5 Drill Attachments you Never Knew about!

Cordless drills are handy and versatile tools. From installing a doorknob to framing out your basement, chances are the cordless drill is your most frequently used tool. However, driving screws and drilling holes are only a fraction of what a cordless drill can do, There are many drill attachments you should know about from drill attachments for sanding to attachments for cutting.

If you’re curious about how you can make better use of your cordless drill, check out this list of 5 different ways you can use your drill, with products from LINE10 Tools.

Drill Attachments for Buffing and Polishing

Polishing and buffing metal, ceramic, glass, or other materials is easy with a cordless drill and a set of polishing/buffing attachments.

Whether you want to polish your rims to a mirror shine or metallic trim on your car or motorcycle or buff your stainless steel kitchen sink, a drill will save you time, effort and money.

Since cordless drills usually have speed settings, you can control the intensity of the polish/buff to work at your own pace and avoid damaging the material.

A set of softer or firmer polishing attachments can help remove surface dirt, grime and even water stains from metal surfaces or fixtures. Use your favorite buffing or cleaning compound with the attachments to achieve a perfect mirror like shine.

Cotton / Cloth Buffing and polishing attachments come in a variety of sizes to fit into any space. They can be used with any cleaning, polishing or buffing compound and most come mounted on ¼” hex shafts to fit easily on any drill / driver.

Drill Attachments for Sanding

Sanding can be a tedious task. Ask any woodworker, and they’ll tell you that it is likely one of their least favorite tasks. A cordless drill, however, can alleviate some of that work.

There are a few ways you can use your drill as a sander. One is by attaching a drum sander on your drill or drill-press. Because of their cylindrical shape, Sanding Drums and Sleeves sets are ideal for smoothing up inside holes, cleaning up bandsaw marks from rounded cuts, sanding off edges, rounding corners, or removing burrs from cut wood or metal.

Alternatively, you can use flap sanding wheels. Which are sanding attachments made up of small squares of sandpaper mounted around a wheel with 1/4 inch shank. When the wheel rotates it “flaps” the material, gradually sanding the surface with a little bit of flexibility to produce more delicate blending and finishing, without the risk of overheating and burning the material.

Flap sanding wheels are ideal for rounding off edges or removing small imperfections from finished pieces, and cleaning up pieces after heavy sanding. These attachments are versatile and come in a variety of grits and sizes and will fit you die grinder or drill or a drill press.

Drill Attachments for Wire Brushes (Rust Removal)

Paint stripping can be a messy job. Using liquid stripping chemicals and compounds is time consuming and highly toxic. A wire brush attachment can perform heavy duty cleaning jobs like paint stripping and rust removal from metal surfaces quicker and cleaner than using solvents.

Wire brush attachments are known for their heavy-duty cleaning ability. They are especially great for removing stubborn substances from materials, such as paint, glue residue or rust and they are great for many welding tasks like edge blending, deburring metal cut edges and weld removals.

You can use a set of brass-coated wire brushes that are mounted on ¼ inch shanks to fit into any drill / driver, which is very convenient and handy solution for rust cleaning or prep works and certainly beats using a manual wire brush by hand.

The brass-coating on wire bristles is very helpful in reducing sparks when the wire brush is applied to the metal surface at very high speeds. It will also help to prolong the life of the wires, but it is also a good conductor of heat. Therefore you will want to use your drill at an RPM of 4500 MAX.

Pro tip: When you feel your wire brush attachments are becoming dull after many uses, run your drill in reverse, it will work to re-sharpen the bristles tips and breath new life into the brush.

Drill Attachments for Grinding

Sometimes you need to use a grinder for a light job but don’t have a power source nearby or you don’t have a grinder handy or don't even own one! You can use a drill arbor adapter, It will give your drill a 1/2 inch arbor that will allow you to fit any grinder wheel with a 1/2 inch arbor hole onto your cordless drill to function as a grinder in a pinch.

The adapter is basically a threaded arbor on a shank, with a nut and two extra-wide washers to hold the wheel on both sides. To insert the disc, slide the nut and top washer off the top of the shaft. Put the disc on, then the other washer and nut. Tighten the nut so the washers firmly hold the disc from both sides. Now you’re ready to grind.

Using a cordless drill with a grinder or cut-off disc is a great way to reach hard-to-reach places, such as underneath a vehicle, outside in the shed or anywhere else where accessibility is an issue.

With 1/4 inch round shanks, this arbor adapter fits all standard drills or drill presses. As with any grinding job, be sure to wear safety glasses and personal safety equipment in order to avoid injury.

 Check out this arbor adapter demo:

Drill Attachments for Cutting

Cutting metal is never an easy task. Of course, you can use a grinder with a cut-off disc, but these are large, most are corded tools that are limited by size and the fact that they have a cord, in most cases.

Metal cut-off kits come with some metal cutting discs and a ¼” rounded mandrel that can fit into a pneumatic air die grinder, In a pinch, you can easily fit the mandrel into your drill and use it as a cutter.

Cutting discs are extremely versatile. Many backyard mechanics use them to cut off rusted bolts. They are also good for cutting a variety of metals. Cutting steel roofing and siding is a breeze with these discs.

Metal cut-off discs can be used at speeds up to 27,000 rpm, so you can attach these to even the most powerful cordless drills. Crank up the speed to the top setting and watch it cut through metal like butter.

One of the best ways to customize your cordless drill is to have an arbor adapter, as described above. An adapter will allow you to get creative and find even more ways to use your drill.

This list should help you utilize your drill to its maximum ability and maybe even save you from buying a specialized tool that you might use only once. Check out LINE10 Tools full range of power tool accessories to find creative ways to use the tools you already own to accomplish the tasks you need.