Milwaukee Matrix Carbide bits hit the market hard with their carbide design and lifetime tip guarantee. But that doesn’t mean it’s the One Bit to Rule Them All. In fact, Milwaukee Shockwave driver bits are still incredibly relevant beyond their lower price. In this Milwaukee Matrix Carbide vs Shockwave 3.0 comparison, we’re going to look at the best times to use both.
Choosing Milwaukee Matrix Carbide and Shockwave 3.0 Driver Bits
- Go with Milwaukee Matrix Carbide bits for highly repetitive jobs that usually wear down bits.
- Drywall
- Decking
- Steel stud framing
- Pre-fab
- Milwaukee Shockwave 3.0 bits are best on for tasks that usually fracture bit tips.
- Thicker metal fastening (14+ gauge)
- Tapcons
- Hard plastics
Milwaukee Matrix Carbide Vs Shockwave 3.0 Driver Bits
If you haven’t already, check out our article that goes into the details of Matrix Carbide driver bits and how Milwaukee designs them. Sorting our the Milwaukee Matrix Carbide vs Shockwave 3.0 debate boils down to the type of work you’re doing. Specifically, it’s about where your bits usually fail.
Milwaukee Matrix Carbide bits do their best work on highly repetitive tasks that cause your bit to fail because of tip wear. These are things like drywall, decking, steel stud framing, pre-fab, and more. They’re the kind of jobs that have you drilling more than 1000 screws a day into material that’s not terribly tough.
Milwaukee Shockwave 3.0 bits are better in tougher driving applications like 14+ gauge metal fastening, Tapcon installation, and hard plastics. These jobs tend to fracture the tip rather than just wearing it down and you’re likely driving 100s of screws a day instead of 1000+.
That’s pretty much the extent of it. By choosing the right bit for the type of material you’re fastening, you get the best life and driving performance out of your bits.
Are you using Milwaukee Matrix Carbide or Shockwave 3.0 driver bits yet? Tell us what you think about them in the comments below!
