I need to cutoff an anchor bolt (just the neck, no bolt) that is bent down to the concrete in a tight spot. Can this dremel with this cutoff wheel do the job? Will it hurt if the cutoff wheel has to cut a little into the concrete? I don't remember the diameter of the bolt but assuming it to be about 3/4", any idea how long it might take?
Any good on line vendor with good prices for this dremel tool? I have a homedepot in the area.
Is the spot too small for an angle grinder? A Dremel may work, but you will need to take it slow and have extra cut-off wheels standing by. My experience with them is that they break easily if you don't keep the angle correct. Wear goggles.
Also, use the fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels; they will not usually break, but they will wear down ..... Oops, I just googled it all, the 456 IS the fiberglass reinforced wheel. BTW, the battery Dremel, while a pretty good tool, is not as powerful as the AC tool. I have both .... actually 3 (I know you think I'm nuts) both a battery and AC Dremel and an AC Ryobi. The Ryobi has a slightly slower speed (only 20K, the Dremel is about 30K), but much more torque. The battery Dremel is my tool of choice when I go to grab one of them, however, it will stall on big jobs. In this case I would use the Ryobi or 2nd choice, the AC Dremel.
I'll check out the Ryobi but I'm a bit biased due to my ignorance perhaps. I always hear about Dremels and not much about Ryobi's. My dad even once had a dremel for doing wood carving projects.
On my original post I think I was in error. I think this bolt may be
1/2" diameter not 3/4" diameter but I'll assume your reply will not change. I'll look at Ryobi's now on line and see what gives. And no I don't think you're nuts. I grew up around a lot of tools so I almost think it's normal . Thanks Art again.
Since you "asked" here's my take on Dremel. The older units with the variable speed knob were very good. When mine broke (the armature was bad) I called Dremel to order an armature. NO! But, for some nominal fee and my old unit, they would "give" me a brand spankin' new unit. I have found that the newer units are poorly, internally balanced and the slide speed control gets bumped or vibrates to a new position on its own. They also have lower torque.
As I mentioned, I have one of the new
10.something Lithium battery units. The speed control is now a thumb wheel which is an improvement. The motor, etc. is well balanced at all speeds and doesn't seem to cause excess vibration at any speed. It is a little weak in power, but that might be expected. As I said, this is my 1st grab because it is sooooo convenient having no cord.Maybe my slide control AC Dremel was just a bad unit, however, I think the lower torque (as compared to the older units) was something they "designed" in for cheap. As for the Ryobi, I don't know if they even still make them. I probably wouldn't have bought it, but it was a gift. All 3 are alway ready to go on my workbench .... boy am I a nerd!
Don't send a boy to do a man's job. Harbor Freight has angle grinders for $20 or so and as many in this NG can verify, they can be real time savers on home projects. Spend the money, buy one and you'll be surprised at how many miserable chores it can make easier. Dremels are nice finesse tools that shouldn't be abused by substituting for an angle grinder. My nickels worth...
Joe
I have to call up my local homedepot.com and ask them if the unit burns out, if they will exchange it since I read some stories about this happening. Dremel puts a 5 year warrantee on it but it's a hassle to go thru the mail for returns besides the expense in cost and time. I also read some people claim they like the older units better as you said due to more torque but the rpms is a bit less as well as the amperage. I'm no guru on this stuff tho, just repeating what I read earlier while researching the dremel. Personally I'd rather go by people like yourself who can tell me their own experiences. I did read from one owner that he burnt his unit out quickly but thinks he was partly at fault for pressing it down too hard so I will try to remember that when I use mine for the first time and try to be patient when cutting the bolt. I hope that I'm pleasantly surprised and I will wear goggles and gloves. I wonder since this is near a wood post if I need to protect the wood from sparks tho I might be able to turn around and cut it so the sparks shoot the opposite direction. And I hope I can figure out how to put the cutting wheel on this tool. I read some people claim the instructions are poor.
Can it cut a 1/2" dia. bolt about one inch away from a wood post bent down toward the face of the concrete? If not, that's why I'm considering the dremel, etc.. .
Cut out a 4.5 in diameter disc from cardboard, take it to the site, and see whether a cutoff wheel of that diameter would be able to get into the bolt. Keep in mind that the larger cutoff wheel can cut all the way through the bolt from one side if you have access, while the Dremel can't easily cut that deep and you'll probably have to approach the bolt from several directions to get all the way through. Also keep in mind that the larger grinder has several times as much power as the Dremel, so you can cut through the bolt several times (e.g. cut off the bent part of the bolt first, then cut it off almost flush) in the time it will take for the Dremel to go through it once.
I have a couple of Dremels myself, and the little cutoff wheels are wonderful for small jobs, but I'd use the 4.5 inch grinder on anything larger than about 1/8 inch diameter as long as the larger wheel will physcially fit.
I had a piece of 3/4 rebar or bolt (too rusty to tell any more) sticking out of concrete. It took a couple of minutes to cut it off with a cutoff wheel, then I switched to a grinding wheel to take the remaining stub down flush with the concrete.
I have one angle grinder that cost me $20 - that's as cheap as a no-name Dremel, and certainly cheaper than a 400 XPR. Everybody ought to have one.
(Though, in retrospect, I wish I'd spent just a little more. The $20 unit has a metal fan on the motor shaft, and is noisy as heck. All of the name-brand grinders, plus no-name ones down to about $25, have plastic fans that seem to be less noisy and probably more effective.) Still, I've used the $20 grinder for a few hours now, and it does work.
Dave
Just to update this, I used this setup and I had it cut out in about 5 to 10 minutes. I did notice the dremel making a loud noise when it was beginning to get hot at the highest speeds only. After I tried it again a day later, the high speed noise seemed normal. And for what it's worth, I didn't press the cutting wheel much on the bolt but tried to let the wheel do the cutting. And I checked before I bought the tool from home depot, for fear of a burn out and their return policy was 90 days. I thank all for the advice. I really don't think there was a better tool for this tight spot. Now I may try to grind it down a little but it's not as important to me the cut was.
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