Is That Viral Milwaukee Drill Attachment Tool From TikTok Really Worth It?
Generally speaking, the purpose of a power drill is to solve the problem of stubborn screws; rather than twisting your wrists screwing in a fastener with an old screwdriver, a quick burst from the best cordless power drills forces it in with a fraction of the time and effort. However, the thing about problem-solving devices is that, more often than not, they're vulnerable to their own annoying little problems.
Case in point, what are you supposed to do if you want to drive in a fastener with your power drill, but it's in too cramped a spot to use a power drill? Normally, the answer would be to suck it up and dust off the screwdriver for detailed work, but much like the drill solved the first problem, there's yet another device that can solve the drill's problem.
TikTok user TWsOriginal, also known as @twstools, posted a brief video several years ago showing a mysterious device that attached to the front of their Milwaukee-brand drill, allowing them to drive in a screw at a 90-degree angle. What is this strange device, and do you need it yourself?
What is it and how does it work?
The device shown in TWsOriginal's TikTok video is the Milwaukee Shockwave Impact Duty Right Angle Drill Adapter. As the name implies, the purpose of this device is to extend and bend your Milwaukee drill or impact driver's drill bit into a 90-degree angle, allowing you to drive in fasteners even when the full device won't fit into a gap.
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It's a remarkably simple device: The back tip of it has a metal adapter with the same fitting as a drill bit, allowing you to stick it into the chuck on your driver. Through a hardened internal mechanism, the rotational power from your driver is transferred through the adapter and into the adapter's own drill bit, giving you just as much torque as you'd normally get with the driver by itself.
The inside of the device also features Milwaukee's proprietary Shockzone technology, which absorbs the brunt of the torque from the driver. Not only does this help to keep the power focused into the adapter's bit, it also helps to preserve the adapter's overall structural integrity. It certainly helps that the adapter is made of Custom ALLOY76 steel, so it can endure quite a bit of punishment.
Should you get it?
Obviously, an adapter of any kind is very circumstantial in its applications. If you don't make regular use of power drills or impact drivers, or you don't make a habit of driving in fasteners in cramped spaces, you probably wouldn't get much use out of it. If you are in that particular strike zone, though, it could prove to be a major labor saver.
Users of this adapter seem to be pretty satisfied with it, considering it has a 4.7 out of 5 user rating at Home Depot. Users appreciate how it fits into just about any Milwaukee-branded driver, it holds fast to any attached drill bits thanks to its internal magnet, and of course, it's small enough to fit into all kinds of tiny nooks and crannies.
DIY YouTuber KmanAuto has found this adapter to be invaluable in the restoration of old arcade cabinets, a scenario absolutely packed with tight spaces, as well as for the removal of small screws between the tires and bumpers of a car.
The Milwaukee Shockwave Impact Duty Right Angle Drill Adapter is available at Home Depot for $26.47.