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Which Dremel to get?
DUBDUBS
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 04:12 AM UTC
I do not yet own a DREMEL tool, but after a bad accident in which I tried to drill out an exhaust pipe with my X-acto I am seriously considering it. What is the best DREMEL for the money if I want to do basic drilling and rotary tool manipulation?


-Thanks
Sabot
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 04:24 AM UTC
The best thing to own for hollowing out an exhaust pipe is a pin drill, sometimes called a pin vise. X-Acto makes one as do many other makers. It is a hand driven drill about the size of an X-Acto knife and will hold drill bits the size of needles.

Micro Mark sells this type of tool. http://www.micromark.com/

I've got an old Dremel Mini Mate Micro drill that needs a new rechargeable battery. You are welcome to it. All you need to do is find a replacement battery. http://www.dremel.com/
slodder
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 04:39 AM UTC
Nice offer Rob. William if you want to purchase one the biggest thing to look for is variable speeds, the more variable the better. Some are three position switches, off, slow, fast. Others are 'sliders' that get faster as the switch is 'slid' open.
Plasticbattle
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 04:51 AM UTC
I have a Dremel, that my wife bought for me for Christmas a few years ago, that is practically useless for fine modelling. It has a slider to slow down the revs, but even this is still too fast and will melt plastic rather than drill into it. Be sure, when you do buy, that the tool you buy can slow down to almost stop. There are a few cheaper yet similar items available that actually will do this. Check your local hobby or hardware shop and see what they have to offer. Dremel is a pretty reliable brand and they have generally good stuff, but most is not really suitable.
As Rob has mentioned, a pin-vise and a selection of very fine bits will become a very important part of your toolbox if you get one.
WingTzun
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 05:12 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I have a Dremel, that my wife bought for me for Christmas a few years ago, that is practically useless for fine modelling. It has a slider to slow down the revs, but even this is still too fast and will melt plastic rather than drill into it. Be sure, when you do buy, that the tool you buy can slow down to almost stop. There are a few cheaper yet similar items available that actually will do this. Check your local hobby or hardware shop and see what they have to offer. Dremel is a pretty reliable brand and they have generally good stuff, but most is not really suitable.
As Rob has mentioned, a pin-vise and a selection of very fine bits will become a very important part of your toolbox if you get one.



Good advice Frank but all the variable speed Dremels I've seen go from 5000-35,000 RPM's. Is that what yours does?
DUBDUBS
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 05:35 AM UTC
Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll pass Sabot, but thanks for the offer.
dexter059
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 10:34 AM UTC
I got one as a present last year, with the sliding swicth to get the variable speed. Gotta say that has been much helpful to make large and medium cuts for scratch conversions, also for sanding and polishing, but itīs not really suitable for fine modelling. If thatīs your goal, better get more specialized tools as Rob said.

Regards

Klaus
matt
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 04:11 PM UTC
I keep one of



and
Rewview here
mongo_mel
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 06:23 PM UTC
Time for my 2 cents :-)
First, you've gotten a lot of great recommendations here that I agree with.
What I suggest is decide just what you plan on using it for. If you're looking to grind or to drill holes in model plastics, the cordless battery powered Dremel is probably what you want. The speeds can be slow enough to keep from melting the plastic.
If you do a lot of work with resin parts, the corded one might be better for you. It has the power to keep from stalling while grinding off big resin casting plugs. A plus for this model is that it's very handy for small jobs around the house too.
When I went to replace my 20+ year old Dremel, I bought a kit that had both types. So I have just the tool I need for whatever I'm doing.
I got mine at Sam's Club for a good price. Just keep your eyes peeled and you might fine a real bargin out there.
Craig
propboy44256
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 07:33 PM UTC
I agree with most posts, slow is better. If you dont want to spend the big $$$ for the dremel name, Harbor Freight Tools has a no name $9.99 version that goes slow and works just fine for me... do search on harbor freight tools for there website
BroAbrams
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Posted: Monday, February 05, 2007 - 08:30 PM UTC
Rob, I can't believe you'd let go of that gem. I've had a mini-mite for about 15 years and I replaced the battery about 4 years ago. It has always served me well.
Sabot
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Posted: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 12:44 AM UTC
I received a new one about 5 years ago for Christmas. The previous one was around 10 years old at the time and the battery needed to be replaced. My wife knew this but instead of just replacing the battery, she bought me one of those slightly larger MultiPro tools with a dual battery packs, black case, and a bunch of attachments.

Because of this, my MiniMate went into the tool drawer and I haven't had any need for it. A new battery would be all it takes to get it running again. I still have the wall charger and collets for it. I doubt I'd miss it.
mstcls
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Posted: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 01:24 AM UTC
Hey All
I remember years ago seeing a stand that turned your DREMEL into a drill press/milling machine and if you turned the whole thing upside down it became a table saw. The reviews on this product were extremely negative so I never purchased one. Anyone know of a similar product on the market.
matt
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Posted: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 01:54 AM UTC
I have the Drill press..... An dknow od a Router table but no Tablesaw...
If you're looking for the Dp Maybe we can work somethin out.....

Matt
DUBDUBS
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Posted: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 - 02:44 AM UTC
Well I don't build with any resin, so I think I'm going to go with a Mini-mite or similar, I saw one new on Amazon for $27.00 is that a good deal?




-Thanks
GeraldOwens
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Posted: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 - 01:32 AM UTC
An alternative is a single speed Dremel with a separate speed controller it plugs into (just a rheostat, similar to a light dimmer). Dremel makes one (or used to--I haven't shopped for one recently). You can slow the bit to a few hundred rpm, which is not going to melt the styrene.
klingsor
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Posted: Monday, February 26, 2007 - 09:14 PM UTC
What I do not like about the Dremel tools is that they are limited by the chuck size to a range of bits with a standard shank size. My older, cheaper and now out of production equivalent by Minicraft had no such problem, it would hold anything you fit into the chuck which allowed me to use small drill bits with no problem. If you can get an adjustable chuck to fit the Dremel you are laughing. I also found the Minicraft had finer speed control. You could also mount it in a device to convert it into a pillar drill. I believe there are more modern replacements such as those by Expo and they tend to be far cheaper than a Dremel as well.

Dremel's new cordless drill is very nice, good for left or right handers, I like mine a lot but it suffers from the same shank problem as their larger drills. I think one of these should be capable of any fine work you need to do.

This being said I still tend to use pin vices far, far more than powered drills. You have far finer control and if things do go wrong you will do less damage to the model or yourself.
CMOT
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ARMORAMA
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Posted: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 01:32 AM UTC
Ref the minicraft drill i have to agree completly regarding speed control as you can make the chuck slow down so much and go make a cup of tea/coffee before one complete rotation is completed. also no batteries just a flexi lead.
matt
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Posted: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 01:47 AM UTC

Quoted Text

What I do not like about the Dremel tools is that they are limited by the chuck size to a range of bits with a standard shank size. My older, cheaper and now out of production equivalent by Minicraft had no such problem, it would hold anything you fit into the chuck which allowed me to use small drill bits with no problem. If you can get an adjustable chuck to fit the Dremel you are laughing. I also found the Minicraft had finer speed control. You could also mount it in a device to convert it into a pillar drill. I believe there are more modern replacements such as those by Expo and they tend to be far cheaper than a Dremel as well.



Dremel does have an Adjustable Chuck.

I love the "screwdriver" and Chuck I posted above. It's been great for drilling some resin Stuff I've been working on.
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