Professional Tool Reviews for Pros

Overall, this is a nice addition to Milwaukee's hand tool line-up. As we've experienced in their other hand tools, these seem to address multi-purpose uses whenever possible, but not at the expense of adding features that detract from the tool's primary purpose. The inclusion of a limited lifetime warranty is also a very nice touch that should do a lot to instill confidence in a new tool line. I think electricians and mechanical contractors are going to find these most valuable, but in all honesty everyone needs a good set of drivers.And this is a good set of drivers.

I had to do some impromptu A/C repairs on my home a few years ago. It’s not something I like to do all that often, nor is it anything I yearn to do ever again. I remember it because I had to deal with hex head screws, Phillips screws, flat head screws, ECX-style screws, and even run wiring into a hot electrical panel. These presented its own set of issues (namely, my lack of insulated screwdrivers). By the time I finished, I had learned a lot about what makes the best screwdriver set. I got the chance to try out an entire fleet of Milwaukee screwdrivers and sets.

Milwaukee has several screwdriver sets that I have grown to love using. Most include slotted Milwaukee screwdrivers as well as two Phillips head drivers. The Phillips head drivers cover #2 and #1 sizes but also include a lanyard hole for tethering. These drivers also utilize hex shafts that can be torqued down on with a wrench if needed. All of these drivers feature a nice rubber overmolded handle which makes them easy to drive.

In the 6-piece set of Milwaukee screwdrivers, a slotted cabinet driver has round shafts designed for getting into places where the hexagonal shape might not allow access. All six screwdrivers have graphical icons on the back of the tool. This lets you quickly and easily identify them in your tool bag. This should be mandatory on all screwdrivers. Unfortunately, several manufacturers still haven’t caught on. The tips of the Milwaukee screwdrivers are hardened (the chrome plating stops just short of the tip) and look very “grippy”.

You probably shouldn’t use your screwdriver as a chisel…but most people inevitably do. While not the best use of your screwdriver, Milwaukee meets this “need” with their demo screwdrivers. They even make a screwdriver set just for this purpose.

Milwaukee has a two-pack Steel Cap set of Demolition Screwdrivers. Just the name alone got me excited. I tested them out by chiseling the corner off of some concrete block. I did this not because I had to—just because I could. Like the two slotted screwdrivers in the 6-pack, the demo screwdrivers utilize a piece of forged steel that runs all the way through the handle and terminates into a “blasting cap” at the back of the tool.

While not a blasting cap, that’s what I’d call it if I worked for Milwaukee marketing. Smack it to your heart’s content, and all of the energy goes through the handle to the tip of the driver. Thanks to the rubberized grip, you feel almost none of that impact in your hand. Better yet, you won’t break the underlying molded plastic handle when you strike it.

These Milwaukee screwdrivers come with the same torquable hex shaft. The tips also have the same non-chrome plated hardened steel as the multi-driver sets. While this kit includes a driver with a #2 Phillips tip, I don’t recommend chiseling anything with it. I think the goal here was to simplify production and have a nice matched set.

It took me some time to really find a good use for the Milwaukee Insulated Screwdrivers. Then I handed them to an electrician. When I got them back, I worked on a remodel involving a considerable amount of rewiring—some of it at the breaker panel. Our summed experiences matched up fairly well. The insulated screwdrivers from Milwaukee look and feel like their standard drivers. They differ by including a lanyard hole in the handle and adding an insulated shaft.

Like some other insulated drivers I’ve used, the shaft has a double insulation layer. This lets you know when the outer layer has been damaged—you’ll see the yellow exposed underneath as opposed to just at the tip. Identification like this is good—and important. Milwaukee also claimed to build in a significant amount of flame retardant and impact-resistant properties as well. Insulated tools are only good so long as the insulation remains intact.

The 1000V insulated Milwaukee screwdrivers come in a set including three sizes. You get a 4-inch #1 ECX bit driver, 4-inch #2 Phillips bit driver, and 6-inch 1/4″ slotted screwdriver. All three have the aforementioned lanyard hole, but I don’t really find those to be terribly useful. Those who spend their time high up in the air will likely think very differently. A dropped tool could mean a lot of downtime.

Milwaukee also provides screwdrivers for tackling hex and Torx screws and bolts. I’ve used a lot of these manual keys and every tool seems to be very similar. You either have separate L-shaped keys, or you use a fold-out Swiss Army knife-style tool. Milwaukee brought the concept of interchangeable screwdrivers and affixed both SAE and metric hex bits as well as Torx bits.

Obviously, these are for head-on applications. If you have very little clearance you’re still going to need an L-shaped key. For everything else, though I find this type of driver to be much more familiar. Where it gave me some difficulty was when I encountered some really torqued down Hex screws on a bike. I eventually worked it off, but the L-shape of a traditional hex key offers a bit more leverage. You can, however, grab the hex or Torx key driver’s lower shaft with a wrench to give yourself some extra leverage.

I found these drivers extremely useful when working on my 2003 Jeep Liberty. I needed to replace the brake lights, and the T20 Torx screws for the left rear tail light are impossible to access to with a traditional Torx key. It sits on the inside of the light shroud and is obscured by the hinge-side of the tailgate. With the Milwaukee Torx Key Driver, I could position the bit all the way through to each of the two screws and remove them quite easily. I could describe the tool as a life-saver, but at the very least it saved me $125 for a broken tail light ticket. For a $17 tool, that’s like a 735% return on investment!

With how many metric hex and Torx screws you find on cars, trucks, and bicycles these days it was nice to see Milwaukee address most of the common sizes. They also refer to these as 9-in-1 tools. This is due to the Key drivers having 7 bits, an integrated wire loop maker, and the default 1/4″ hex driver chuck.

Now I know Milwaukee refers to the three hex and Torx key drivers as 9-in-1 tools. They also market an identical 9-in-1 with Phillips, slotted, and square (Robertson style) bits. This is just a great all-around tool to have on hand for a secondary tool bag. I don’t like to rob my primary job site tool kit when I need to do some electrical work or a plumbing repair. As such, I tend to value a certain level of redundancy.

A tool like this offers a quick and easy way to include a bunch of drivers all at once. It fits into the tray of your truck box for easy access when you need a driver. While I wouldn’t use the wire loop maker as my primary tool for this type of work, it’s great that I can get so much functionality in a small tool.

When using the Milwaukee 9-in-1 Multi-Bit Driver, I felt that I could apply a ton of torque to the handle. It’s big because it needs to contain 6 additional bits. However, that size gives you a lot to grab on to. Like the other tools in this series, the individual 3-1/2″ long bits have a standard 1/4″ hex shank. You can use them with your impact driver when needed. In this way, the tool doubles (triples?) as a holder for your most commonly-used bits.

Very similar to the 9-in-1 Multi-bit Drivers, Milwaukee has three different ratcheting models including square drive and ECX drive. Milwaukee even added a compact (stubby) ratcheting model that we love. They swap out a couple of square bits for their #1 and #2 ECX bits. The ratcheting mechanism is intuitive and one of the simplest I’ve yet seen. Simply hold the black rotating ratchet switch while you turn the tool in the direction you want to go. That simple motion locks it into the proper direction.

The ratchet was strong as well, and I was able to use the tool to free a couple of really well-seated screws on an old electrical box. I also swapped bits to remove the Phillips screws that had, in some makeshift fashion, secured it to a stud wall some years ago.

Swapping bits isn’t via the push-through method of the other tools, due to the presence of the ratcheting mechanism. Instead, you use your finger to slide the bits downward and out the bottom. It’s difficult enough that they won’t ever accidentally slip out of the handle but easy enough that, with the possible exception of a fresh #1 Phillips bit, you can get them out unassisted. If you do have trouble, just pull out the active bit and use it to push the next bit down and out.

I’ve also noticed that a majority of ratcheting screwdrivers use a longer shaft and 1″ bit tips. While that’s fine, it also reduces the usefulness of those bit tips in other applications. Using longer bits means I can get some use out of them in a pinch when I need to step up to an impact driver. Also, the Milwaukee screwdrivers give you the ratcheting action, but you feel as if the tool is designed for a wider range of uses. It really feels like you can bear down a lot harder on the fastener.

Like the other 9-in-1 tools, this ratcheting model has an integrated wire loop located to the side of the shaft. This actually makes it a tad easier to use than those which are centered on the larger socket base.

You can buy nearly two dozen different Milwaukee screwdriver sets. From demolition drivers to multi-kits of Phillips, slotted, and square drive screwdrivers, Milwaukee Tool makes it easy to assemble exactly what you need. We’ve identified some of the more popular kits below. You can also fund additional nut drivers, insulated screwdrivers, and more.

There are four Milwaukee HollowCore nut drivers with the now-popular spline socket. This socket fits hex, square, 12-point, and spline bolts and serves as an almost universal socket type for both ratchet/socket systems and hand drivers like this. But where Milwaukee sealed the deal is in how they designed the tool. Their socket drivers, which come in 9/16″, 7/16″, 5/16″, and 1/4″ sizes, are forged with a 3-inch hollow shaft. This isn’t new in the industry, but it’s the right way to design a tool like this.

A hollow shaft lets the bolt go well past the nut and up into the shaft, allowing you to fasten onto a bolt as a deep socket would. It also gives you a greater diameter on the shaft, which translates into a bit more torque when bearing down. Where Milwaukee did differ from what I’ve observed from other manufacturers is that they made the shaft hexagonal in shape. That means you can stick a wrench on it and torque the driver as needed—handy if you can’t get to the bolt. Seemingly to not bulk up the smaller tools, the four drivers have three different shaft diameters: 1/2″, 3/8″, and 5/16″ (shared by the smaller two sizes).

The handles on these nut drivers feature a true rubber overmold and they really fit snug in the hand. Six slightly raised ridges traverse the length of the handle to give you a nice grip. On the ends of each of these drivers are clearly-stated and color-coded markings for the size.

4PC Hollow Shaft SAE Nut Driver Set Specifications

When he's not playing with the latest power tool, Clint DeBoer enjoys life as a husband, father, and avid reader—especially the Bible. He loves Jesus, has a degree in recording engineering, and has been involved in multimedia and/or online publishing in one form or another since 1992.

Clint’s career has covered nearly the entire realm of audio and video production. After graduating at the top of his class with an Associates Degree in Recording Engineering, he began working for the famed Soundelux studios in 1994, one of the largest post-production companies specializing in audio for feature films & television. Working on a myriad of feature films, Clint honed his skills as a dialogue editor, foley editor, and sound designer. Years later, he moved into the expanding area of video editing, where he served as the company’s senior AVID video editor for three years.

Working for such clients as Universal Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, NASA, Universal Studios, Planet Hollywood, SEGA, NASCAR, and others, Clint DeBoer dealt extensively with client management as well as film & video editing, color correction, and digital video & MPEG compression. He also carries several THX certifications (Technician I and II, THX Video), and is ISF Level II Certified.

After founding the CD Media, Inc. publishing company in 1996, he went on to help start or grow several successful online publications, including Audioholics (as Editor-in-Chief for 12 years), Audiogurus, and AV Gadgets. In 2008, Clint founded Pro Tool Reviews followed by the landscape and outdoor power equipment-focused OPE Reviews in 2017. He also heads up the Pro Tool Innovation Awards, an annual awards program honoring innovative tools and accessories across the trades.

Crediting God and his excellent staff for the success of what is now the largest power tool review publication in the industry, Clint DeBoer hopes to see continued growth for the company as it rapidly expands its reach. Pro Tool Reviews critically reviews hundreds of hand tools, power tools, and accessories each year to help inform users about the best and newest products in the industry. Reaching everyone from the construction industry professional and tradesman to the serious DIYer, Pro Tool Reviews helps tool consumers shop better, work smarter, and stay aware of what tools and products can help put them at the top of their game.

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