I haven’t used my dremel on plastic yet. I’ve used it in diorama construction though. I’ve heard that they can melt plastic even on a low setting. Wondering if there is a dremel which will not melt plastic.
Thanks much,
DJ
I have used quiet a few different routers and they only way I can see any melting plastic is if the speed is set too high. Said that never even came close to doing that, all the ones I owned/own have smooth dial settings and not preset speeds (3.000 ~15.000 rpm).
IME, most of them tended to be rathre under-powered resulting in the bit getting stuck in the plastic while drilling or similar.
The rechargeable Dremel MiniMite used at the lowest setting (#1) will not melt plastic. The high setting will make fast globs of plastic.
Personally, I have found the best way to go with a Dremel is to purchase their variable speed control unit. With this in place, you can select super slow speeds (couple hundred rpm) for drilling holes, to faster speeds for sanding, grinding, and cutting. The lowest speed of 5,000 rpm on most of their variable speed models is simply way too fast to effectively work polystyrene.
Gip Winecoff
Thanks for the replies all. I’m glad I read about Dremels melting platic before I tried to use my multipro on a kit.
ty,
DJ
Get the one with variable speed control. I own one made by micro-lux. It goes from 0 to 30,000 rpms.
mark956
Mark,
Will the Micro-lux take the same bits as the Dremel?
Thanks,
DJ
I have a 22+ year old basic Dremel one speed, fast, fast, fast. I picked up 10 dollar lamp dimmer switch that can have that bad bow C R A W L I N G. No melting at that speed. At full speed, a polising cloth will melt plastic.
as i stated before, a $10 knick off dremel that can drill holes… anyone intrested?
Sorry I do have an answer for you.
mark956
I have a minimite and i always wondered why the plastic melted when i would use it on the high speed, so i take it that its not supposed to melt the plastic like it does.
Friction is what causes heat that melts plastic, and it doesn’t matter what tool it comes from. Use a fine or moderately abrasive bit at very low speeds and it usually won’t happen. Use a high speed in anything and it usually will.
what kind of abrasives to use to thin the inner plastice part to simulate battle damage?
I’m not sure, having never done that. Most of what I build is airplanes and if they get that kind of battle damage, what comes next is just a bunch of parts when they hit the ground [:)]
If you use rough abrasives they are going to leave a rough surface on what is cut with them. Fine grit abrasives will cut slower and leave a smoother surface. If you use a conical cutter you can quickly and easily simulate a “penetration” because they will penetrate the styrene in a hurry and leave a lip pushed into the direction of the cut, but the penetration will be round and not splintered.
If you just want to thin some parts the low abrasive parts are best in my opinion. Look at this page: http://www.dremel.com/html/products/accessories/cleaning.html
and there are some tips called “RUBBER POLISHING POINTS:” These are what I use on styrene most of the time because they don’t cut very fast. You still have to be careful though because they will heat the parts and they will start to melt.
For a list of all their tips, check this page:
http://www.dremel.com/html/products/accessories/rotary.html
Here is a thread that was posted earlier on this subject. http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18500 [;)]
A round cutter head, slow, slow,. slow speed, and a delicate touch
When I found my Dremel virtually useless on plastic due to the excessive speed, I bought a battery-operated (2AA) one like in the picture, but the quality was bad, it feels like the bearings were shot. So I found one at Radio Shack that takes 4AA batteries, and it works great. Comes with 3 chucks and some bits, and the batteries are in a separate case connected by a wire. For $30 I found it a lot better than the Dremel for plastic and the odd woodwork job around the house. It’s number 641-8952. See the link
http://www.radioshack.ca/estore/Product.aspx?language=en-CA&product=6418952&category=Tools+Tools+Tools&catalog=RadioShack
When I use the foot pedal as discussed in the previous topic, I can fluctuate the speed up and down with great ease and control. By doing this in short bursts I avoid melting the plastic. I use a wide variety of tips depending on what material I’m working with and many tips work for plastic too.
I agree with mahoneymem. Before I switched to Minimite, I used the foot pedal I had for my airbrush compressor and after some practice you can make that dremel tool do anything you want it to without melting the plastic. Foot pedals are inexpensive, too.