dremeliscious

[pieces o nine]

So I bought a single speed Dremel™ Rotary Tool, along with a Honkin Pile o'Attachments™ and the optional Flex Shaft Attachment™ a few years ago.  It was quite an expensive purchase at the time and it's been quite useful, but I've been wishing for a variable speed model now as polishing small polymer clay items with the SUPER DUPER MACH 1 ULTRA HIGH SPEED leads to intermittent, unexpected "melting" in a spot or the whiiiiiiinging!  loss of a projecting part.

I've been pricing variable speed models and watching Ebay auctions, but had not committed to anything yet as they are expensive, too, and I won't be using it enough to be casual about the purchase. Then this weekend I was at a chain hardware store on the other side of town and found a 5-speed store brand, without all the redundant attachments, for $19.99! Yay!

The down side is that I am running out of plausible reasons for not perpetrating art...   

[Opsa]

I've also been fascinated by dremel tools, and bought one a few years back. It seems to have disappeared, leaving only the adorable attachments. I hope to run across it, or another one, soon. $20 is a good price! Was it at Home Depot?

[Aggie]

I've done some carving and shaping with the darlings in the past, and bought a new store-brand set a while ago on sale.  They are versatile, and compared to hand tools, you get a lot of functionality for the dollar.  Noisy little devils, though.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Until you use lasers for that purpose it will be noisy. Shouldn't be that far off though, green lasers are quite powerful nowadays and by focusing the ray with a lens you can do the trick without much risk of going over.

[Opsa]

Wow! Maybe I'll wait for that, then.

[pieces o nine]

I would be afraid of lasering my fingers off!  lol

I'd been looking at Lowes:
300 Series [5-speed] Dremel kit is about $75.
200 Series [2-speed] Dremel kit is about $55.

On a fluke, I glanced down the rotary tool aisle at Menards on my way out.
(I can't find pics on line, nor much web presence for rotary tools in general for them.) Not much in aisle (rumors of product revamping?) but they had a "Tool Shop" 5-speed model not bundled with any attachments. I prefer a professional grade line for power tools, but have several mini clamp sets from "Tool Shop" which were attractively priced and work just fine for my purposes. I'm happy with what I found; it looks a lot like my old single speed Dremel, but it's red instead of black.

[Aggie]

I would be afraid of lasering my fingers off!  lol

LOL, steel is plenty dangerous, let alone lasers.  I picked up a chain mail glove for carving.  I'm pondering what to do about leg protection from axes and adzes for larger wood-sculpting projects.

[Sibling DavidH]

I'm about to get out my Dremel.  The demented gorillas who handle the baggage totally snapped the whole wheels assembly off my suitcase.  I came back with it held together with cable ties, but I'm about to bolt it together.  The Dremel will be just the thing for tidying up the jagged broken edges.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Ha!  Old thread, one what I had missed completely....

... aaah Dremels.   I had to wear out 3 in short-order before I realized the lower-price ones were simply not for me... the last two have been the best, both very high-end, "pro" grade tools.  The previous one was damaged by a voltage spike, which ruined it's speed controller-- but it lasted for years and years.  The current one, 8-10 years old now, is still working great-- has a LCD speed display, a full-range speed controller, and something called "soft start" wherein it slowly comes up to full speed.  All ball-bearing, same as the previous one.

What would I do without my ubiquitous Dremel tool... just the other day, I polished out a scratch on a display screen (I use quality rubbing compound you'd use on paint... it just works... a felt tool in the Dremel, max speed and it polishes glass-smooth).

[Aggie]

What would I do without my ubiquitous Dremel tool... just the other day, I polished out a scratch on a display screen (I use quality rubbing compound you'd use on paint... it just works... a felt tool in the Dremel, max speed and it polishes glass-smooth).

Would a similar technique work for polishing scratches out of CDs?  Perhaps a different compound?

[pieces o nine]

It might -- you just need to smooth out the polycarbonate.

I picked up one of these on a clearance deal in Denver; it works great.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

What would I do without my ubiquitous Dremel tool... just the other day, I polished out a scratch on a display screen (I use quality rubbing compound you'd use on paint... it just works... a felt tool in the Dremel, max speed and it polishes glass-smooth).

Would a similar technique work for polishing scratches out of CDs?  Perhaps a different compound?

CD's too-- and paint polishing compound (any auto parts store or even Wally World) and a felt buffing wheel in your dremel works quite well. 

Caution!  For best results, max speed on the dremel... and it will splatter polishing compound everywhere.  Safety glasses, and some cardboard around the area to catch it.  If you're not splattering?  You don't have enough compound on the tool

[Aggie]

Safety glasses are ALWAYS a must with a rotary tool.  Car-paint polishing compound, I presume? 

[Bluenose]

I always use jeweller's rouge for this sort of operation.  Works for me, anyway.

[Sibling DavidH]

OK, but when you've finished making yourself look pretty, what do you use on the tool?