I've been thinking about getting a small rotary tool for sanding small parts. Are the Dremels worth the extra money over something I can get at Harbor Freight? It would not see that much usage and I could buy 3 or 4 of the cheaper ones for the price of one Dremel but I do dislike poor quality tools.
Neal
Dunno. I don't have one of the cheapos, and I haven't really looked at them. Having said that, if I had it to do over again, I would probably buy a cheapo.
My Dremel really hasn't been all that useful. I'm glad I have it, and it's a well-made little tool, but I don't turn to it very often. I left it loaned out for three months, and never missed it once.
The good thing about a Dremel is you can always get parts.
Neal, I bought one of the off brands for $20 at one of those traveling tool shows. It is perfect for the amount of work that I find use. Plastic case with a slew of bits and sanding discs.
-- Ed. O. My woodworking projects at:
The problem with the Dremel is I forget I have it ... and I've the current one for 10+ years. It's used so little that it rarely enters the equation as a problem solver. About a week later I'll think, damn, I could have used the Dremel and one of those little barrel sanders for that.
I can, however, guarantee that if I didn't have it, I'd feel the need almost immediately. It's also does double duty for signing your work without the expense of branding irons and stamps.
I love my little Dremel. I have had die grinders for many years and would be lost without them. I have a larger Makita die grinder I use for the big jobs, but it is the Dremel that gets used the most.
I'm about the same way. Or I have a problem I can't solve with it, and the next time I'm at Lowe's I see just the magic bit that would have worked.
Those bits are sooooo expensive though.
The largest use I've put it to is cutting with those brittle little cutoff wheels. Whirrrrrrrr, slip, crack. Unscrew. Break off remaining bit. Fit new disc. Break new disc. Fit new disc. Screw. Whirrrrrrrrr, slip, crack. Repeat. There's a reason they put 100 of those things in every jar. (Or maybe it's 50. You get the idea.)
Very useful when it's useful though. Cutting off rusted nuts, cutting slots into mangled screws, cutting through car exhaust too hard to reach with a hacksaw...
I've found plenty of other uses for it too, mind you. Just none of them earth-shattering. It's not a tool I'm really jazzed about owning the way some others are. It ain't no drill press.
(Heh... Speaking of drilling. A lesson in using the right tool for the job. Once upon a time, at a previous job, I had to drill a hole in concrete, and the only tool I was given to do this was a Dremel with a 1/8" mild steel bit. I forget why I was trying to do this. Anyway, it was fun. I actually melted the bit and it started throwing off little blobs of red-hot metal. :)
Hey, I know how to do that! The guy on the TV commercial never breaks his though.
I also find the engraving bit helpful also. I marked a lot of my tools with it. The drum sander can be handy for tight spaces. I don't use if often, but once in a while it can be a real time saver. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
Had a dremel for years, it broke down, sent it back and for minimal $$ they replaced with a newer model, great service for a great tool and worth the extra $$
I have been doing Intarsia and Fretwork for 6 years and couldn't live without my 2 Dremels. I have one set up as a mini router and one at my sitting bench with the flex shaft and use it all the time. I am one that prefers not to learn the hard way that I should have known to buy better! However it all boils down to usage. Minimal usage go less expensive, heavy use like mine, go Dremel. Hope this helps
Bob Hebert The Shape of Things Carson City NV
I bought some reinforced discs ("The Good Ones") at a local hobby shop some time back. I haven't broken one since. You can even put a load on the face, not just the edge. Until I got these, I had the same problem you describe.
Thanks for all the input on the Dremel. Since Home Depot is having the 20% off sale, I went ahead and bought a Dremel. I probably will not use it enough to justify the additional cost but it does seem to be well made and I do like a company that stands behind their products as appears to be the case with Dremel.
Neal
Have you tried the fiber reinforced cutoff wheels? They last about
20zx longer. They generally won't break, they just start getting smaller rapidly after you've cut off several screws or nails with them.Tim Carver snipped-for-privacy@twocarvers.com
I "killed" my dremel cutting metal corner bead in drywall with a cutoff wheel. About a buck and a half worth of a coupler and I was back cutting metal. It cost me less than $2 to surgically remove a big chunk of drywall at a corner and save the other side. It got my vote as handiest tool that day.
It might even be made in the USA. Maybe. I think mine was, but I got it close to 10 years ago.
Haven't had to replace the brushes yet, incidentally.
I have indeed, and they *are* much better. The "heavy duty" version of the brittle little wheels is much better too. Of course, I don't have any of those left, so I'm stuck trying to use up the big stack of the flimsy ones.
Yes, I know I can go buy these anywhere, and I suppose I have no good excuse for not doing so, other than it just hasn't made my shopping list. I really don't have any but the most occasional use for these things.
Picked one up this week at daBorg and, yes, still USA made.
Silvan thus spake:
Same here. I've had mine for over 10 years - no problems and no brush replacements. Having lived in 3 cities in Florida and now Atlanta, I never could find the darned thing when I needed it, but now that I have a shop set up, it resides in an old blow-molded camcorder case in it's own little spot on the shelf under the workbench. Handy little f#%$ers.
Greg G.
Wow! Well, in that case, I guess I take back everything else I've said in this thread. I'd have bought the real deal for no more than the price difference probably was. Chiwan has enough money anyway.
I'm glad the OP made the right choice. :)
Axully I just unpacked mine this afternoon - didn't realize the thing is made by Bosch. (Dremel is a division of Bosch.)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.