I keep seeing Dremel tools for sale but I've never known anyone who uses them. I'm primarily a woodworker but I do whatever repairs I can on my house. What does a woodworker or general handyman use these things for?
Thanks, Billy
I've cut rusted nuts and bolts from my cars. I've cut a stuck gas pipe in my house (after shutting off and removing the gas, of course) without damaging the threads of the pipe threaded into it. I've drilled holes in tight places. I've smoothed/grinded metal parts. Lots of electronics hobbyists use it to drill holes in homemade circuit boards.
I don't think they'd have much use for woodworking, though.
Mike
I use one for all kinds of things... yesterday I used my rotory tool to grind a skeleton key down that I picked up at an antique store to work in an old door in a house I am rehabing.
I also use it for:
drilling quick small holes cutting off nails/screws (like off of the backside of old trim so it can be easily reused) cutting plastic, wood, sheetmetal, etc cutting formica counter tops for sinks (large version) grinding metal sharpening
and I have probably used it for other things that I just cant recall right now.
I use mine for cutting small stuff or grinding small stuff. I saw a plumber cut copper pipe with one up behind a sink. A friend of mine use his to put the finished shape on pipes that he smokes. Usually I don't even think about using the thing until I'm finished doing something that would have been a lot easier if I had just thought about the Dremel.
Mike O.
The Billy Smith entity posted thusly:
Polishing, sanding, grinding small stuff. Grinding sharp burrs off bottoms of newly fired stoneware. Cutting hard metal things (Allen keys, for instance). Cutting softer metal things (screws, bolts, etc.) Drilling teeny little holes. Engraving stuff. Cutting screw slots in stripped screws/bolts. Removing grout from tile walls. Routing small slots, etc.
Much more... nice tool. I've had mine for 25+ years.
I use mine primarily for cutting and grinding (i.e. tool maintenance, nails and screws, etc), but just today my son was carving his pinewood derby car with it.
We use it to grind the dogs nails - easier than clipping and leaves them with zero arm shredding snags afterwards.
Ditto on the other's comments too
Warren
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Pretty much sums up how I use mine.
Only use I ever found for a Dremel tool was cutting duct tape.
With a Foredom Typhoon bur, you can carve wood like butter.
It's probably proportional to the amount of handyman stuff you do.
I have the powerful one with a FlexShaft, but I am considering buying a cordless rotary tool.
Have fun.
What do you all think about cordless rotary tools versus more powerful plug-in types? I've got a Dremel Advantage with a FlexShaft. Thinking about buying a rechargeable type.
I use mine, all three of them, for working on my slot cars. They're just about a necessity.
John E.
The Dremel is for that strange job where any "real" power tool woul be a serious risk to fingers and you don't mind spending a while. I have also used it to trim up those places in Formica you can't get to. It is handy for taking apart things that are not supposed to be taken apart like battery packs.
they're indispensable for many jobs. Use rubbing compound on the polishers for brass before clear coating. Use the sanding drums for contouring wood, like fitting trim around pipes - this is fast. Cut screws (say from 3/4" to .650") to maximize grip before installing. I drill holes in a thin scrap piece of wood with the point sticking through the amount I want to cut off, and use the cutting wheels to cut them off to length flush with the wood scrap. Cut 30 at a time, the tip don't matter - this is fast too. The fiberglass re-inforced wheels are expensive, but way better than the regular wheels- well worth the money. Anybody without one is just steps from caveman. grind your own screw heads for a slot screwdriver. ...
i don't think that a cordless would make much difference in what i use em for. i am looking at getting a foredom flexshaft of some sort and a dotco pnuematic pencil grinder as well. i currently have a ryobi that i use fairly regurlaly. but i make knives and build models in balsa plastic and resin, make jewelry and other stuff as well(yeah i know i have way to many interests) as well as woodworking. they are very useful, i used my ryobi to cut a frozen lug nut on one of the wheels of my truck a few weeks ago.
With the brush attachment, nice for brushing the teeth. Gets a little warm, though.
I love electric toothbrushes. Rotary tools are making their way into the house at last. Recently, I bought my maid a rotary dish brush, the one by Black & Decker. It's the first I've seen with a long bristle brush attachment as an accessory. No more cramming one's hand into most size glasses. They say use alkalines but NiMHs do fine.
I had to make a couple of handles for jigs, that looked like handsaw handles. So, I just took a saw handle, traced it and made a template. Used the laminate trimmer and I cut out the blank, and used various tools to clean it up.
I used a 3/8 round over bit, on most of the handle, but on the inside of the handle, The ultra-small sanding drums proved invaluable for cleaning up and shaping the inside of the new jig handle.
I don't have a dremel, but the B&D equilivant.
James...
Mostly for cutting things in-place. Like screws, and floor drain pipe while its in the floor.
My recommendation though is to use it on metal. I cut some shims yestarday and all but started a fire. I cut some PVC pipe and stunk up the basement with what was probably toxic fumes. But it was the only way to do the job.
I use one for:
Coping molding with a pointed carbide burr Small, light-duty grinding tasks Cutting bolts with a fiberglass wheel
Most of the stuff they show them doing in commercials are a bit of a stretch.
Barry
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