Thread: Dremel for woodworking

depending of the size of the project.. dremel tools are good for small precise projects...
(talk small intricate pieces)
Anything bigger will be extremely slow...

Also, although small and portable, they still can generate fair bit of dust.. and we're talking lots of very fine dust.. which might be a bit of an health issue especially if you're working on MDF.. so make sure balcony doors are closed and you use mask when operating..

dremels are nice and inexpensive. dont last very long if you use them a lot. medium noise.

Proxxon cost twice as much but are 4 x better. will never have to buy a new one. quieter too. no hearing protection needed with it.

If you don't consider yourself a "power carver," carving antlers for chandeliers, doors and bed posts,
a Dremel will be just fine. I have a knock-off Dremel clone that runs just fine, maybe once a month
or less. Fun to carve custom steel branding irons in the 3/4" heads of 8" & 10" nails ($0.50 each).
Actually, I don't consider it useful enough for carving slate or abalone shell for inlays in carvings.

Even outside, I'd want hearing protection and a dust mask.
No idea what your budget is for this. Fordom would be my choice
of powerful shaft-driven rotary tools if/when I needed a daily machine.

What about hand tools? Hand drills work fine. And little planes come in a myriad of forms. No noise. And only makes shavings not dust. Although you will still have to sand with sand paper for finishing.

Good Morning silver310

The dremel is basically a glorified dentists drill, and I think that defines the size of projects that it is designed for.

You do not say what sort of jobs you have in mind, but have you perused their catalog for the accessories that you are likely to need or want? Whilst the drills are inexpensive, the accessories are not and the total cost can escallate very quickly.



Fair Winds

Graeme

In fact, if you can find one, a dentist's drill makes a better Dremel than Dremel make

Dremels come in various sizes and are used for projects far larger than I would have imagined.
I've been in a shop with several of the hanging/flex shaft models. I did not know they made anything
in the size of a Fordom.

There are patrons, admirers, who admit that they want both BIG and very, very detailed in the same work.

Do a glue-up of Western Red Cedar, 50mm thick and sized as the grand entrance door in a very big house.
Use a Dremel to do an elaborate, North American, wildlife scene relief carving: animals, forest, mountains,
snow, rivers and so on. Go to the bank with $8,500.00.

The guy is no one-shot wonder, everything sells. He did a large carving in a large moose antler. He had almost exactly 1 hour to enjoy what he had carved. Out the door for $1,200.00.

He uses the conventional, hand-held models.
I guess that if one craps out, he can afford to toss it in the bin and buy another, yes?
I've been trying to teach him the error of his ways for rough-out starts to use gouges & a mallet.
Even sharpening and maintaining his gouge set has not quite got him convinced yet.

Since I stumbled on this thread I'll quickly share my experience with Dremel.
About a year ago I bought my first rotary tool to work with wood cars, sand, drill etc. It was cheap one, for about 30$. After about 2 months using it it packed up, started to show some wear and tear and eventually with all the dust etc it was getting slower and slower. I did dissemble it few times after and got few more weeks out of it by giving it a clean, but soon it finished his days in my workshop.
So after long time researching I bought Dremel 4000 with stand. So far I'm using it for over 8 months now and it works as clock. Power is there at all times. It's perfect for all my needs. It came with plenty of accessories. I've done mini wood turning jobs, plenty of sanding, cutting and a lot of drilling. It might not be very precise with drilling, but I have found ways around it, so I'm very happy with my investment so far.

Hope this helps to person trying to make some decision.

Hi Silver310,
Bought a Cordless Dremel many years ago, but it packed up rather quicker than I expected, as I was using ½ Power. Wrong. By doing it that way it only used 3 of the 6 Batteries. Sitting in the Cupboard somewhere.
Also a fair while ago, I bought a " G Force Mototool " $16.95. Dremel type of Tool.
Has done a fair amount of work, & these days I sharpen my Bandsaw Blades with it.

Am I correct in saying that a "Dremel", being a rotary tool is the same as a multitool that Ryobi/Makita/milwaukee etc sell?

I would expect the higher brand tools to be better build quality but lack accessories.

Hi 14,
No, it is not the same. Just for a look, you could go to Bunnies as they have both the Multi Tool, the Dremel & Proton & both of these are what I wood call Mototools.

Seeing some are having problems with their Dremels, one thing I wood think was not to run it for ½ to ¾Hr. Give it a rest every now & then. Say 15mins. I think you will find it can get rather warm in the hand, so then is the rest period, & may last a lot longer.
After all it is only a Small Machine.

Dremel has been in the marketplace for many decades.

Besides the small hand-held units, they make "hangers" with
a flex shaft and bit-holder hand piece. Same or similar to the big Fordoms.
That, at least, keeps the motor (grapefruit size) out of the worst of the dust.

The "Rotozips" and variations are relatively recent additions to the HH tool market place.

Without knowing for sure, I suspect that many of the tool failures are due to hopelessly
inadequate dust control. Motor brushes gum up and air circ in the motor is compromized.
The keep your hands warm in the cleanest of circumstances!

My ShopVac pickup is less than 2cm from whatever I'm working on.
I use a lot of cutoff wheels which disintigrate in use. . . . if they don't
outright up and explode at 15k rpm in my face. Memo: good face/eyes & ears protection.

I've been using my Dremel 4000 almost daily for 2 years now, including regularly for routing and planing small pieces, often running it for an hour or two at a time, and it still purrs like a kitten.

For small stuff, it's almost unbeatable, with the range of accessories and attachments available.
The only maintanance I've done is regularly blowing it out with compressed air.
I've been holding my breath for a while now waiting for the brushes to wear out, but so far so good.

Proxxon have a similar but possibly even better record.