Hi;
I thought I had posted a reply, Guess I didn’t! Anyway, my Dremel is the first edition Variable Speed model. Now equipped with a Sewing machine Pedal control it is awesome. I use it as well as a drill press using the remains of an old Small benchtop Drill Press.
I think it is one of the REAL Quality tools I have ever purchased. The only thing, Maintenance wise, I have had to do is change the Brushes. And I found another well known tool uses the same ones.The Early Oster Hair Clippers!
HOw ow are things south I am in Bakersfield
My Dremel hangs from a coat hook on the back of the door. Haven’t used it in years
For plastic scale modeling I primarily use mine with a grinding bit to thin out kit parts to a more scale thickness. At the lowest setting and with a light touch I’ve gotten pretty good at it. Especially on kit parts like older aircraft kits it’s great for thinning down bucket seats. I can also use it on tanks to replicate the texture look of cast armor. They are great for grinding off old molded on details if you want to replace them with something else. The tool is also great for grinding off large pour stubs on resin items. Basically the only limitation is your own imagination.
my Dremel hangs on a hook over my desk. it has a flex shaft installed and operates with a sewing machine foot controller. I use it for drilling, filing, buffing, sanding and grinding. With the foot controller I can control the speed from zero to full throtle. I use a honing bit to re-edge xacto blades and points. After my optivisor it is the most useful tool in my arsenal.
I pften make brass or aluminum nameplates for models displayed on bases. I use the Dremel with cloth polishing wheen to polish the plates.
As a dentist, rotary instruments are a part of my daily life. In modeling, I find them most useful for bulk material removal on plastic/putty and cutting/polishing metal.
Having said that, I don’t actually use a Dremel. When we were switching out handpieces at the office, we had a couple older ones that weren’t compatible with the new connections. I brought them home and set up a compressed air line at my bench. The cost of buying an air turbine handpiece new would probably be beyond what most hobby users are going to pay, but definitely worth looking at if you ever have an opportunity to pick one up in the used market. The speed control is far superior to any Dremel and the ergonomics of the instrument make it much easier to use.
I’ve found several usage for it. From thinning plastic, cutting stuff off, removing molded areas I want to detail…
1/350 airplane
Ditto.
I don’t have a Dremel brand but same–same. I have many uses for it and I use it often. It makes quick work of things. GMorrison once wrote something along the line of, it’s too easy to make quick mistakes using one of these. Bill is SO right about that. Been there, done that. And I also follow Timmys comment about injuring one’s self. I have done that too. Depending on the type of bit you are using a person needs to be very careful with it.
But all that said–I continue to use it and it is a big part of my regiment. From grinding to cutting, it makes quick work. In fact. I just recently cut a piece of brass tubing using a cutoff wheel bit. The other thing I use it for is cutting parts from sprue. I purchased a micro tooth saw bit. The wheel is super thin, and the teeth very sharp. It cuts through plastic like butter, and cleanly. I can get right up to the edge of the piece and most often very little cleanup work is needed. Sometimes, none. But that is a bit that scares me and I have to keep my wits about me because one slip will cut you open faster than a heartbeat.
Probably more than you wanted to know. Good discussion.
I don’t use dremel they break usually after a few years you are better off going into harbor freight and pick up a similar tool built by a company called Chicago but only Get the plug in .I have mine 20 years and I paid about 25 bucks .
I have several of the old Dremel 2 speed MultiPro model 770 type 1, small handheld cordless tools. Been using them for over 20 years.
I do a lot of customizing, kit-bashing and scratch-building, so I drill with them, cut with cut-off wheels, and grind and sand with all sorts of rotary tools.
I have 3, so when I wear a battery out, I can move on to the next one.
It’s one of my main tools, and I have learned to refurbish the power supply, no longer available, with new rechargeable batteries from Amazon.
Thank you, YouTube!!!
I use mine every now and then but I have built many kits without it. With a light touch it can make quick work of cut offs and sanding. You just have to be careful. I’ve used it to slightly thin bulkheads so fuselage halves fit better. I’ve also used it to scratch build new capstans for my Arizona after I apparently lost one to the carpet monster. I just used a piece of sprue and ground it to shape. I never thought of the lathe idea. Great tip.
Chemteacher, what level of work are you doing to your Arizona? this is what i’m doing to mine.
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=165105
Wow, nothing that intense. Beautiful work. I don’t have the skills or time. I’m just building OOD aside from drilling portholes, updating the ship’s boats, and crane, etc…
Doing a Pearl Harbor diorama is apparently more popular than I realized. I know of two people in the Twin Cities MN who did them, including Chuck Bower whose Battleship was featured in a recent FSM issue.
Don, mine is not a Pearl Harbor diorama but organized by class from the Wyomings on the left to the Colorados on the right.
Not mine. I had mine for about 20 years. It was the basic model, single-speed rotary tool. Eventually the on/off switch wore out. I contacted Dremel and asked about getting a new switch and/or servicing it. They asked me to send it to them, and after they looked at it, they said they couldn’t repair that particular version anymore. So they sent me the latest version of that model, free of charge.
Yes DRemel is a great company that supports thier products well, and When I was building balsa planes it was the tool you Had to have hands down. BUt for plastic… For drilling holes i use a pin vise. for sanding I use good ole sandpaper and energy. for cutting I use some really nice saw blades I got frome scalemotlesport.com or the tested and true x-acto number 11.
Mine is in an old tool box. I have not used it in years since the speed control broke. I realy did not use it much, just to make armour texture more pronounced. I probably made it look more like concrete! I got them as gifts a long time ago.
I still have my original Dremel that was a Christmas gift. That was about 75 years ago. I no longer use it because it does not have a speed control. It still works, though, after about fifty years of service.