My hubby's dremel tool burned out. Haven't check to see what the warranty is on it but it's at least 12 years old so I imagine there's little I can do about it.

as many of you know, we are in the process of building a new home so purchases that are not necessities are limited. We could stand to have a good Dremel for various tasks (these little things come in handy for many tasks around the house) so my logic says, buy a good one and hope it survives at least another 10-12 years. But that's at least $80.

what to do with pens? Well, I just don't have the hand strength to get the polish/shine on a restored pen that I'd like to see. I know some use these (carefully I'm sure) for some pen work. I was thinking, that for the time being, I might buy the $20 version of this tool (made by Dremel.) It's 3-speed, no RPM on handle so I don't know how slow/fast it is. It comes with limited attachments which is fine as I still have all those that came with the original.

I certainly can't afford a bench grinder with buffing wheel.

Anyone seen these cheapie Dremels? Is it a waste of $20?

Just a recommendation not related to the "pen Dremel", but hubby prefers the Craftsman rotary tool over the "Dremel" brand. He's not here to tell me the reasons. It has filters to stop destructive dust from entering the motor and has a ton of accessories that fit it. He just got his second one for Christmas (first one got fried after all the basement work).

I think it is variable speed as opposed to 3-speed. I would imagine for pens, a low speed would be used most. Good luck.

Hi KCat,

Buy a cheap electric nail polishing kit. They all have a disc unit, put some two-sided tape on it, and attach all the goodies you need for polishing and buffing .
You can fit any Dremel wheels to it this way as well, just not for cutting. But then, I don't think you would need to do that anyway. A circle cut from mylar will do nicely too .

If you get a battery operated one, you can put rechargeables in it. Cheap, simpel solution, and the chance to overdo it is quite limited .

The start at about 8 euros over here, so I reckon they sell for $8 in the USA. An example with 2 or 3 speed settings sells for about 10 euros.

HTH,
kind regards,
Wim

ahhh! excellent solution, wim. Never occurred to me. Thanks much.

A correction - the motor works fine on my Dremel - but the shaft doesn't turn.

Anyone know if this is something easily repaired or is it trash time? I was using it one day and it just stopped turning. Am I missing something obvious. No, it's not locked.

You might try the usenet groups (rec.woodworking, etc) to see if they have any insights. you may also find boards like this one devoted to crafts and tools. (The net is full of all sorts of loonies )

Happy google-ing!
Tom

Thanks, Tom. Good idea. I'll look around.

I hate going into a group as a total newb and risk getting flogged. But hopefully less of that goes on now days? maybe? just a little?

..

Thanks much Pensketcher. I'll give it a shot and edit this post later to let ya'll know what I found out.

Gosh, me too.

But I just gots to know - what's a Dremel? Is it one of those spinny grindy thingies? Could I use one to shine up my black Easterbrock?

Thanks & ha!
Spod


-- Thank god for clowns, thank clowns for god.

KCat:

There's nothing wrong with the $20 Dremel! It probably has a Bronze bushing that the shaft turns in. The more ones expensive one use bearings instead. Some increased life I'm sure. However my old single speed Dremel with a bronze bushing is now well over 25 years old and still going strong. The brushes in your hubby's Dremel may have given up the ghost. They're about $6-$8 to replace.

What ever you do, have your hubby make up a variable speed control for you (He'll enjoy it as well) The total cost is about $10 in parts from any hardware store. You'll never live without it again. It takes the Dremel from ZERO rpm to its max with a turn of the dial. it's infinitely variable and not "stepped' as some of units are.

I used a variable light dimmer switch( rotary or slide) that you normally use to control your household lighting.....the kind that mounts in the wall on a light switch plate. Mounted it in a plastic duplex wall receptacle with a switch plate and wired it in-line with an extension cord that I already had. You plug the Dremel into one end of the ext. cord and the other into any wall outlet and your good to go.

Dimmer Switch................$6-$8
Plastic Duplex wall box......$1
Switch Plate......................$.50
Scrounged extension cord..$ Zero

Total cost less than $10 and an hour of your hubby's time.

The biggest drawback of the Dremel's is that you can't get 'em to run slow enuf to NOT burn or melt the acrylics or plastics. This fixes that problem! However I still hand polish and finish all my barrels/caps and that's a topic for another night.

E-mail me if you have any questions on construction.

Mike O'Bryan

I asked a question about the use of a Dremel tool in pen polishing back in early November, so if you missed it:
Previous FPN Q&A about Dremels in pen polishing(link)

I know that Dennis L. (on his pen repair DVD) said he uses a Dremel with a "weak battery" as a polishing aid, but given the inability to truly "control" the RPMs with it (and being a newbie to polishing), I don't know if I would use a Dremel....unless I could control the RPMs with a rig like Mikeo's.

I attended a pen repair seminar in Portland at the pen show and I recall something about not using more than 1000-1500 RPMs in pen polishing (I can't find my notes on it, so I am just going by memory here...)

yeah - a spinny, grindy thingy. of the handheld sort. Looks sorta like a wood burning tool. Come in handy for all sorts of things. Ours really hasn't gotten a ton of use but mostly because we forget we have it.

I am worried about the speed of it and damaging a pen - maybe in the new house hubby can set me up with the variable speed thing, but that's a ways off. Right now there's just so little time for him and so little space for me.

Dremel is just the brand and since they were/are the more popular brand it's become associated with the tool. The generic term is "rotary tool" I suppose.

Thanks Maja. I found that earlier. Ours runs from 5000 up to 30,000 RPM - and I'm leery of it as well. Still need one in working order.

I like the idea of the nail polisher - I doubt those are terribly fast and they're so lightweight usually that I'd think I'd be better able to control it. Can't hurt to try for $10. At least until I can get a more sophisticated set-up. Right now I'm working with very limited space as all the goodies for house prep are taking up my work space.

Mike - I tried to send an email to retract my previous email. Apparently there's a 15 minute minimum time lapse between emails via FPN! Never knew that.

Anyway - I took a moment in my fog to look at the Dremel site and they have a perfectly good image of the brushes and what they should look like and mine are virtually unfazed. I doubt this tool has seen more than 10-15 hours of use if that. A *long* way from 1/8" min.

so... i'll be calling or writing Dremel tomorrow.

thanks for everyone's help.

Ah ha, I didn't think the brushes would be at fault if the motor turns, but the tool bit doesn't. No brushes, no motor turning.

For the life of me I can't think what could be wrong other than a broken shaft, loosened coupling (if there is one), the bit locking assembly disconnected from the shaft, or a stripped or non engaging gear in the gear train (BTW, I seriously doubt there are gears in the tool - it runs at pretty high speed.

Are you sure the motor is running?

Motor noise might be made due to a shorted winding or a damaged electronic speed control assembly.

Dialogue with the repair centre of the Dremel site might go a long way to identifying the problem...

'Fraid I'm not an expert.

Gerry

PS: People have mentioned a desire to restrict speeds to avoid damage to plastics. It is hard to give advice about speeds when there are so many variables such as; the plastics susceptability to melting/burning, the abrasive you are using and the wheel construction and material. An often forgotten factor is the diameter of the polishing wheel.

RPM by itself isn't a good guide unless you are judging from an empirical base. ie experience with that wheel and that plastic.

One concept you should try to keep in mind is SFPM - surface Feet Per Minute - where it is assumed that running a wheel is like passing a linear polishing material over the plastic. Small wheels can rotate a lot faster than big wheels to have the same SFPM, so bear that in mind when you switch to a larger wheel - slow the rpm down accordingly. Just work with the wheel diameters. The RPM ratios are the inverse of the wheel diameters. For example, a 2" wheel can rotate at 3x the RPM of a 6" wheel for the same wheel surface speed.

So my 1725 rpm 6" wheel equates to a Dremel 2" wheel rotating at 5175 rpm, close to the minimum available for the tool.

Gerry

Pardon me for a silly question, but what's a Dremel?

Mark C.

It's a rotary tool - generally used for grinding, sanding, polishing, routing, shaping, drilling and other assorted tasks. If you don't have one, you are missing a lot.

Dremel has progressed into the realm of a trade name lost to common use - like Zipper. It now refers to any rotary tool of similar manufacture...

Have a look at their web site... Dremel USA

Happy shopping.

Gerry

That's what I thought. but it was the only suggestion someone on the Dremel board had.

When I look through the vents on the side - i can see the uh... thingy with plastic vanes spinning, and it sure makes a typical motor-running sound. The shaft behaves normally in other ways - that is, one can turn it freely by hand, or push the shaft lock button and lock it down to put in nibs.. uh... bits.

I'll call Dremel and see what they say. I suppose even at a max of $32 repair cost it's cheaper than buying new. It would be a shame to toss something that otherwise looks barely used.

then I've got to run errands. bleah.

thanks for the info on SFPM - that makes a lot of sense even to my fried brain.

UPDATE: Dremel was quick to respond - there's a $1.25 piece that dry rots and breaks over the years (probably doesn't help that it sits in a TX garage during brutal summers) and they're sending that for me to replace. Apparently it's very easy to replace - if you have the torque-head tool to open the casing up. off to Home Depot.

Thanks for the SFPM info, Gerry---very useful!

Genius!

Just dug out my wife's set that I got her for Christmas a year ago (and she hasn't used 'yet') and tried it out -- looks like its a winner.

Thanks Wim -- great idea!

Now that's an ending I love to hear.

Dremel doesn't do bad either. For a $1.25 part they get a very happy customer, and not a little good advertizing to quite a few others to boot. Not to shabby for everyone.

Hope the replacement goes uneventfully. I know you'll get a lot of satisfaction just using the tool again thinking how easy it was to fix yourself

Gerry

PS: That's probably a Torx headed screwdriver tip you're looking for I think. They come in sizes, so be sure to take the Dremel with you to see if it's a T-10, T-15 etc. size...

as it happens - I remembered I had exactly two of those drivers.

and one fit. So I got to take apart the tool and discovered that this part they are sending me looks a lot like old candle wax after it rots. but it's shape was obvious. I kept the bits... just in case something looks fishy.

Rob, although I am not particularly familiar with the Ryobi motor tool, if it is intended to compete with the Dremel, it would most likely take the same bits. All of these tools use a collet arrangement to hold the bits, and have inserts to handle different diameter bit shanks. The most common sizes are 5/32" and 1/8"although there are other diameters as well. BTW, Ryobi is a good name in tools...

Regarding your routing question, the Dremels and their look-alikes all have router attachments that allow you to mount the tool in a holder that lets you select the depth of cut. The intended use is to do small engraving or routing tasks.

Unfortunately, your application is on the large size for these small tools.

It would be relatively simple to use a full size router equipped with a 1/2" core box bit to carve the half round grooves you are looking for though. Time to get involved with woodworking, or to develop a friendship with a neighbour who is a woodworker Rob. Too bad we don't live closer together . I'm sure I could find things I'd love to swap for a bunch of routed grooves...


Just thinking of a 8" wide board, 8' long - routing it with 12 long grooves, cutting it to 7" wide, and chopping it into 12-7" long pieces, sanding and finishing... Nice project

Gotta be a spot for a jig or two...


Gerry

Hi,

I replaced my brushes on my Dremel after I heard some grinding, and I have not heard the grinding ever since. Worn brushes look pitted. For pens, I would suggest the cordless Mini Mite model, the lowest model. The tool is cute and if you use a half charged battery, it spins slowly enough for pen work. Slowly enougt for pen work is still fast by the way.

Dillon

ust a recommendation not related to the "pen Dremel", but hubby prefers the Craftsman rotary tool over the "Dremel" brand. He's not here to tell me the reasons. It has filters to stop destructive dust from entering the motor and has a ton of accessories that fit it. He just got his second one for Christmas (first one got fried after all the basement work).

I think it is variable speed as opposed to 3-speed. I would imagine for pens, a low speed would be used most. Good luck.

Sorry I'm new on this quoting. Also, it looks like someone hijacked my avatar.
Leslie- I have a Craftsman rotary tool. Its made by Dremel. It even uses the same DC motor brushes.

When I first started out in pen repair, I thought that a dremel tool was the tool I needed most, but I soon figured out that it was the least necessary thing required(at least for me). Most all plastic scratches that I remove is done with a scratch-out polish and a hand-held nail polish buffer. Provides a high shine. For trouble spots I use a small battery powered fingernail buffer which has limited power, and the nail grinding attachments are useful for other pen repairs. I just finished fashioning a Vac breather tube with it as it gives great control for small work. Speed wheel buffing is probably faster than by hand, and for some truly necessary, but it is easy to burn plastics with them.

Thanks.

I had success using a 220v dremel in a 120V AC. As I can control the speed, I use it at a low speed with a Flex-Shaft and a buffering wheel in order to get some shine after aplying a soft polisher. Also I use fingernails polisher pads to finish.
Luciano.