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Dremel Stylus: chuck or collet for tiny drill bits?

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  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: Tacoma, WA
Dremel Stylus: chuck or collet for tiny drill bits?
Posted by CuriousG on Thursday, December 24, 2009 8:25 PM

I treated myself to a Dremel Stylus for Christmas this year (I've been good Santa, I swear! Angel)  Will be delivered next week. Question: Will the chuck or collet on the Stylus accept the smaller drill bits, little ones like #76, 79, 80? (The ones that I seem to snap in two after every three or four holes...) Or is there an accessory chuck available for it, maybe a quck-change type? Thanks, George

George Ireland

"If you can't learn to do it well, learn to enjoy doing it badly."  - Ashleigh Brilliant

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Third rock from the sun.
Posted by Woody on Friday, December 25, 2009 8:13 AM

I put a Dremel quick change chuck on mine as soon as I got it. I've never had a problem with smaller bits but then again I tend to use a pinvise for tiny drill bits. I think you'll love your Stylus. I have 5 Dremels but I always seem to reach for the Stylus and the base keeps it charged and ready to go.


" I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way." --John Paul Jones
  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Long Island, NY
Posted by Intruder38 on Saturday, December 26, 2009 9:45 AM

As I recall, my Stylus came with a small accessory kit which contained an additional collet for smaller size shanks. I can't honestly tell you it will take the smallest sized bits as I've not tried that. Personally, I am reluctant to use the really small bits in any power tool because of the risk of breakage. Hope this helps.

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Indiana
Posted by hkshooter on Sunday, December 27, 2009 8:14 PM

The collets in the Dremel set will not fit bits that small. The small collet is for 1/16".
There is no practical need for bits that small to fit the motor tool for if you think you break them now just wait until you put a motor behind them.
I have a Stylus and love it. The only time I have used my corded tool since then is when I left my Stylus off the base and ran it down.

 

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Neenah, WI
Posted by HawkeyeHobbies on Monday, December 28, 2009 2:28 PM

I wrap small shaft bits with masking tape to increase their diameter to fit the collets snuggly.

Gerald "Hawkeye" Voigt

http://hawkeyes-squawkbox.com/

 

 

"Its not the workbench that makes the model, it is the modeler at the workbench."

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: Tacoma, WA
Posted by CuriousG on Monday, December 28, 2009 10:52 PM

Thanks for the tips! I like that idea Gerald. I will try the masking tape on the bits I have in pin vises. They seem to slip back down in the collet no matter how much I tighten the nut.

I ordered some Dremel 4486 chucks. Small drills or no, that quick change ability sounded like a nifty improvement over the collet. That little things gets rave reviews and everyone seems to wonder why it's not standard issue with the Dremel rotary tools.  (I guess becuase Derel would rather sell them to me separate for an extra 8 bucks. )

George Ireland

"If you can't learn to do it well, learn to enjoy doing it badly."  - Ashleigh Brilliant

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Neenah, WI
Posted by HawkeyeHobbies on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 8:39 AM

I acquired a large assortment of dental burrs which don't fit the collets of my Dremel, so a couple wraps of masking tape allowd me to insert them into the chuck and they stay in place nice and tight. If your pin vise isn't grasping even the smallest of bits, use it for only larger bits. I suggest looking at Excel's latest pin vise.

 

 

Or my mainstay for a pinvise has been a welding tip cleaning tool. These are available where ever welding supplies are sold. I picked mine up at a True Value hardware store. It includes an assortment of small bits.

Gerald "Hawkeye" Voigt

http://hawkeyes-squawkbox.com/

 

 

"Its not the workbench that makes the model, it is the modeler at the workbench."

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Monday, January 4, 2010 5:00 PM

I don't have a Dremel Stylus, but I've been messing around with Dremel tools pretty regularly for more than 35 years.  I just took a look at the instruction manual for the Stylus (Dremel kindly makes it available on the company website.)  It's pretty clear that it uses the same collets that virtually all other Dremel Moto-Tools made in the past 40 or 50 years use.  (They've apparently been changed a little bit - the sizes are now identified by rings around the shanks - but I'm pretty sure they're interchangeable.)  Four different ones are available; they're designated 1/8", 3/32", 1/16", and 1/32".  Those are the maximum sizes the collets will hold.  The 1/32" one clamps down to zero.  I've used drill bits down to #80 in Dremel 1/32" collets hundreds of times.  (Caveat:  I have a vague recollection of having bought, many years ago, a 1/32" collet that was defective, and wouldn't clamp all the way down.  I took it back to the hobby shop.  Another caveat:  I've had my current set of collets for quite a few years; I suppose it's conceivable that the company has changed the way they're made since then.  But I'm pretty sure that if your collet won't hang onto a #80 bit, either you've got the wrong collet or it's defective.)  If you need a new collet and don't have a hobby shop within driving distance, try Lowe's, Home Depot, or even K-Mart.  They often have Dremel displays, with racks of accessories including collets.

Machinists claim that collets are, by definition, more precise than adjustable chucks.  I imagine those people are right, but I've also never had any particular trouble using small bits in a Dremel adjustable chuck.  (Again - that comment is based on experience with quite a few older models, but not with the new Stylus.)

I hope I may be forgiven here for climbing up on one of my soapboxes and repeating a plaintive cry I've uttered quite a few times in this forum.  Dremel tools are great, but for modeling purposes the blamed things turn too fast.  Every time Dremel comes out with a new design, the literature hypes the speed and power of it.  For modeling purposes - especially for those working in wood and styrene - every Moto-Tool is far more powerful than necessary.  And the slowest speed on any adjustable-speed one is plenty fast enough - and the fastest speed is almost useless except in hard metals.  (OK, at the slowest speed you can drill styrene and wood acceptably IF your bit is brand new and sharp.  But if it's even slightly dull it will melt the plastic and burn the wood.)

I won my first Dremel tool in a model contest (the things were too expensive for an undergraduate student in those days) in, if I remember right, 1972 or 1973.  It was a basic, single-speed model with a sleeve bearing, and when I fondled it in the box I thought I'd attained Nirvanah.  Then I tried it out on the ship model I was working on, and discovered that the tool was almost useless - and, in fact, downright dangerous.  So I scraped up the money to go down to the hobby shop and buy a "Tabletop Speed Controller."  What a difference!  This thing consisted of a little metal box with an electrical outlet on one side and a knob on the front.  Plug the Moto-Tool into the outlet, plug the outlet into the wall, and adjust the speed with the knob.  When the knob was turned all the way to the left, the tool stopped.  I could turn the tool on, put the tip of the bit exactly where I wanted it with the bit sitting still, then gradually ramp up the speed until the motor was running exactly as fast as I wanted.  Great.  I eventually bought two of those "Tabletop Speed Controllers" - one for the Moto-Tool and one for my old Unimat lathe/drill press.  They also worked for various other jobs in the shop:  controlling the heat of a soldering iron, for instance, or even varying the size of the picture on a small black-and-white TV set.  (Don't ask how I found that out.)  I still have both of them; they still work perfectly.  (The original, 1973 Moto-Tool worked fine - with one brush replacement - for at least twenty years, until the shaft-lock mechanism wore out.  I suspect the slow speeds at which I ran it contributed to its longevity.)

Unfortunately Dremel discontinued the "Tabletop Speed Controller" quite a few years ago.  (The company also used to make a foot-operated version, but it seems to be gone now too.)  Other companies do, however, make speed controls that I suspect would work (though I haven't tried any of them).  Example:   http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2003957/9183/Router-Speed-Control.aspx .  The price is hefty, but in my opinion it would be worth it (assuming it works).

But Moto-Tools with built-in speed controls don't seem to get along well with accessory speed controls.  Plug a modern, variable-speed Dremel into a speed controller and turn the speed controller's knob down to zero; the motor will stop all right, but as you turn the knob to the right, the motor will start jerking and sputtering, rather than smoothly ramping up to the speed you want.

A few years ago I found, at Woodcraft woodworker's supply, a nifty little gadget, made by a company called We-Cheer, called a "Micro Motor Detail Carver":  http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2003736/330/Micro-Motor-Detail-Carver.aspx .  For model building purposes (styrene, wood, and soft metals, like brass and copper) this is quite simply the nicest rotary tool I've ever encountered.  It's quite small (not a lot bigger than a fat pencil.  The electrical cord is relatively thin and flexible.  The hand grip is right down near the tip, so you can use the tool almost like a pencil.  The regular speed of the motor is too fast, but the tool works fine in my beloved old Dremel speed controller.  And one of the We-Cheer tool's bigges virtues is one that neither the manufacturer nor Woodcraft points out:  it fits Dremel collets.  If I were offering advice to a modeler just getting into power tools, I think I'd recommend this little tool (and some sort of speed control for it) as a first acquisition.

The other night I happened to be in the tool department at the local K-Mart, which had a modest assortment of Dremel products on display.  Among them was an old-fashioned single-speed Moto-Tool.  A sample was out where I could handle it; I was happy to note that the shaft bearing, though probably of the sleeve rather than ball type, seemed to be nice and tight.  (On my first, single-speed model from 1973 the shaft slid back and forth at least 1/32".  I don't think Dremel makes a single-speed model with ball bearings, but the sleeve-bearing version I examined the other night seemed to have virtually no play in it.)  [Later edit:  I checked the Dremel website.  Apparently the single-speed model I was looking at does have ball bearings.  Bravo Dremel!]  I wouldn't trade my little We-Cheer "carver" for any Dremel Moto-Tool currently on the market (though I have a big, variable-speed Dremel for heavy-duty jobs - like grinding and routing), but my second choice probably would be that single-speed Dremel - with an accessory speed control of some sort.

Dremel has a nice website, with a users' forum.  Some months back I used that to post my usual observation:  the ideal Moto-Tool for the modeler would (1) be as small as possible, (2) have a speed range of zero (and I do mean zero) to 5,000 rpm, (3) be powered by a lightweight, long-lasting battery, and (4) cost less than $50.00.  I never got a response from Dremel, and no other customers commented on my post.  So I guess I'm in the minority.  But I continue to think that any modeler who tries out my little "power carver" with its slow-speed capability won't want to go back to an elephantine Moto-Tool.  Every Dremel product I've ever bought has been a high-quality piece of merchandise, but I continue to contend that the company just hasn't figured out - or isn't trying to cater to - the needs of the model builder.   

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    May 2007
  • From: Atlanta, Georgia
Posted by RTimmer on Monday, January 4, 2010 8:07 PM

Hi John,

Excellent suggestion regarding the We-Cheer "carver.  Thanks - and thanks for providing the link.

Cheers, Rick

  • Member since
    October 2009
  • From: Manila, Philippines
Posted by Limbas 237 on Sunday, January 17, 2010 8:54 AM

When I bought my Dremel from Amazon last year they suggested that I should buy as well the Universal Chuck to be used with it. I bought it and have not regretted the purchase. I can use a 0.3mm drill bit on it with no problem.

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