Hello everyone I just got a dremel tool for a gift and would like to know how I can use it for modeling. Any tips you could offer would be great thanks.
Once you get going with it, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it!!!
Here’s mine and the bits I use with it.
top, buffing wheel for polishing plastic to prep for NMF and polishing canopies.
L-R…heavy grinding bit / light grinding bit / round grinding bit and that “T” shaped thing is for stirring paint(made from extra sprue), I highly, highly recommend the stir bit!
Wow, I have and use that exact same one fermis and I even have an almost identical styrene “T” I use to mix paints with. I used the cotton wheels to buff the canopy on my 129 after cutting out one of the sliding glass doors. Extremely handy IMO!!
I have a “corded” Dremel. I’ve found that anything cordless has a limited life span, that is it can only be recharged a finite number of times. My cordless Dremel lasted about a year.
To me the most important feature is variable speed. Get the smallest drill set you can find along with a chuck to fit. The Dremel tool is the most useful tool on my desk.
Enjoy.
I am on my third cordless Dremel. The first had no speed control but was very low power, so it worked well on plastic. The second had a speed control but it was inadequate- too powerful and not a slow enough speed (plus it was hard on batteries). The third one is a gem. The speed control is awesome- I’ll bet the slowest speed is about 30 rpm or less.
One trick is wire brushing my needle files when they get clogged. I do a lot of scratch building and conversions and so do a lot of grinding and such on styrene. The Dremels are great for cutting away those large sprue gate areas on resin kits and accessories. I have lots of the sanding drums and they can clean up putty gobs very rapidly.
You can use it for pretty much anything. Mostly, I use it to do a lot of rough sanding, and then switch to hand sanding to make it smoother. Cutting wheels, small drills are essential for opening up and modifying a kit, plus drilling holes to place parts or add wiring, etc. I have a dremel Stylus, and it’s serving me well after 2 years of use.
AHA ! Welcome to the club. I got one as a gift last year and yes , I wonder how I got along without it ! I keep my big corded model on a sewing machine control and it will go REEEAAAL slow ! This one ,so far is working great on anything I have used it on ,even styrene . The trick is ,even with the cordless , the speeds may be a little high . So use your cordless until it starts to go a WEE BIT slower . now , drill that plastic !! There you have it , how did you do without that thing anyway ? LOL. tankerbuilder
I have gone through three cordless Dremels and a lot more batteries. They are nice when they work but mine never lasted long before they wore out. I have even had problems with the chargers not working. I have three corded Dremels, one with the flex shaft mounted on my work desk, one hand held and a spare. The one with the flex shaft is a single speed and has a foot controled speed control and the others are vairable speed. I will never buy another cordless.
I have had that problem in the past too, and felt the same way. However, my latest cordless Dremel was on sale at my local hardware store at a good price, and- hey, I love it. It must have a different battery type. It lasts a long time on a charge, charges well and reliably, and the speed control is absolutely awesome. You can slow it down so the bit is barely turning! Yet at full speed it has more oomph than previous cordlesses. It took awhile, but I think they’ve finally got it. Better speed control than my corded model.
Dremel sells some 2-speed Minimite-type tools with battery packs for 4 replaceable AA batteries as opposed to the rechargable NiCd battery type normally seen. I got mine as a golf club cleaner/polisher (& spike sharpener?). It is in green translucent plastic as opposed to opaque black. Check the local golf outlet warehouse.
Dremel also sells a pumpkin carving set. Seen this in the local Lowes hardware store, generally seen around the end of September to the. first of October. Check back immediately after halloween to see if you can get one at reduced price. It is in translucent orange plastic.
Dremel’s website also lists a pet nail trimmer version. I’ve not looked specifically for one, but check the big box pet stores.
Sometimes it pays to look around in other types of stores for modeling products. They are generally less expensive than something with a model manufacturer’s logo
I got corded Dremel for Christmas from my wife. Believe it or not… I haven’t had the chance to use it for modeling yet but loving it for project around the house! I have built only one armor kit and several figures for last 4 months anyway. My only question here is there a way you can use one of those real tiny drill bits to work with Dremel?
The Dremel Stylus has served me great for 4+ years. The Lithium-ion battery is much better than the older Ni-Cad batteries that died after so many charges.
Deafpanzer: you’ll have to get different collets to use smaller bits. They make 4 total and I think the 1/32 is the smallest. Although you’ll need the smallest 2 to use all of the drill bits in the typical 61-80 drill sets (like Zona, Squadron, etc.)
Don, can you give me the model number of that Dremel you like? Thanks
It is the 9.6 volt Model 780. Bigger and heavier than my previous cordless ones, but the excellent speed control and longer battery charge life make it worth the extra heaviness. Same size and weight as my corded model, which I don’t use all that much. I only use the corded model for heavy work like hollowing out wood on a scratchbuilt model, and stuff like that. 90% of the time I use the cordless.
Hi Andy~~ Yes you can–any size micro bit----
Get one of these and forget about collets------
should be about $8 HERE or at the local ACE or this one when its on sale—
Hello plumline, I am a retired machinist and I have a series 300 Dremel corded tool with about every attachment they offer. I never thought that this tool would be so usefull in my model building life, but it is priceless when used correctly. I use it in it’s “work station” as a drill press, a small lathe, and grinder. I am constantly finding new applications for it. I see, according to all of these responses that Dremels are really ideal for working with modeling materials
Adam, thanks!!! [Y] I am definitely going to ACE hardware today to buy this. I will just tell my wife we need more weed control treatment… [:D]
The old Dremel Speed Controller is a great add on if you can find one. You see them on Ebay every now and then. $30 is a decent price for one.
-Jesse
I have both a corded and cordless Black and Decker moto tools, similiar to Dremel. They were cheaper at the time and use all the same tools as the Dremel. There are times when the cordless tools is the best to use and times when I find the corded tool is best to use (like when I need POWER ie strenght). I don’t know what the cordless dremel is like but the cordless Black and decker Wizard has removable batteries so I just keep two in the charger and use one in the tool that way I never run out of battery power.
I agree with one poster, get a chuck and forget the collets.
Sorry folks but when ever I see Black and Decker I think of the punch line to some joke I heard years ago, can’t remember much of the joke just the punch line (I think the joke would be considered very un PC)
Anyway the punchline was Black and Decker Pecker Wrecker maybe some of you know the joke.