I have owned a Dremel for years and it’s never failed me. In it’s standard form it’s poorly suited for the type of tasks modellers ask of it. However all you need is the flexible shaft attachment that fits comfortably between your thumb and forefinger to create a precision tool. By hanging it vertically you can create some distance, negating some of the harsh decibels Dremels emit. Repair parts are also easy to obtain. Harbor Freight also sells a flexible shaft grinder / carver with a convenient foot switch, $48.99 on sale with a 20% off coupon it’s $39.20 as for reliability I’m not sure.
I use a very similar set up but mine is a Foredom motor tool. I like that foot control a lot and the variable speed aspect of it is great. Not cheap, but it should last for a long time.
I picked up one of the bead reamers at Michaels yesterday. Neat coincidence- the normal 40% off coupons in Sunday’s paper were, for this week, 50%! Anyway, the set does come with three collets- the largest of which works fine on normal 1/8 tool shanks. The speed control is not the greatest- minimum speed is about 5000 rpm. If I need slower I still have the Dremel cordless. But the bead reamer is much smaller and lighter than either my cordless or corded Dremel, so I expect to use my bead reamer a lot where the faster speed is okay.
I just bought a single speed (on/off only) because a friend of mine gave me a Dremel foot controller which had belonged to his mother and for which he had no use. Thing is like brand new and gets the Dremel tool down to somewhere between 400 and 500 rpms minimum. Really like it so far.
I bought a dimmer switch (for a lamp) built into an extension cord at Walmart several years ago. It worked as far as slowing the Dremel down but the slider switch that controlled the current was very frustrating to work with.
