Professional Tool Reviews for Pros

Pop quiz, hotshot: what are the major differences between an impact driver and hammer drill? If you’re stumped, you’re not alone. The answer: mechanisms and applications. Let’s drill down to the impact driver vs hammer drill question right now.

A hammer and anvil design helps impact drivers accomplish their tasks. Most impacts have two hammers although some have three. As the tool’s motor turns a spring-loaded hammer plate, the spring compresses and the hammer and anvil plates push apart. For a fraction of a second, there is space between the plates and potential energy in the spring.

In this space, the hammer and anvil plates slip past one another only to slam together again forcefully by the spring’s kinetic energy. This creates a great deal of torque (and a little downward force) as the hammers hit the anvils and transfer the energy through the bit to turn the fastener. The impact driver repeats this process rapidly. We look to the tool’s impacts per minute (IPM) or blows per minute (BPM) for a measure of impact rate in numbers that get as high as 4000 IPM in an 18V impact driver.

To an extent, the hammer drill’s mechanism is a difference of degree rather than kind. But the difference results in forward force and less torque than an impact driver.

The hammer drill also uses two plates but trades out the hammer and anvil design a mechanism that looks like the way two checkers stack together (king me!).

There are some other excellent images here.

As you start to drill, the teeth slip up and over the opposite teeth or bearings to create a motion that pushes forward and slips back. This transfers through the bit into a chipping function while the plates, interlocking for a fraction of a second before separating apart again, quickly turn the bit.

It’s common for the impact rate of a hammer drill to be tens of thousands of BPM (point of preference—we prefer IPM for impact drivers and BPM for hammer drills, though some manufacturers differ). Some easily exceed 30,000 BPM.

The impact driver’s mechanism creates rotational impacts that are excellent for driving screws of all kinds and hex bolts. The impulsing torque can drive and remove tough fasteners when the static torque of a drill would cause it to cam out or simply stop altogether.

You can also use an impact driver to drill with a hex shank bit but it’s not optimal. The form factor of the stubby impact driver differs enough from a hammer drill (which looks like a regular drill/driver) that you can easily tell the difference.

When you reach the limits of an impact driver, you step up to an impact wrench.

Like the impact driver? The Makita XDT16 recently won our best impact driver comparison review!

Hammer drills are the right tool for drilling into masonry (brick, stone, block, concrete) to set anchors and create holes for outlet boxes. With a masonry bit, the hammer drill chips as it turns to push through the material. It’s more compact and lightweight design compared to a rotary hammer makes it a good choice for drilling holes up to 1/2″ or so in masonry, but it doesn’t include dust collection to keep you from breathing in silica dust.

A traditional hammer drill is not the right tool for driving screws. As we just mentioned, hammer drills often look just like a traditional drill. However, most modern cordless hammer drills let you select between drill, drive, and hammer drill modes so you can do all three functions with one tool.

When you get to the limit of a hammer drill, it’s time to step up to a rotary hammer. People sometimes confuse a hammer drill and a rotary hammer, even using the name to rotary hammer drill. It’s true that a rotary hammer is also for masonry, but it is larger, used for bigger work, and employs a different mechanism: a piston and air pressure. More on that in a future article!

We hope you’ve benefitted from our impact driver vs hammer drill crash course. Feel free to toss any questions our way in the comments below and we’ll do our best to help you out!

Like the hammer drill featured in this article? It’s the Makita XPH07!

A liberty-loving, sensible, God-fearing options trader by day...Adam Spafford is known for his quick wit, easygoing demeanor, and readiness to lend a hand when called upon.

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I am planning to buy a drill for ice drilling. Do you recommend hammer or impact? Can you recommend a brand or model?

Quote “Impact drivers are the right tool for driving screws and other fasteners”. This is false. They are the wrong tool but people use them anyway because they are wreckless. First, the most important thing about driving a fastener is not having the torque to do it, rather it is not OVER torquing it. You should not drive it in at all if you do not have a way to prevent over-torque. This makes a drill with a clutch the correct tool. That a torque wrench has more torque to do this is irrelevant. You should not have any fastener…  Read more »

The photo and description for the hammer drill mechanism is incorrect. You’re exhibiting the wrong part of the mechanism. “Some designs have pointed teeth and bearings.” That’s a picture of the clutch mechanism for torque limiting. The ring is a stationary ring gear in the transmission that normally doesn’t move. When you exceed the clutch torque settings, the balls recess into the springs and allow the ring to slip past them but the chuck doesn’t move up and down.

This looks like a nose-end from a TTI tool. Is it?

Young high school students just learning the basics may not know this. It’s good that you post it. It’s not for professionals.

If you even have to explain this to someone, they probably shouldn’t be using tools.

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Professional Tool Reviews for Pros