Recommend a dremel?

D

Deathcow

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Dec 24, 2004
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Been lurking a while, time to start cutting stuff! Looking for a good dremel to buy. From what I've read, multi-speed is good, cordless is bad. Is one with the box and mad accessories worth it? I'll probably only use three attachments...

Who really likes their dremel, what model is it?
 
I've got a model 770 Type 1--one of the cordless ones--and I really wish I would NOT have got cordless. It's great if you've got a simple mod or working with plastic, but when I've got to cut through some aluminum of steel I swear everytime I'm going to go out and buy a corded one when I'm waiting for it to recharge... :mad:
 
willie92 said:
I've got a model 770 Type 1--one of the cordless ones--and I really wish I would NOT have got cordless. It's great if you've got a simple mod or working with plastic, but when I've got to cut through some aluminum of steel I swear everytime I'm going to go out and buy a corded one when I'm waiting for it to recharge... :mad:
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QFT

I have a cordless dremel, and it starts lagging to the point of being useless as 15 minutes, minimum. I got a huge set of dremel attachments for christmas, and found that I use the different attachments more and more often. It's kind of like it was before I had a dremel, I thought that I would never really use it, but once I got the dremel, boy did I find more and more uses for it. I would suggest getting a corded, multi-speed dremel tool and then go get a small attachments set (grinders/sanders, etc.)...
 
I just have a pretty basic Multipro 285.
For sanding and grinding, a real variable speed version would serve me better, but for simple cutting, drilling a bit of polish work it does fine. Relatively cheap these days as well.
 
well, while a scroll saw is nice to cut some of the bigger stuff with, i find that you can make more acurate cuts with the dremmel. especially the smaller cuts.

i just picked this dremel kit up from the homo depot a couple days ago ( cuz i got tired of borrowing my friends )
and the first night i had it i used half of the accessories.

i think this kit is awesome if you can spare the $$$.
i HIGHLY recommend getting the flexible shaft thingy, it totally allows you to into tighter areas and get a lil better accuracy than with a baseball bat with a ball point tip.
 
i picked up a rotary tool from harbor freight that's corded and came with about 20 bits fro 5.95 + tax

hasen't failed me yet

mal
 
malicious said:
i picked up a rotary tool from harbor freight that's corded and came with about 20 bits fro 5.95 + tax

hasen't failed me yet

mal
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thank you for contributing to the trade deficit, i do it all the time! :D
 
Ok, I have a lot of dremel experience in all types of situations. There are a couple of things I would do and wouldn't do. Don't buy the entry level dremel or any of the cordless models no matter how "good" they might advertise the battery is. There is no replacement for 120v, haha. Anyway, I have the XPS400 the top of the retail line, and really if you buy it on ebay like I did, ($40), an excellent buy so get that model. It was brand new, just didn't included a case and I didn't need one. The XPS is a variable speed with a rheostat like control that is great, the tool has a lot of power and multitude of attachments that can make your dremel your main tool for modding. Somebody recommended a scroll saw, while they are "ok" the cuts are rough and its real easy to really screw up something like a side case panel especially aluminum, never use a scroll saw on an aluminum side panel, you are just asking for thousands of scratches and dents from the vibration. There is no way someone can tell me that a scroll saw or jigsaw will ever make as good a cut (cut with out burs, and scratching the hell out of your case) as a dremel. It will take you longer to make cuts with your dremel, but time well spent. My two cents.
 
BurntToast said:
Did I hear you correctly? Dremel for cutting?

Get a real tool. Not some over glorified hobby mom accessory.

http://www.absolutehome.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=61787
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If that was directed at me. I own both a jigsaw and a light scrollsaw. A Jigsaw will shred most case metal, everytime a tooth catches you get a large indent in your case that's a pain to hammer out. The real heavy guage metal cases can handle a jigsaw, but for most sub $100 cases (and many over $100 cases), it's way too much power to that thin flexible metal.

A Scroll/band saw on the other hand is a wonderful tool for doing larger cuts like case windows. A good metal blade and dial it down to under 1000 RPM and you can do some nice work with a scrollsaw, but you're talking $150-300 for a good one, where as a dremel and a couple packs of reinforced cutting discs run about $50 for a decent model. There's no subsitute for quality, dedicated tools, but most case modders shouldn't be throwing $300-500 in tools towards putting a $5 window in a $100 case.
For somebody just doing some case modding, maybe a little light metal/wood work elsehwere a dremel is both an effective and a very prudent tool.
 
I have the Craftsman Multi purpose rotary cutting tool, its like a dremel but no spd control and its about 5x bigger. I haven't used it to case mod yet and I don't know if I should?
 
I have a 3596 (the one that was linked to) and a newer 400 series tool. They're excellent tools. Granted, it's not the cheapest or most powerful option, but rotary tools are convenient and compact. For cutting a lot of metal, and angle grinder might be useful, but it'll leave sparks and I imagine is rather clumsy and imprecise.

It's not really necessary to load up on accessories initially. The tool is relatively popular and accessories can be purchased pretty much everywhere tools are sold.
 
Darkala said:
thank you for contributing to the trade deficit, i do it all the time! :D
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Dremel probably buys more than $5.95 in parts from other countries ;)
 
i less than three my dremel, xpr400 series or whateva it is, i cant remember the exact wording of it
 
BurntToast said:
Did I hear you correctly? Dremel for cutting?

Get a real tool. Not some over glorified hobby mom accessory.

http://www.absolutehome.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=61787
Click to expand...
Clearly you've never used a Dremel. They're the most popular modding tool for a reason, you know. A jigsaw is great (I've used both cordless Dremel, corded Dremel (I have the 400 XPR and I love it) and jigsaw), but when it comes to really small jobs, or really intricate jobs, the dremel kills it.
 
Well, got the 400 XPR on ebay with a 115 piece accessory kit for $47 on ebay. Do I need 115 pieces? Not really, but its not much more than without the kit.

Thanks for all the input everyone.
 
penguin said:
Clearly you've never used a Dremel. They're the most popular modding tool for a reason, you know. A jigsaw is great (I've used both cordless Dremel, corded Dremel (I have the 400 XPR and I love it) and jigsaw), but when it comes to really small jobs, or really intricate jobs, the dremel kills it.
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CSS is popular for a reason as well. It's the only game noobs know about. :rolleyes:
 
dremels are wicked popular, but I'm not sure they are the best tools for the job. For fine cuts, they can't be beaten, but for bigger things like case windows and blow holes (what most of us do) there are better tools.

A good hole saw kit that can actually cut a hole in steel and a Roto-Zip or similar cutting tool have replaced my dremel. I also use a cutting disk on my angle grinder for rough cuts and then my dremel to fine-tune.

If working with steel, I've found the dremel just a little to small and slow. (or myself just a little too big and impatient:) )
 
superkdogg said:
but for bigger things like case windows and blow holes (what most of us do) there are better tools.

A good hole saw kit that can actually cut a hole in steel and a Roto-Zip or similar cutting tool have replaced my dremel. I also use a cutting disk on my angle grinder for rough cuts and then my dremel to fine-tune.
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The best thing for blow-holes is a knockout punch. Unfortunately I haven't ever seen a cheap price on one in 3" or 4" sizes :(
 
superkdogg said:
dremels are wicked popular, but I'm not sure they are the best tools for the job. For fine cuts, they can't be beaten, but for bigger things like case windows and blow holes (what most of us do) there are better tools.

A good hole saw kit that can actually cut a hole in steel and a Roto-Zip or similar cutting tool have replaced my dremel. I also use a cutting disk on my angle grinder for rough cuts and then my dremel to fine-tune.

If working with steel, I've found the dremel just a little to small and slow. (or myself just a little too big and impatient:) )
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Agreement here. A Dremel is great for those who have a limited budget. Or only intend to use
it for a couple jobs. But once the jobs get bigger a Dremel can be woefully underpowered.

This is what I use - like a Dremel on steroids. Just as precise but with much much more power.
 
BurntToast said:
CSS is popular for a reason as well. It's the only game noobs know about. :rolleyes:
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I have to ask you, have you ever done anything more than cut fan holes in a case? Modders use dremels alot because they can do everything at a mediocre level, and some stuff really well. Instead of buying 10 bi metal hole saws at $15 a piece, a jig saw at $40 (For one that doesn't suck, $60 for a nice one), and $150 for an air compressor and die grinder, they can do it all with a dremel. You obviously haven't researched case modding much, or you'd know dremels are used because they are a good bargain for what we use them for.
 
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