screw will be skipped when you drive the next time.
In the end, I used some Makita screws that were longer then needed but they feed smoothly. There is no way to back up the screw strip either, although you can pull it through and re-feed it.One important point is that you can use Senco screws made to work with their Duraspin tool.
(Plastic strip coil collation rather than this current head-type collation) The Makita 6832 uses a clever sprocket hole arrangement like a movie camera that places the screw in position under the bit. That one has a coil-type magazine which was nice, except that the fasteners it used were discontinued several years ago. An extension is available for the 6832 but I like the tool just as it is. The Makita bit appears to be a standard 1/4" hex, long bit, whereas the Quik Drive uses an odd 7/32" hex bit only available from Stanley-Bostitch. I also own a Stanley-Bostitch Quik-Drive which is 2 or 3 times larger but will handle up to a 3-inch screw. It cycled flawlessly in my tests and combined with its compactness, was a breeze to set-up and use. This was an older model which requires a few hex wrenches for adjustments, but is well worth the extra effort to get such a great value. I also like that it has variable speed, as my Quik Drive didn't.
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