Got my Tamiya Handy Drill today ... Here's a review

Sounds good Jesse. 

I also like the Microdetailer that Uproar mentioned on the other thread.

I might ask Santa for one of those. 

Yeah, I used to have one too.  The problem now is that I work on the kitchen table.  Unfortunately, like a lot of modelers, I don't have a dedicated modeling area.  Corded drills can be a real pain in that situation.  The Tamiya Handy Drill fits nicely in my tackle box that I use to store my modeling tools.  It kind of makes sense that Tamiya came out with this small drill.  Space is a premium in Japan.  I know. I used to live there.  I'm sure many modelers in Japan don't have a seperate room for modeling, just like me.

Been using my dremel with the separate speed control for about 15 years now....still running strong. The addition of a goose-neck flexible attachment makes for an easy-to-control tool that sees plenty of action.

Dremel never made a low speed tool because it's original intention is for household work, not model building.  You could check with micromark or harborfreight as they tend to gear themselves towards the hobbyist.

You can make a simple lowspeed dremel using nothing more than a potentiometer, the simplest version of which, is a dimmer switch.  But the reason the dremel loses torque is because your cutting the amperage.  A potentiometer is nothing more than a variable resistance device.  It's like using a power drill with a half dead battery.  It turns slower, but also has no torque.

I'd be interested in hearing any updates about this handy drill after a month or so, like about reliability and build quality.  Sometimes using the pinvise can be a bit tedious. 

-Fred

I guess it depends on how delicate you want to go.  I won't drill out machine gun barrels with it (that's why I have a pin vise), but I don't see any problems with drilling out portholes on 1/700 scale ships.  It's very easy to handle since most of the weight of the drill rests in the palm of your hand.  On a regular drill, most of the weight is balanced above your hand.

The only good way to get a Dremel to slow down is to purchase the single speed Dremel and use a speed control.  Dremel made a table top control unit that can still be found on Ebay.  I had one.  The only problem I saw was that the RPM's were inconsistent at slow speeds; sometimes a little too fast, sometimes a little to slow.  Dremel also makes a foot speed control device.  If you're doing delicate work and you foot slips - watch out.  Some people have made speed control devices out of light dimmer switches but I've heard there is drop in torque with them.  Dremels warns against using speed control devices with their variable speed rotary tools as the speed control device can prematurely wear down the tool.  Why Dremel has never made a rotary tool the runs at slow speed is beyond me.

Jesse

Thanks for sharing.

It looks a little too big for delicate modeling though. But for that cheap price it would still have plenty of uses on plastic.

If there was only a way to slow down that darn dremel.