I assume you mean something like a Dremel high speed rotary tool with various bits. Here are some general guidelines....
You can divide the bits into three groups - cutting, grinding, and polishing.
The cutting tools will have the largest (relatively) teeth, some look like little gears. These are suitable for fairly soft materials like wood and plastic, and maybe drywall. They are useful for carving.
The grinding tools are either small stones (these are very hard, not rubber) or they have a fine coating of diamonds glued to a metal surface. Both are used for grinding hard stuff like metal, ceramics or glass. The diamond coated ones can grind very hard materials. The stone ones can wear down, but remain usable. Grinding is handy for sharpening and for removing small amounts of metal to shape it - but this is a pretty slow process. You can also etch glass by grinding it, but be sure to keep a little water on the glass or the local heating of the glass will break it.
The polishing tools are hard rubber or fabric or little wire brushes. These are good for polishing things, mostly metal. I find the little wire brush bits very useful for cleaning up corroded contacts in flashlights and other battery-operated devices.
Be sure to wear safety glasses with any of these bits, but especially the wire brushes as they tend to throw out those little wires!
Let me know if you would like any more help. Thanks for using Fixya, and good luck.
Al K
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