The rotary tool is one of the most versatile power tools you can have in your toolbox for use on your workshop projects, or even around the home in some cases.
With literally hundreds to thousands of attachments available on the market today, your rotary tool can see a wide range of uses – one can say it’s the swiss army knife of power tools. Like a swiss knife, the rotary tool is compact and best suited for a myriad of smaller jobs.
What Exactly Can A Rotary Tool Do?
A rotary tool can cut, polish and resurface small pieces of material with the right attachments. Since it’s a power tool you can use as an oversized pen, rotary tools have also been used for fine work like etching, engraving, and cutting inlays as well.
You can rout and drill small holes or perfect circles with the right attachment. A quick change of accessories and you can grind, deburr and polish metalwork, too. Around the house, you can use the ultra-versatile rotary tool as a cleaning tool to strip old paint and rust, and you can even sharpen household tools like knives and axes with it.
The rotary tool is also one of the few tools you can use to sharpen a saw – even a chainsaw.
The wide range of accessories and applications make this tool suitable for wood, metal, ceramics – you can apply the rotary tool to ceramics or even glass with the right setup. It’s not just the usual workshop materials that the rotary tool is useful for. You can use it on pretty much anything you need to carve or shape – marble, hardened steel, porcelain, plastic, and even fiberglass.
For niche applications, the rotary tool also sees some use with glass, jade, and even precious stones. It’s not a very powerful tool, that’s a given. What it lacks in horsepower though, it makes up in sheer versatility, compactness, and overall ease of use.
If you can use a knife or a pen, you can use a rotary tool. That’s why it has become an indispensable part of every DIY craftsman’s toolbox.
What Type of Rotary Tool Should I Go For?
Rotary tools are very simple power tools – they don’t have much in the way of extra features like dust collection or guides. As far as rotary tools go, you should consider the type of work you want to do with them.
Will you use your rotary tool for the occasional detailed craft work, or will you be using it as an all-around tool for most tasks onsite that your other tools don’t already cover?
Compact Rotary Tool / Lightweight Rotary Tool
These rotary tools are the super handy, versatile tool you can use for a wide variety of smaller work. They are just right for woodworking and other crafts like engraving or polishing.
Most models already come with a good number of attachments and accessories, but the majority of aftermarket attachments are designed with the compact rotary tool in mind. I would consider these rotary tools in the $20 - $50 range, personally.
Features to Look For
Durable motors are a must for a tool that can spin some 30,000 RPMS or more. Good rotary motor brands come with no-maintenance motors with sealed ball bearings for quiet operation and years of service.
Replaceable motor brushes in corded models let you extend tool life and maintain performance.
A docking station for the cordless models can continuously charge the unit while it sits on your workbench (cordless models).
LED lighting illuminates the target area so you can see the detailed work you are doing better.
Variable speed settings on cordless models let you save battery power
Charge indicator gives you a good idea on how much running time you have left.
Accessory kit included will greatly expand the range of projects you can take on with your rotary tool.
Tool-free accessory changes let you switch attachments without needing a toolbox.
Electronic feedback system helps the tool maintain the RPM rate for more consistent results when carving or engraving.
As a result, they have the widest variety in terms of attachments, and they have the widest range of uses as a result. Most DIY enthusiast will find the compact rotary tool more useful just for the sheer versatility, especially for the price.
Compact rotary tools emphasize light weight and ergonomics over features, thus some models come as simple single speed tools that run at the highest speed.
As power tools, they are designed to be versatile and easy to replace. On the other hand, these rotary tools are no replacement for custom-built power tools like drills and circular saws.
Heavy Duty Rotary Tool
Heavy duty rotary tools are still the same handheld tool concept but made just a bit more durable to let them do certain tasks faster and more effectively. The rotary tools that are above the $100 range will usually fall into the "heavy duty" category, for the most part.
They are also called cutout tools, for the usual purpose they are used for – cutting out clean circular holes in sidings, drywall, and other places around the house.
Heavy duty rotary tools are also called spiral saws, and they are often used as a drop-in replacement for shears. They can be used very much like a handheld router that you can move freehand to make not just holes and cutouts, but also complicated cuts and shapes.
Features to Look For
- Multiple speed settings let you control the rotation speed depending on the material you are cutting.
- Universal collet system lets the tool make use of not just standard attachments, but aftermarket accessories as well.
- High torque motors that will not fade or bog under load is crucial for making clean, neat cuts that will not crack the material or dull the spiral blade.
- Adjustable depth guide lets you cut into the stock material to a pre-set depth.
- Dust and debris venting system helps your work area stay clear of debris.
Unlike routers, heavy-duty rotary power tools with the right set of spiral saws can cut a wider variety of metal. They can work with wood, hardwood, and drywall, as well as laminate flooring. The can also be used on granite, ceramic tile, and cement board as well.
With the right accessories, that can also safely cut plexiglass and sheet metal, too.
They are slightly larger and a good deal heavier compared to the compact rotary tool, and they are more preferred on the job site rather than on the workbench.
If you need a straight cut across a wide swathe of material, a benchtop scroll saw will give you straighter cuts with less effort. For most other types of small cutouts and holes, a heavy duty rotary tool can get the job done as long as you can control the cut well.
Comparing Rotary Power Tools
There’s a good selection of rotary power tools on the market right now, even when compared to other power tools.
Still, most of the time you can easily narrow down your choice of different rotary tools depending on the accessories and attachments you want to use.
Power
Power ratings for rotary tools are usually given in terms of the Amps (A) that the built-in electric motor draws. For cordless models, these figures are usually specified in terms of Volts (V) instead and as always, Ah plays a critical role in a little bit of added power and significantly more importantly, run time.
Some battery-operated models come with built-in batteries, so it’s even more important to take note of the capacity of the battery that the tool comes with. This figure is usually given in Ampere-hours (Ah). Some manufacturers also specify a charging time for the battery – expect to wait three hours or so to bring back a battery from empty to full.
Speed
Speed is usually specified in terms of Rotations per Minute (RPM) – the higher the RPM, the faster the tool spins and the cleaner and more precise your cuts and holes can be. High RPM also lets you remove more stock material faster when using your rotary tool to sand pieces, and polishing metal benefits from a higher speed, as well.
That said, manufacturers often specify speed in terms of ‘No Load Speed’, or the speed that the tool spins when it’s up in the air freely. This figure roughly indicates the speed that the tool is capable of under load but is not as accurate, depending on what you're doing and the material you're working with.
Accessories and Attachments
The versatility of your rotary tool is determined by the kinds of attachments you have on hand. Most attachments fall into broad categories depending on their use.
- Cutting wheels enable precise cuts on the material they are meant for. Make sure to use the right cutting wheel for the material you will be working on.
- Spiral drills are versatile bits that can drill or cut. Like cutting wheels, different spiral drill types are meant for different materials.
- Tile cutters are designed to cut or carve ceramic tiles and porcelain.
- Engraving cutters come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from calligraphy engraving tips to wood carving wheels.
- Sanding pads are meant for finishing small areas of wood, metal or masonry, where a larger sander will not be as effective.
- Wire brush wheels can clean and polish, or perform rust removal and surface prep over smaller areas.
