Leveling up the Power Drill!

How do you buff your car without spending 7000 for a professional buffing machine?  

Convert your power drill into one and it will only cost you 30 pesos! Read on…

For those who are fond of tinkering with things around the house and the garage, having a reliable power drill is a must. In my opinion, it should be the first power tools that any handyman should have because of its versatility. I bought a 500w variable speed Black and Decker Impact drill a couple of years ago and it was a worthy investment that has helped me in numerous jobs in and around the house.

Drills are usually classified by manufacturers – the one that I have is for home use. The orange Black and Decker range of tools are usually for industrial use and are more reliable (according to the ACE salesman). But for weekend warriors like me, the ones rated for home use is fine.TIP: Always choose a reputable brand when buying power tools – they not only have warranties, they are more reliable and can be subjected to more abuse.  Spend as much as your budget can – Dewalt and Makita are some of the trusted names when it comes to power tools but are more expensive. Tools for industrial use are better (like the orange B&D series) since they are designed to be used on a regular basis. By comparison, the industrial power drill utilizes a bearing system instead of a bushing to support the shaft which is definitely better. Remember the electric fan project I did a couple of weeks ago? (read it here) The concept is the same:)

 

My drill came bundled with this freebie – a set containing different bits and screwdriver attachments :) TIP: Wait for good deals when buying your drill – sometimes, they only give out a 5 piece drill bit set as a freebie – bits and screwdriver sets like this are not cheap :)

 

The inclusion of the different screwdriver attachments is already an indication of the potential of power drills – let your imagination run free – you can attach an extension ratchet and use your drill as a light duty impact wrench.  You can also buy attachments like the ones below:

 

A tool to drill large holes in wood -very handy when installing door knobs.

 

A B&D attachment you can use for sanding and buffing pads (not recommended for buffing as it is too hard and the pad keeps coming off from the backing pad) – costs around 300-400 pesos and is somehow a waste of money :)  - read on to find out cheap alternatives!

With the use of some nut, bolts and washers – you can transform your power drill into several other power tools!

 

As a sander/angle grinder – most discs are usually cheap and can be used to cut and grind metal, wood and tiles TIP: You can only use discs that are in proportion with you drill – balance is important when something is spinning at high RPMs.  COST –around 10 pesos for the bolt, washer and nut.

 

As a cap brush tool – attached a long bolt to hold the cap brush – very very handy when dealing with rust.:) COST –around 10 pesos for the bolt, washer and nut.

 

As a buffer – the one I used for buffing Voxy – since this is a larger disc – I decided to buy a bolt whose diameter is exactly that of a buffing machine – this will ensure that I won’t have unnecessary wiggles when the buffing pad is spinning and that everything is balance. COST:30 pesos for the bolt and nut + effort in grinding :)

 

The catch in doing this is that the bolt is too big for my drill (my limit is 13mm) – to solve this problem, I decided to grind off part of the bolt.TIP: Make sure that you grind the bolt as evenly as you can to maintain the bolt’s balance and proportions.

 TIP: It important to insert the nut when grinding so that you can repair the thread that was damaged by all that grinding later on– it will be difficult to fix the thread if the nut is not in the bolt. :)

 

Afterwards, all that’s left is to screw in the bolt in the buffing pad (see that it is threaded too) and lock it in with the nut.

You’ve got yourself a buffer and saved around 7000 pesos. TIP: When using your drill as a buffer – make sure you allow it to rest after several minutes of buffing . I let mine rest for 3-5 mins after every 15 minutes of work. This will protect your motor from burning itself out.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: The drill is not designed to work as a buffer or sander – always practice safety by making sure everything is balanced and by double checking everything. Don’t abuse the drill too much by putting too much load in it. More importantly – do this at your own risk. Been doing this for years now and everything is fine :)

Please feel free to share more things you could do with the power drill by leaving a comment below :)

Goodluck on your own projects! :)