How about those Dremels

Yes, I use a Dremel but prefer the WeCheer rotary - smaller and lighter;

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/147235/high-torque-carverengraver.aspx

My Dremel is such a versatile tool, I keep one near the bench. I like all the accessories but honestly I probably only use a few of them, but what a lifesaver. I also like the idea of the WeCheer rotary thats lighter and looks a lot easier to handle for our type of work. 

Terry

I certainly love mine. I use the flexi-shaft which sure makes it easier to handle. In addition to the fine sanding stones, I find the small engraving tips invaluable. Makes quick easy work for shaping and removing unwanted detail. I had not heard of the WeCheer. Looks to be a right sweet tool.

I keep two Dremels on the bench.

1st is the cordless (hi/lo settings), the majority of it's use is for stirring paint. I made a "T" from scrap sprue as a stirrer.

2nd is an adjustable speed...goes from way too slow all the way up to WAY too fast.

In addition to the sprue stir stick, I use a grinding"drum" for heavy grinding, rounded, fine stone grinding bit, a small bur bit and a cloth polishing disc.

I don't know how I ever got along without them! 

Yay Dremel !  my variable speed model gets used on every project.  I found a product called "Cratex" cylindrical sanding sticks in various grits.  They are like pencil erasers that thread onto one of the supplied  Dremal tool shafts and the are excellent for sanding ejector pin marks off.  I also use the Dremel as a mini lathe for scratch building small cylindrical parts, and cut off discs for metal tubing gun barrells as well.

The first tool I had was a Foredom. Very powerful and has a foot controlled speed control. Excellent for long term and heavy duty work, but can be used for a light touch as well. Duck decoys as an example, but I used it exclusivly for modeling.

Got a Dremel "Micro" rechargable tool about a year ago. Has a charging stand so it is always ready for my use. Handles well, and I'm not "tethered" by the cable drive. Wish it was variable speed instead of 5 fixed speeds, but it's done well for my purposes.

The toothbrush thingy next to it is just that. Battery powered. Glued a disk of styrene to the bristles with thic CA. I cut small disks of the correct size out of self stick sanding paper with a punch in various grits. Easily replaceable - just peel off the old and stick on a new. Great sanding tool.

Don't know how I got along without any of these. Great timesavers.

I like the cordless toothbrush idea!!! I gotta add that to my tool stash someday. Very clever, indeed...

I keep two at my bench- a cordless for general work, and an AC one for those heavy duty jobs that would drain the battery of the cordless.  Particularly like them for cutting brass tubing, rod, and piano wire, and smoothing the ends.  Also for hollowing when I do carving for scratchbuilding.

I'll use this opportunity to get up on one of my favorite soapboxes one more time.

Dremel Moto-Tools are fine, well-made pieces of machinery. But for model building THE DANGED THINGS TURN TOO FAST.

Even at the slowest setting, the typical Dremel tool will melt styrene or burn wood if you're trying to drill a hole with a #60 to #89 bit. (You may get away with it if the bit is brand new, but when it gets a little dull - but with plenty of use left in it - you'll have to switch to a pin vise.)

For model building, I want a rotary tool that can be set on zero, while I put the bit exactly where I want it, and then ramp up the speed till it gets to a few hundred rpm. Same goes for delicate sanding and grinding.

Whenever Dremel puts a new one on the market, the advertising emphasises the power of it. But the truth is that scarcely any jobs in model building require particularly high torque, or speeds like 3500 rpm. 

Dremel's website has a customer forum. I once posted a comment that I'd pay good money for a small rotary tool with speeds adjustable from 0 to 1,000 rpm. Nobody responded. So I guess I'm in the minority.

Dremel used to make a "tabletop speed controller" that set the rpm anywhere from 0 to the maximum speed of the tool. But that gadget has been off the market for years.

I like We-cheer tools too. (Unadvertised but noteworthy fact: they take Dremel collets. At least mine does.) I have one that I bought from Woodcraft quite a few years ago. It has no built-in speed control. (The current versions have the same sort of too-fast adjustments that Dremel's do.) I also have a Dremel 100 single-speed Moto-Tool. I rigged up a simple speed control of my own, using a plastic electrical box, a dimmer switch, a duplex outlet, two wire nuts, a length of electrical cord, and a strain relief - all available at Lowe's for a total of less than $15. I plug whichever rotary tool I'm using into the box, and away we go. It's not as nice as the old Dremel tabletop version (at very low speeds the motors stutter quite a bit), but at least it keeps me from setting fire to my models.

What this world needs is a cordless, rechargeable rotary tool about the size of a fat pencil, with reasonable torque and dial-in speeds from 0 to 1,000 rpm. I strongly suspect that such a tool could be made with today's technology - and I suspect that, if some firm like Tamiya or Micromark would make it, sales among modelers would be really good. I'd certainly be happy to pay $100 for such a thing.

Until that happy and unlikely day, I'll make do with my two old-fashioned tools and my little blue box with the two sockets and the knob on it. End of rant.

I agree Mr. Tilley.  That was the problem I found with all the Dremels, well, except for a rechargeable model I bought years ago.  When it died, I bought a Foredom, with the flex-drive and a foot control for variable speed.  Man, I love that tool.  It was a bit spendy at the time but that's far behind me now.  I now appreciate the versatility of the Foredom, and use it all the time.

Gary

Thats my Foredom. Durability, power, 0 to whatever foot controled speed, no battery to run out.

EJ

jtilley

Even at the slowest setting, the typical Dremel tool will melt styrene or burn wood if you're trying to drill a hole with a #60 to #89 bit. (You may get away with it if the bit is brand new, but when it gets a little dull - but with plenty of use left in it - you'll have to switch to a pin vise.)

 

You need one with a better speed control.  My cordless one runs at about 60 rpm on its lowest setting, which doesn't melt styrene by any means. Even on styrene I go up to next speed or third.  I use the lowest setting only for vacuform really thin stuff.

Don, that sounds great. What model is it?

I've never seen a spec for a Dremel tool that turned slower than 3,000 rpm.  Sixty certainly would be slow enough.

My Dremel is a single high speed model I bought back in the 1970s. I had it plugged into a Dremel variable speed controller that eventually died so I replaced it with a cheap speed controller from Harbor Freight and it works just fine. I can dial the speed down a crawl.

That WeCheer rotary tool looks sweet and it may just replace my ancient Dremel.

jtilley

Don, that sounds great. What model is it?

I've never seen a spec for a Dremel tool that turned slower than 3,000 rpm.  Sixty certainly would be slow enough.

 

Its a Multi-Pro 780.  The nameplate claims 5000 to 25000, but it sure doesn't turn that fast on its lowest setting.  The speed control is not very good, which means its speed is highly dependent on load.  So at the zero setting even the slightest load slows it down to a crawl.  I actually turn it up to about the 2 setting with a grinding or sanding tool, and it works fine on plastic. In fact, I am building a vacuform conversion kit now and even used it on the thin vacuform fuselage to trim some spots.  Really hard work- hollowing out basswood, for example, takes the battery down pretty quickly, so that is why I also have an AC model hanging over bench on same hook.

Verrry interesting, Don. I just went to the Dremel website and, unfortunately, the Multi-Pro is no longer listed. I'm wondering if any of the newer cordless ones would spin that slow. 

jtilley

Verrry interesting, Don. I just went to the Dremel website and, unfortunately, the Multi-Pro is no longer listed. I'm wondering if any of the newer cordless ones would spin that slow. 

 

Probably depends on whether they still have that lousy speed control.  However, in this case a bad speed control is actually an asset, since it allows you to control speed by how much load you put on it :-)

A lot of vendors these days have excellent return policies, so you can try it as soon as you get it, and if it doesn't work the way you want, you can return it as "unsuitable."

Thanks for the comments everyone !

Dash8

What a life saver for touching up parts to get them to fit.

I keep one at the bench with a tiny fine stone and use low

RPM so not to melt the plasitc. Do you use one for the

hobby ?

 

Only thing I don't like about my Dremels are the weights (one AC model, one battery version). I find them too heavy for really fine work.  Several years ago some small concern offered a hand grinder that was really tiny and light, used a single pencell, and was about three eights of an inch in diameter by about six inches long.  Unfortunately it did not last in the market, and became unavailable before I was able to buy one.  I sure wish someone else with more resources would come out with something similar. I have tried to find something similar, as good, with so far no success :-(

Well, my little We-cheer would just about fit the bill. Unfortunately, so far as I can tell, it isn't being made any more. We-cheer succumbed to the siren song of the built-in speed control.

You might want to consider this: http://www.woodcraft.com/product/147235/high-torque-carverengraver.aspx . It's a little bigger than mine, and that minimum 3,000 rpm is too high to be ideal. But it's certainly slimmer and lighter than a Dremel tool. And it looks like it takes Dremel collets. (Mine does.)

Not really a fan for modeling. I put together one of those aircraft cable patio railings with one once. It was the only way I could cut 3/16" stainless steel aircraft cable cleanly, with about a zillion of the abrasive cut off disks.

For models, I find that manual rpm with a pin vice and hand saws work well with better control.

jtilley

I'll use this opportunity to get up on one of my favorite soapboxes one more time.

Dremel Moto-Tools are fine, well-made pieces of machinery. But for model building THE DANGED THINGS TURN TOO FAST.

Even at the slowest setting, the typical Dremel tool will melt styrene or burn wood if you're trying to drill a hole with a #60 to #89 bit. (You may get away with it if the bit is brand new, but when it gets a little dull - but with plenty of use left in it - you'll have to switch to a pin vise.)

For model building, I want a rotary tool that can be set on zero, while I put the bit exactly where I want it, and then ramp up the speed till it gets to a few hundred rpm. Same goes for delicate sanding and grinding.

Whenever Dremel puts a new one on the market, the advertising emphasises the power of it. But the truth is that scarcely any jobs in model building require particularly high torque, or speeds like 3500 rpm. 

Dremel's website has a customer forum. I once posted a comment that I'd pay good money for a small rotary tool with speeds adjustable from 0 to 1,000 rpm. Nobody responded. So I guess I'm in the minority.

Dremel used to make a "tabletop speed controller" that set the rpm anywhere from 0 to the maximum speed of the tool. But that gadget has been off the market for years.

I like We-cheer tools too. (Unadvertised but noteworthy fact: they take Dremel collets. At least mine does.) I have one that I bought from Woodcraft quite a few years ago. It has no built-in speed control. (The current versions have the same sort of too-fast adjustments that Dremel's do.) I also have a Dremel 100 single-speed Moto-Tool. I rigged up a simple speed control of my own, using a plastic electrical box, a dimmer switch, a duplex outlet, two wire nuts, a length of electrical cord, and a strain relief - all available at Lowe's for a total of less than $15. I plug whichever rotary tool I'm using into the box, and away we go. It's not as nice as the old Dremel tabletop version (at very low speeds the motors stutter quite a bit), but at least it keeps me from setting fire to my models.

What this world needs is a cordless, rechargeable rotary tool about the size of a fat pencil, with reasonable torque and dial-in speeds from 0 to 1,000 rpm. I strongly suspect that such a tool could be made with today's technology - and I suspect that, if some firm like Tamiya or Micromark would make it, sales among modelers would be really good. I'd certainly be happy to pay $100 for such a thing.

Until that happy and unlikely day, I'll make do with my two old-fashioned tools and my little blue box with the two sockets and the knob on it. End of rant.

 

My dremel is used in a wider varitey of modeling duties than you describe. The cut off wheels get a work-out on my table. Anytime I need to remove the excess plastic from AM kits, such as Verlinden, I break out the dremel and it saves me an hours worth of clean-up time. I easliy remove seats which are attached to those large blocks of unwanted excess, in a matter of seconds. Verlinden figures also have quite a bit of clean up, without a dremel it takes hours of sawing and sanding. The dremel also works great for polishing. I couldnt imagine hand polishing, the dremel is a perfect tool for those projects. The dremel also works great for removing large areas of plastic, such as cut-away panels and the such. I coulld think of many things my dremel handles in this hobby and handles well.

Never owned a Dremel brand, would love to find a nice vintage one!,  but I have a Grizzly brand one that's gets used quite often! Super handy with the flex shaft. 

GMorrison

Not really a fan for modeling. I put together one of those aircraft cable patio railings with one once. It was the only way I could cut 3/16" stainless steel aircraft cable cleanly, with about a zillion of the abrasive cut off disks.

 

Ah, yes, I remember cutting lots of pieces of eigth or three-thirty-second inch piano wire for flying model landing gears with the Dremel and the abrasive disks.  Only thing that would do the job!

Dremel rotary tools are indeed useful for all sorts of tasks - at the workbench and around the house. But would they be any less useful if their minimum speeds were lower?

How many jobs require a tool that turns at 30,000 rpm?

Don Stauffer

 Ah, yes, I remember cutting lots of pieces of eigth or three-thirty-second inch piano wire for flying model landing gears with the Dremel and the abrasive disks.  Only thing that would do the job!

 

jtilley

Dremel rotary tools are indeed useful for all sorts of tasks - at the workbench and around the house. But would they be any less useful if their minimum speeds were lower?

How many jobs require a tool that turns at 30,000 rpm?

 

You'd be amazed how that high speed works in your favour as opposed to a low speed. If you need low speed get a foot controller, or use a power drill. You can get abrasive discs for them, as well as polishing wheels. I know that they're limited in what they can do, but at least you know that it won't burn up your projects! I use routers that require 30,000 rpms' to cut smoothly, and quickly. If you're either a woodworker, or a musical instrument maker these are indispensable, and priceless!

~ Cobra Chris

I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

I've got a trim router for small routing jobs, and a power drill for ordinary drilling jobs. That drill is virtually useless for modeling; it's too big and clumsy. 

I'm not suggesting that Dremel quit making high-speed tools. I just don't see why at least one tool in the line couldn't have a minimum speed slow enough for model building.

I won my first Dremel tool in a contest, back in about 1974. It was a basic, single-speed version, and for ship models it was practically useless. Then I bought a Dremel "Tabletop Speed Controller," which turned the Moto-Tool into one of the most-used tools on my bench. It let me start the thing at a dead stop and ramp it up to ideal speed by turning a knob. Dremel no longer makes thatIve  accessory. (The foot control is still among us, but my feet don't like it.) 

Actually I think I've got a pretty good setup: We-cheer constant-speed plugged into my primitive do-it-yourself speed control, single-speed Moto-Tool (which can also be plugged into the speed control) for heavier work, and battery-powered drill for household jobs. (I've also got a Dremel "Work Station," plunge router attachment, and more bits than I can count. Plus several pin vises, a small Archimedian drill, and an old-fashioned 1/4" eggbeater-style hand drill.

But why, oh why, is there no such thing as a slow-turning Moto-Tool?