Impact Driver vs Drill, Irwin Hole Saw Kits & the Mistakes I Made Buying Both

I've been running tool procurement for a mid-size commercial outfit for 11 years. In that time I've personally made (and documented) 23 significant buying mistakes, totaling roughly $14,000 in wasted budget. Some of those mistakes involved tools I now swear by. Here's what I wish someone had told me when I started.

Is an impact driver better than a drill?

Depends on what you're doing, and this is the question I get from every new apprentice. Short answer: no, they're not competitors. An impact driver delivers rotational force in bursts, which is why it drives 3-inch lag screws without twisting your wrist off. A drill delivers smooth, controllable torque—better for hole saws, spade bits, and anything that needs precision without hammering.

People think "impact" means "more powerful." Actually, it means "differently powerful." Put a hole saw on an impact driver and you'll chew up pilot bits and burn through arbors fast. I learned that one the hard way in 2019—replaced four arbors in a single week on a 30-door install. That's about $180 in arbors plus a half-day of delays.

The real rule: impact driver for fasteners, drill for holes. If you're buying one first, buy the drill. Your wrist and your hole saws will thank you.

What should I actually look at in an Irwin hole saw kit?

Most buyers scan the tooth count and the price and call it done. That's the mistake. Here's my checklist, built after a bad batch I bought in March 2022:

• Arbor type and pin configuration. If the arbor doesn't match the shank size of your drills, the kit's useless. Check the pilot bit diameter against what you actually run.
• Tooth material. Bi-metal for wood and metal combo; carbide-tipped for clean cuts in harder material. Bi-metal is the general-purpose pick for most remodel work.
• Depth of cut. Standard is 1-5/8". If you're cutting 2x stock, you need deeper cups, and they're not always in the "starter" kit.
• Storage case quality. Sounds trivial. It isn't. A flimsy case means bent teeth before the second job.

Irwin's kits get a lot of grief for being "mid-tier," but the arbor machining is consistent and the bi-metal cups hold an edge as long as you don't force them. My current set has survived 14 months of daily use on a residential punch list.

Are Irwin tool deals worth chasing, or should I pay full price?

I used to skip deals because I assumed "discounted" meant old stock or discontinued sizes. Then in Q3 2023 I tracked our spend across six months and found we'd paid full price on $4,100 of Irwin product that came up on promo twice. That was a $600 miss, which stung.

My rule now: if it's a consumable (bits, blades, hole saws, drill bits), wait for the deal. If it's a tool your crew relies on tomorrow, buy it at whatever price it takes. Tools have a job to do today; consumables can wait three weeks for a 20% drop.

The lowest price isn't the best price if you're paying it in downtime.

Hex zinc plated lag screw 50-packs—what's the catch?

No catch, but there's a context question most buyers ignore. Zinc plating is fine indoors and in dry climates. Bury a zinc-plated lag screw in treated lumber that gets wet and you'll see corrosion in a season or two. If the application is exterior or pressure-treated, you want hot-dip galvanized or stainless, and that's a $15-$30 difference per 50-pack.

I once specified 30 zinc-plated 50-packs on a deck job because the pricing was tight and I didn't flag the environment. Client came back nine months later with rust streaks. We redid the order in stainless on our dime. $680 gone, plus a strained relationship I'm still recovering.

The lesson: cost-per-piece is the wrong metric. Cost-per-application is the right one.

Do I need an industrial air compressor, or is a portable enough?

This is where pros get talked into equipment they don't need. An industrial air compressor makes sense when you have continuous demand—multiple air tools running in a bay, spray finishing, sandblasting. If you're running a single framing nailer or impact wrench, a portable 20-gallon unit is plenty.

We bought a 60-gallon industrial unit in 2021 because "we might expand." We didn't expand for 18 months. That's $2,900 sitting in the corner running a nailer that a $400 portable could've handled.

But it's the right call now that we spray. It's tempting to think bigger is safer. But bigger equipment has its own tax—maintenance, floor space, and the electricity to keep it running.

What's the mistake you see most often in tool buying?

Buying to the spec sheet instead of the job site. It took me about three years and 150+ purchase orders to understand that the "best" tool is entirely dependent on the application, the operator, and the timeline. A $60 impact driver is the right tool for one crew; a $220 brushless is the right tool for another. Neither is wrong.

I can only speak to commercial remodel and light new build. If you're running a manufacturing floor or a job site on the other side of the country, the calculus is going to be different.

Any source on tool pricing I can trust?

The short answer is no single source. Manufacturer MSRPs are a starting point, but big-box pricing fluctuates weekly and industrial distributors work off their own contracts. If you're building a budget, call two distributors, ask for a project quote (not list), and check the manufacturer's own site for promo timing.

Prices vary by region, volume, and time of year—verify current quotes before you commit. Don't trust a blog. Instead, build a relationship with a rep at one distributor. That gets you better pricing than any search result.