Attachments for wood drills and their types. Grinding and polishing. Milling. cutting

All photos from the article

The main purpose of a drill when working with wood is to drill holes. However, this tool is much more functional than many people think. To expand its functionality, special wood attachments are used, which, in fact, is the subject of this article.

Electric drill with attachment

Next, we will look at what drill attachments exist for woodworking and for what purposes they are used.

Types of nozzles

Not everyone knows that with the help of attachments, in addition to drilling holes with a drill, you can perform many other operations, such as:

• Sanding and polishing wood;
• Making large diameter holes;
• Wood milling;
• cutting;
• Screwing in self-tapping screws.

However, it should be said right away that attachments are not a complete replacement for special equipment. The quality of operations performed with their help is inferior to individual instruments. However, in some cases they can significantly simplify wood processing with your own hands.

Below we will take a closer look at all types of attachments for performing the above work.

Drill Drum Attachment for Sanding Wood

Sanding and polishing

There are many types of attachments for grinding and polishing wooden surfaces, the main ones are listed below:

Felt tips for polishing

The choice of nozzle in this case depends on the operation being performed. For example, if you need to sand a surface in a hard-to-reach place, an excellent option is a sanding attachment on a drill for petal-type wood. If you need to clean the surface from paint or renew it, you should give preference to cup attachments.

Feather drills

Making large diameter holes

To make large diameter holes, several types of nozzles are used:

• Feather drills - thanks to the flat cutting part and special sharpening, they allow you to make holes in wood, chipboard, plywood and OSB with a diameter of up to 60 mm. It should be noted that feather drills are available not only for wood, but also for metal.

Attachment with a set of wood crowns

• Wood drill bit – allows you to drill holes in wood with a diameter of up to 100 mm.
• Forstner drill – has a centering tip. Using such a drill, you can make blind holes, for example, for installing hinges in furniture making.

Pictured are Forstner drills

Advice! When making holes in chipboard and other similar materials, do not press the drill too hard, as this can lead to chips and cracks.

It must be said that there are special devices on sale that allow you to change the drilling angle. Their purpose is to provide ease of drilling in hard-to-reach places.

Cylindrical wood cutter for drill

Milling

With the help of special tips, the drill can even be used for milling wooden parts.

There are different types of cutters (cutters):

• Cylindrical;
• Face;
• End;
• Disk;
• Shaped, etc.

The choice of cutter depends on the type of operation being performed. For example, if it is necessary to make grooves in a part, use disc cutters for wood drilling. To make complex cuts, it is better to use shaped cutters.

It should also be noted that cutters differ in the shape of the teeth, which are:

• Pointed;
• Backed.

The good thing about backed teeth is that, if necessary, they can be resharpened, while pointed teeth cannot be restored.

Wood cutting attachment

cutting

The attachment on a drill for cutting wood is a rather complex mechanism that works on the principle of a jigsaw. It can be used to cut wood up to 20 mm thick, as well as plywood and chipboard.

In addition, the attachment can be used to cut plastic and even steel. Thus, this device will be useful to every home craftsman, unless, of course, there are special tools for cutting a particular material.

However, it should be noted that the price of such a nozzle is quite high, which is explained by the complexity of its mechanism.

Advice! Before making an internal cut with a jigsaw attachment, you need to drill a hole with a diameter equal to the width of the file.

Nozzles for screwing in self-tapping screws

Screwing in self-tapping screws

The nozzle for screwing in self-tapping screws is the simplest type of tip. However, it should be noted that it can only be used with those types of drills that have a speed reduction option.

These products are usually sold in sets containing heads of several diameters. This allows you to work with self-tapping screws and screws of different sizes.

Here, perhaps, are all the most common types of nozzles. It must be said that there are also less popular tips, for example, flexible drills on cables, which allow you to make holes in hard-to-reach places, as well as angle attachments, which allow you to turn a drill into an angle grinder. True, they can be found on sale much less often.

Drill with angle attachment

What to consider when choosing drill attachments

• Using attachments, for example, the same grinding attachments, you can process not only wood, but also other materials - metal, glass, ceramics, and so on. You just need to select the appropriate modification of the device.
• According to reviews from practitioners, identical attachments from different manufacturers can differ greatly in effectiveness and duration of use. Therefore, you should not save on purchasing products from a little-known brand. It is not a fact that such a device will not become unusable after short-term use.
• Even an expensive attachment will cost much less than a special power tool. For example, a grinding machine, for which you will also have to additionally purchase the appropriate accessories (blade, wheel, etc.) depending on the type of product.
• When choosing any attachment, you should focus on the following features of your electric drill: power, chuck size, ability to regulate speed. Otherwise, the ease of use of the device and the high quality of wood processing are not guaranteed.

The article discusses the main types of drill attachments. Each group is available in several modifications; In addition, manufacturers regularly supply some new products to the market. Therefore, the choice of size, configuration, and abrasive must be made for a specific technological operation, especially since it exists and is quite large. This can achieve the highest quality results in wood processing. Considering that it is impossible to foresee everything, especially without extensive practical experience in working with nozzles, it is better to purchase them in specialized stores. Based on the characteristics of the buyer’s drill, the seller will help make the best choice.

Basic rules for working with a drill and attachments

When using an electric drill, like any other power tools, the operating instructions and safety regulations must be strictly followed.

Below are the main ones:

• Before processing, the workpiece must be securely secured.
• The nozzle must be securely fixed in the cartridge. If there is play, it is prohibited to work with it.
• When working with a drill, it must be held with both hands, especially for powerful models.
• The pressure should not be excessive.
• It is forbidden to turn on the reverse mode until the drill has stopped completely.
• When working, you must use personal protective equipment - gloves and goggles.
• After completing the work, do not touch the drill or other tip for some time, as you may get burned.

Note! You should not try to make a nozzle or adapter yourself. The fact is that electric drills operate at high speeds, as a result of which a poor-quality or unbalanced attachment can cause injury.

Observing these simple injuries will make the work safe, which is the most important thing when performing any construction operations.

Features of work

Working with grinding attachments involves a number of features. For example, you need to remember that an electric drill is a short-term tool, and grinding is a long-term process. Processing large surfaces can take several hours. Therefore, from time to time, the instrument must be turned off to cool down. When working, the main load falls on the hands of the worker, so it is important to take breaks from work to rest. Of great importance is monitoring the correct fastening of the tool in the drill chuck and the quality of its tightening. To avoid tool breakage and injury, it is necessary to constantly monitor the integrity of the tool. If cracks, tears, or breaks appear on the surface of the working body, then the drill must be turned off as quickly as possible and the working surface replaced.

Conclusion

Thanks to the large number of woodworking attachments available, the drill is one of the most functional tools. It especially makes sense to use all kinds of tips in cases where the need to process wooden parts arises only from time to time. Of course, for frequent and especially professional work, it is necessary to purchase separate tools.

You can get some additional information on the topic discussed above from the video in this article.

Features of some attachments used for grinding

As already written above, when performing sanding work on wooden surfaces using a grinder, one of the types of attachments is grinding wheels.

Grinding wheels can be made of solid material, or can be made in the form of a special disc-type design.

This type of device is a plate, on one side of which (at its center) there is a threaded connection with which the plate is attached to the angle grinder shaft.

On the other side there is Velcro, an adhesive layer with which sandpaper or replaceable discs (circles) are attached to the plate.

Petal nozzles also differ in their design; they are flat, disk-shaped and round, plate-shaped.

Cord brushes come in cup and disk types, which determines the possibility of their use for processing a particular surface.