Dremel cordless tool

Once you get going with it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it!!!

Here's mine and the bits I use with it.

top, buffing wheel for polishing plastic to prep for NMF and polishing canopies.

L-R..heavy grinding bit / light grinding bit / round grinding bit and that "T" shaped thing is for stirring paint(made from extra sprue), I highly, highly recommend the stir bit!

Wow, I have and use that exact same one fermis and I even have an almost identical styrene "T" I use to mix paints with. I used the cotton wheels to buff the canopy on my 129 after cutting out one of the sliding glass doors. Extremely handy IMO!!

I have a "corded" Dremel.  I've found that anything cordless has a limited life span, that is it can only be recharged a finite number of times.  My cordless Dremel lasted about a year. 

To me the most important feature is variable speed.  Get the smallest drill set you can find along with a chuck to fit.  The Dremel tool is the most useful tool on my desk.

Enjoy.

I am on my third cordless Dremel.  The first had no speed control but was very low power, so it worked well on plastic.  The second had a speed control but it was inadequate- too powerful and not a slow enough speed (plus it was hard on batteries).  The third one is a gem.  The speed control is awesome- I'll bet the slowest speed is about 30 rpm or less.

One trick is wire brushing my needle files when they get clogged.   I do a lot of scratch building and conversions and so do a lot of grinding and such on styrene.  The Dremels are great for cutting away those large sprue gate areas on resin kits and accessories.  I have lots of the sanding drums and they can clean up putty gobs very rapidly.

You can use it for pretty much anything. Mostly, I use it to do a lot of rough sanding, and then switch to hand sanding to make it smoother. Cutting wheels, small drills are essential for opening up  and modifying a kit, plus drilling holes to place parts or add wiring, etc.  I have a dremel Stylus, and it's serving me well after 2 years of use.

AHA ! Welcome to the club. I got one as a gift last year and yes , I wonder how I got along without it ! I keep my big corded model on a sewing machine control and it will go REEEAAAL slow ! This one ,so far is working great on anything I have used it on ,even styrene . The trick is ,even with the cordless , the speeds may be a little high . So use your cordless until it starts to go a WEE BIT slower . now ,  drill that plastic !! There you have it , how did you do without that thing anyway ? LOL.     tankerbuilder 

MAJ Mike

I have a "corded" Dremel.  I've found that anything cordless has a limited life span, that is it can only be recharged a finite number of times.  My cordless Dremel lasted about a year. 

I have gone through three cordless Dremels and a lot more batteries.  They are nice when they work but mine never lasted long before they wore out.  I have even had problems with the chargers not working.  I have three corded Dremels, one with the flex shaft mounted on my work desk, one hand held and a spare.  The one with the flex shaft is a single speed and has a foot controled speed control and the others are vairable speed.  I will never buy another cordless.

berny13

 

MAJ Mike:

 

I have a "corded" Dremel.  I've found that anything cordless has a limited life span, that is it can only be recharged a finite number of times.  My cordless Dremel lasted about a year. 

 

 

I have gone through three cordless Dremels and a lot more batteries.  They are nice when they work but mine never lasted long before they wore out.  I have even had problems with the chargers not working.  I have three corded Dremels, one with the flex shaft mounted on my work desk, one hand held and a spare.  The one with the flex shaft is a single speed and has a foot controled speed control and the others are vairable speed.  I will never buy another cordless.

I have had that problem in the past too, and felt the same way.  However, my latest cordless Dremel was on sale at my local hardware store at a good price, and- hey, I love it.  It must have a different battery type.  It lasts a long time on a charge, charges well and reliably, and the speed control is absolutely awesome.  You can slow it down so the bit is barely turning!  Yet at full speed it has more oomph than previous cordlesses. It took awhile, but I think they've finally got it.  Better speed control than my corded model.

berny13

MAJ Mike:

I have a "corded" Dremel.  I've found that anything cordless has a limited life span, that is it can only be recharged a finite number of times.  My cordless Dremel lasted about a year. 

 

I have gone through three cordless Dremels and a lot more batteries.  They are nice when they work but mine never lasted long before they wore out.  I have even had problems with the chargers not working.  I have three corded Dremels, one with the flex shaft mounted on my work desk, one hand held and a spare.  The one with the flex shaft is a single speed and has a foot controled speed control and the others are vairable speed.  I will never buy another cordless.

Dremel sells some 2-speed Minimite-type tools with battery packs for 4 replaceable  AA batteries as opposed to the rechargable NiCd battery type normally seen.   I got mine as a golf club cleaner/polisher (& spike sharpener?).    It is in green translucent plastic as opposed to opaque black.   Check the local golf outlet warehouse.

Dremel also sells a pumpkin carving set.  Seen this in the local Lowes hardware store,  generally seen around the end of September to the. first of October.    Check back immediately after halloween to see if you can get one at reduced price.   It is in translucent orange plastic.

Dremel's website also lists a pet nail trimmer version.   I've not looked specifically for one,  but check the big box pet stores.

Sometimes it pays to look around in other types of stores for modeling products.  They are generally less expensive than something with a model manufacturer's logo

I got corded Dremel for Christmas from my wife.  Believe it or not... I haven't had the chance to use it for modeling yet but loving it for project around the house!  I have built only one armor kit and several figures for last 4 months anyway.  My only question here is there a way you can use one of those real tiny drill bits to work with Dremel? 

The Dremel Stylus has served me great for 4+ years. The Lithium-ion battery is much better than the older Ni-Cad batteries that died after so many charges.

Deafpanzer: you'll have to get different collets to use smaller bits. They make 4 total and I think the 1/32 is the smallest. Although you'll need the smallest 2 to use all of the drill bits in the typical 61-80 drill sets (like Zona, Squadron, etc.)

Don, can you give me the model number of that Dremel you like?  Thanks

Capnjohn

Don, can you give me the model number of that Dremel you like?  Thanks

It is the 9.6 volt Model 780.  Bigger and heavier than my previous cordless ones, but the excellent speed control and longer battery charge life make it worth the extra heaviness.  Same size and weight as my corded model, which I don't use all that much. I only use the corded model for heavy work like hollowing out wood on a scratchbuilt model, and stuff like that.  90% of the time I use the cordless.

deafpanzer

I got corded Dremel for Christmas from my wife.  Believe it or not... I haven't had the chance to use it for modeling yet but loving it for project around the house!  I have built only one armor kit and several figures for last 4 months anyway.  My only question here is there a way you can use one of those real tiny drill bits to work with Dremel? 

 

Hi Andy~~ Yes you can--any size micro bit----

Get one of these and forget about collets------

should be about $8   HERE or at the local ACE   or this one when its on sale---

HERE

Hello plumline, I am a retired machinist and I have a series 300 Dremel corded tool with about every attachment they offer. I never thought that this tool would be so usefull in my model building life, but it is priceless when used correctly. I use it in it's "work station" as a drill press, a small lathe, and grinder. I am constantly finding new applications for it.  I see, according to all of these responses that Dremels are really ideal for working with modeling materials

Adam, thanks!!!  I am definitely going to ACE hardware today to buy this.  I will just tell my wife we need more weed control treatment...

The old Dremel Speed Controller is a great add on if you can find one.  You see them on Ebay every now and then.  $30 is a decent price for one.

-Jesse

I have both a corded and cordless Black and Decker moto tools, similiar to Dremel. They were cheaper at the time and use all the same tools as the Dremel. There are times when the cordless tools is the best to use and times when I find the corded tool is best to use (like when I need POWER ie strenght). I don't know what the cordless dremel is like but the cordless Black and decker Wizard has removable batteries so I just keep two in the charger and use one in the tool that way I never run out of battery power.

I agree with one poster, get a chuck and forget the collets.

Sorry folks but when ever I see Black and Decker I think of the punch line to some joke I heard years ago, can't remember much of the joke just the punch line (I think the joke would be considered very un PC)

Anyway the punchline was Black and Decker Pecker Wrecker maybe some of you know the joke.

John Lyle

Sorry folks but when ever I see Black and Decker I think of the punch line to some joke I heard years ago, can't remember much of the joke just the punch line (I think the joke would be considered very un PC)

Anyway the punchline was Black and Decker Pecker Wrecker maybe some of you know the joke.

Something like: What do you call a blonde with braces?

fermis

John Lyle:

Sorry folks but when ever I see Black and Decker I think of the punch line to some joke I heard years ago, can't remember much of the joke just the punch line (I think the joke would be considered very un PC)

Anyway the punchline was Black and Decker Pecker Wrecker maybe some of you know the joke.

 

Something like: What do you call a blonde with braces?

Yeah but it wasn't a blond and I believe that a black belt in karate was also involved. I don`t want to go further as «someone may get offended as it is un PC.

I've had a Dremel Mitimite 760 cordless tool for 4 or 5 years.  If I remember correctly, it was marketed as a golf equipment cleaning tool (club faces, spikes, etc.).  It has two speeds and runs on 4 AAA batteries.  It is the perfect rotary tool for working with plastics.  The speeds are slow enough that I don't have to worry about melting plastic when drilling and grinding. It takes all Dremel attachments.  Not sure if it's still on the market. 

Suggest you surf the Dremel Message Board

http://messageboard.dremel.com/

I have a corded one, but don't use it much as even it's lowest speed is hundreds of RPM too much.  I had a cordless one years ago, but remember it to be weak, and had a very short battery life.  I'll have to have a look at their newer cordless offerings. 

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Most newer tools dremel are too powerful and fast for working with plastic, even the cordless ones. Older cordless dremel had slower speed. You may have a better chance with the AA battery powered Dremel Pet Grooming kit. They are usually cheaper than the tools version too. But I don't know how fast they eat batteries.

Will someone try the grooming kit and let us know.

I have a Dremel Stylus (cordless).

It has a variable speed control (slow to fast and anything in between). Goes for ages between charges and is easy to hold and control. I have it about 2 years and the battery is still going strong. The only downside is the chuck only goes down to about 4 mm so very small drill bits don't fit. Anyone suggest a reduction device to take it down to 0 mm?

I find it indispensable for reducing plastic thickness around wheel wells, gear doors and cockpit entrances as well as removing mold gates from resin parts. I just used it to thin out clear plastic parts and amazingly it doesn't frost the edges too much.

Look out for small burring tools from pound shops or other inexpensive shops. These are pretty useless for diy but excellent for model making. £2 for a 10 bit set. £5 for a 50 piece set. I find the ball type burring tools very useful for reaming out plastic and the conical ones for getting into crevices.

I don't use mine to stir paint but I would suggest testing away from your models on a slow speed and start and stop with the stirrer in the paint. Unless you want to enter into surrealist painting!

*INDY

deafpanzer:

I got corded Dremel for Christmas from my wife.  Believe it or not... I haven't had the chance to use it for modeling yet but loving it for project around the house!  I have built only one armor kit and several figures for last 4 months anyway.  My only question here is there a way you can use one of those real tiny drill bits to work with Dremel? 

 

 

 

Hi Andy~~ Yes you can--any size micro bit----

Get one of these and forget about collets------

 

should be about $8   HERE or at the local ACE   or this one when its on sale---

HERE

 

 

 

 

You need to watch the speed you operate that thing at - several years ago there were warnings about them coming apart at high speeds in a couple of the forums and not long after reading them I was hollowing out something at my modeling desk (using a corded Dremel) when the thing came apart like a grenade and sent shrapnel flying in all directions - didn't hit me but scared me enough that I've only used the collets since. 

I put road wheels on one of the checks and then run it on sandpaper. This gives it a worn down look.

I have two Dremels, one with no speed control other than on/off;  the other is a 4000 with variable speeds down to 5000.  I don't either obviously for the models.

Today at the BX, I was lookin around for things to use with the models when I went down the aisle for finger nails etc ( my daughter does this stuff) and I noticed a AA powered hand tool for grinding/ polishing/sanding of nails, for only $5.    Just tried it out when I got home and it works pretty good IMO.  Real low speed.   Even has a kit with 5 bits.  

I figure its gotta be 'gentle' on fingers nails so why not work on styrene plastic too.