Common Uses of Wire Brushes with a Drill?

Wire brushes are the preferred tool for clean up of steel and cast iron parts, be it axle, engine or whatever. They contain no abrasives and will do little damage to the parts and leave the surface free of rust and debris and make quick work of it too. I prefer Weiler Brand wheels. Twisted and Stainless steel wire only. Non twisted and plain steel just don't last and if you are using a air dye grinder they are rated at much higher RPM. Not to be used on aluminum parts as they will remove material if your not careful.

Gloves...... I love the Nitrile coated palm gloves like these for everyday shop use-
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-10-Pack-Large-Unisex-Polyester-Nitrile-Dipped-Gloves/50119585

Excellent grip, Cheap and throw away a pair a day without breaking the bank. Plus they breathe so your hands don't really get sweaty

 

they take skin off quite well if you arent careful -

 

They knock rust and loose paint off stuff really well.
I typically don't wear gloves with power tools, there is a risk of getting the glove snagged and your hand getting twisted and broken.
I do wear tight fitting long sleeves and heavy pants, as well as safety glasses and a face shield cause those wires like to fly off.

 

Safety glasses and face shield are a must. Those wires are like tiny little missles.

True story:
Couple summers ago I was using a 4" wire brush on a 5" angle grinder, buffing off some parts. Some wires embedded themselves in the front of my coveralls. No big deal, just picked them out. Didn't realize I had one hiding in the sleeve of my coverall. Reached around my back when I went to take the coveralls off and promptly drove the 1" long piece of wire straight into my forearm. Just enough left sticking out to grip with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull out. It hurt like a mother f#####!!!!

 

I use all those for anything from cleaning up old truck parts before paint. I use them for weld prep and also use to clean up bolt threads. I use on air tools. Word to the wise. Safety glasses won’t save your eyes. If you use high speed air tools like me, those wires come off and get stuck in my shirt or jacket. They absolutely will bounce off your cheek if they key hole and go under safety glasses. I use goggles and a face shield. I used to be stupid and just wear safety glasses. Safety glasses got me 2 corneal abrasions not from using these but using a weed wacker. If you have ever had a corneal abrasion, you would know the pain. It’s excrutiating for 48 hours and there is nothing you can do about except just let the tears run out of your eyes and wish you were dead

 

Removing rust, gasket material, or oxidation without grinding away too much of the base material like sand paper or a grinding wheel would. Brass brush wheels are softer.

Cleaning without needing to totally rape what you want to clean.

 

My fist experience with wire wheels was with heavy equipment like dozers and loaders. They have a replaceable wear plate/cutting edge that was a harder steel and would take the brunt of the wear. When we replaced them we needed to use a wire brush wheels to clean the mating surface because dirt would work it's way in between the gap between the cutting edge and the blade/bucket. If you just bolted on the new plates over the "dirt" they would work loose quickly and the bolts holding them on would work back and fourth over time and ream out the bolt holes making it an oblong shape. Then you would need to have a welder come in and build up the bolt holes and drill them back out while the equipment was down and not making money/pulling it's weight.

A grinding wheel would do the same thing, and faster, but it would take a bit of the base metal every time, even if you were trying to be cautious. Changing wear plates quarterly stuff like that shows up rather quickly.

As an extreeme example. Something you are dragging through the dirt over and over again why even worry about a wire wheel?