Looking to buy a dremel. Doesn't actually have to be a dremel, it just need to no be shit. Any ideas?
I'm mainly looking at electric ones right now until I can afford to get a decently-sized air compressor for a die grinder. Speed control would be nice, but not totally necessary.
So what does /diy/ use? What's good, and what's shit? More important, what has LASTED?
>>945684
Shit, ignore tripcode. Was trolling on /k/.
>>945684
You have to go to the extremes.
Buy the most basic 2 speed dremel 200, they usually last well with abuse, but there are some bad ones that shit out. For 40$ its fine, its pretty much baseline.
Then from there any extra money you spend doesnt get you shit. No return on your extra money until you get way up in price.
If you want something that will last, get a Foredom.
But at that price point you are looking at entry compressors and die grinders.
>>945712
Plan is to eventually have a 600gal air compressor hooked up to pipes throughout my entire shop. Until I can afford that, I need to make do.
>>945716
Drop the money on a Foredom and dont look back then.
>>945717
When you say "Foredom" I'm unsure of what you actually mean.
They make lots of different things.
>>945726
Use context anon, they make the best variable speed flex shaft rotary tools in the business.
They are marketed to jewelers, but will do everything a dremel will better.
>>945716
>Plan is to eventually have a 600gal air compressor
>600gal air compressor
>>945754
600gal isn't that big.
Especially in industrial settings.
>>945759
That's not a 600 gallon compressor...
>>945761
Yeah, I know.
Really it's going to be about ten of those spread throughout the facility.
But we all have insane dreams, don't we?
This or nothing.
>>945902
And that is?
>>945903
its very clearly a makita die grinder
>>945684
>Looking to buy a dremel. Doesn't actually have to be a dremel, it just need to no be shit. Any ideas?
>I'm mainly looking at electric ones right now until I can afford to get a decently-sized air compressor for a die grinder. Speed control would be nice, but not totally necessary.
my thoughts:
1--"not shit", Dremel, Sears or any other brand of these tools that has a decent warranty. they're all built about the same, quite honestly.
2--Foredom is much nicer but also corded-only, and sometimes the cord causes issues. cost = $350 starting, and mainly better for glass/crystal/gemstone grinding
3--I have Dremels myself, I have no durability issues, WTF are you guise doing? I much prefer the non-digital variable-speed ones. The digital one has the best speed control but it costs $$$ and you hardly ever need to know the exact speed you are using.
4--air tools--these bring problems of their own, that being messy oil vapors. You can get WAY higher RPMs from them, 50-100K is possible but that's only useful with glass/gem grinding.
A big part of why Dremels suck (I think) is the shitty collet chucks they use; one of these days I mean to get a ER11 chuck and stick that on one and see if it helps much.
Even the generic China cheapo ER11 chucks spin way more concentric than the shit Dremel-style chuck and collets do.
>>945763
if you want a big + high-flow shop compressor, then you get a "screw compressor".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary-screw_compressor
>>945908
It's not just the chucks, the entire motor assembly in devices like this are crap below that $300 dollar mark. So if you're fine using them in short bursts against only soft materials it's probably fine, otherwise stick with the $40 dollar models until you can afford the upgrade as they melt down reliably when used hard. Also the batteries... just no.
>>945902
>This or nothing.
normal die grinders are too big to hold one-handed tho :|
>>945910
Yeah if you're a woman.
>>945909
>It's not just the chucks, the entire motor assembly in devices like this are crap below that $300 dollar mark.
I've had mine apart--I'm the guy who put hybrid ceramic bearings in mine... the motor looked just the same as any others. It even had balancing cuts on it.
The observation that you can burn them out by overloading them doesn't mean they're faulty; any DC-brushed motor would do that.
If you found a ---REALLY--- great motor, you could make your own moto-tool. There are various ER11 chucks and shaft couplers on aliexpress/ebay.
But I don't think you'd find any motor the same size as a Dremel motor, that was built drastically better. A brushless motor would be far more resistant to overloading damage, but also wouldn't spin at as high of RPMs.
~~~~~~~~
This discussion has prompted me to convert mine to ER11.... pic related is the chuck I ordered. The motor shaft in the Dremel I have measured 6mm, so I had to get a chuck from this place on aliexpress.
I can already see that the front of the plastic casing is going to have to be cut out somewhat. The ER11 chuck looks fatter than the standard Dremel chuck.
I will also (probably) lose the locking button, so it's likely to require two wrenches to change bits.
>Also the batteries... just no.
I don't have any of the cordless ones, and I don't think much of those either
Flex shaft and motor.
>>945908
I've had an 8100 (Dremel) burn out on me before. They replaced it.
What was I doing? Cutting preps into 11 gauge steel with no receptacle in sight. I do commercial work and Dremels save my ass for field prep. They do die, believe it or not, but I'd be willing to bet I use my Dremels more in one month than most people do their entire tools life.
>>945968
>$4.50 down
does that work at sears today?
milwaukee brand has the best warranty on their tools and seem to be the most durable in my opinion.
>>945981
>>$4.50 down
>does that work at sears today?
Accounting for inflation that down payment is about $45 in todays money. About $400 if you bought it outright. I don't think Sears carries them anymore and even if they did they would be sourced from China or someplace else shitty.
Flex shafts of that type are universal though. You buy it based on the shaft of the motor you plan to put it on, which have all been standardized for decades. So get a nice 1/2 HP 1725 RPM motor and a shaft for it. They are harder to find though because everyone is selling integrated units these days. You have to have strong google-fu.
>>946003
Im part of the milwaukee shill team here on /diy/, but I just cant see a cordless rotary tool like that being worthwhile.
The hassle of a cord is worth it, especially since that thing looks twice as long and thick as a dremel
>>945908
>wtf you guys doing.
Using my dremel.. Not even stalling it out.. The plastic fucking shit inside where the wires go too MELTED. A year later a friend of mine got the highest end one.. The switch MELTED. Dremel sucks stay far away from the brand!
OP get an engraver used for gun engraving. Its a motor with a flex shaft hooked up. Or just find a 1/4hp motor an hook a flex shaft up to it... Lol
>>946003
>top shill
Proxxon
you guys will hate me but i use a jobmate rotary tool that was on sale for 10$ at canadian tire. It has done me well so far...
>>946146
I bought the cheapest piece of shit ($30USD) dremel a long ass time ago before I learned there was a better electric option. it was like a dr200 or some shit.
Great tool when you really don't care about (i.e. cutting like .010" off of a circuit board etc.) what you're doing since it's so weak that you can't really hurt yourself with it. Everything has do be done at full speed though. Too low, no torque. Too high, no control. In order to get anything done you end up giving up control.
>using grinding disk on steel
>fullspeed
>wheel breaks in half
>ohshitnoglasses.jpg
>hits forehead, bounces of, just mildly hot
That being said if you want something useful for anything other than what is basically sanding, get an electric die grinder.
last weekend I got a used dremel with a power cord and a box of tips and accessories for $10 at a pawn shop. The shop had like 10 different dremels to choose from, all 10 bucks.
I'd recommend you buy used.
>>945910
They're designed to be able to be used with one hand, you fucking manlet
>>946139
>Flex shafts of that type are universal though. You buy it based on the shaft of the motor you plan to put it on, which have all been standardized for decades. So get a nice 1/2 HP 1725 RPM motor and a shaft for it.
a mini-grinder that only spins at 1725 RPMs?...... uh,,, you do know that most of these things top out at 20-25K rpms, right?
with electric motors, larger-diameter motors have lower RPM limits (at the same voltage)--but even the Foredom tools state a 20K rpm top speed.
I do use my dremel on the slowest speed quite a bit, but I do turn it up ~halfway now and then. I doubt I'd want anything that couldn't spin at least 5K rpms...
I don't think you'd really see much of any difference between brushed motors in the same size range.
If you went to using a brushless motor, that would be a step up in durability--because there's no brushes or commutator to burn up,,,, but most of them can't hit 5K rpms either.
>>945684
I bought a Craftsmen version that was made by Dremel on clearance for like $20 some years ago..bought it on a whim and turned out to be the single thing that got me into DIY.
>>946314
Breaking grinding disc, you say? Try my idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2YHmsiMmN0
>>945684
Buy the cheap 2-speed one. It's only 60 bucks, but it's built like a brick compared to the plastic gimmick packages of the higher priced ones.
Take the low end dremel and the expensive one out of the box, hold them in your hand. The weight different alone should tell you how they are made.
>>947121
OP here. Ended up buying a Dewalt 3-speed for $30-something on Amazon.
>>947109
tl;ds:
make small disks from pieces of a real disk
well done tho
