My take on using a stillson wrench on drywall anchors

I was on a job in Austin last month and the lead guy insisted I use a stillson wrench to tighten those metal drywall anchors into the studs. He said it's faster and gives more torque. I tried it on one anchor and it crushed the drywall paper and dented the metal. I had to cut out a 6x6 patch and fix it. From now on I'm sticking to a regular socket driver for anchors. Anyone else run into this kind of shortcut that just causes more work?

3 comments

3 Comments

maryt627d ago

Nope, that's just dumb. A stillson is for pipe, not drywall. Some guys just want to flex their tools instead of doing it right.

xena17d ago

Fair point, but a Stillson works fine on stubborn drywall screws too.

patricia_schmidt145d ago

Stripping a drywall screw with a Stillson is just asking for trouble. A good impact driver or a simple Phillips bit works way better for that job. People get hung up on looking like they know what they're doing instead of just doing it right. Pipe wrenches have a job, drywall is not it. Flexing with the wrong tool just makes you look like you don't own a basic screwdriver.