How do you break a dremel? (56K safe)

[Brians256]

Well, apparently metal fatigue means something. The torque is not direct drive. It actually feeds through a spring to (I'm assuming) absorb sudden differences in load on the motor. Unfortunately, when the spring breaks.... the dremel is no longer as effective. :D

http://www.procooling.com/~brian/images/RedneckCase2/broken_dremel.jpg

Well, at least I know what the inside of a dremel looks like, now.

P.S. Hopefully this pic is not as obnoxiously large as the previous pics.

[ItsSoLARGE]

Well, apparently metal fatigue means something. The torque is not direct drive. It actually feeds through a spring to (I'm assuming) absorb sudden differences in load on the motor. Unfortunately, when the spring breaks.... the dremel is no longer as effective. :D

http://www.procooling.com/~brian/images/RedneckCase2/broken_dremel.jpg

Well, at least I know what the inside of a dremel looks like, now.

P.S. Hopefully this pic is not as obnoxiously large as the previous pics.

that bearing probably get killed too.... be good to pull it out and flush it, then oil it. May be i've been around RC cars too long.

[Brians256]

that bearing probably get killed too.... be good to pull it out and flush it, then oil it. May be i've been around RC cars too long.

I guess that it is possible to repair it. However, where do you find the correct spring?

[joemac]

I guess that it is possible to repair it. However, where do you find the correct spring?

Contact the manufacture they usually have replacement parts for everything that can fatigue and break.

[TerraMex]

That's not an actual Dremel ...?
If it is, it's the first i've seen with a orange button :D .
Dremel clone ?.
I've seen a few : blow up (frag grenade type) , catch fire (incendiary grenade type), break the acessory head (probably the spring thiggy) , etc etc etc.
Wouldn't recommend them, brand ones are actually much better. B&C and similar.
My "brand" Dremel (http://clientes.netvisao.pt/carlo001/dremel.jpg) still here live and cutting.
Better than this, only an acessory head for an air compressor (those things are powerful).

[Brians256]

That's not an actual Dremel ...?
If it is, it's the first i've seen with a orange button :D .
Dremel clone ?.
I've seen a few : blow up (frag grenade type) , catch fire (incendiary grenade type), break the acessory head (probably the spring thiggy) , etc etc etc.
Wouldn't recommend them, brand ones are actually much better. B&C and similar.
My "brand" Dremel (http://clientes.netvisao.pt/carlo001/dremel.jpg) still here live and cutting.
Better than this, only an acessory head for an air compressor (those things are powerful).

Can you find accessory heads for air compressors that are intended for delicate work? I know you can get rotary cutters that are intended for things like cutting up cars. But, I didn't know if you could get any that are intended for smaller tasks.

[TerraMex]

Yes, you can, i've only seen one but i'm assuming there's more out there. Expensive thou. Alot more than an electric mini drill.
Doesnt pay for someone who doesnt have a compressor handy/doesnt do alot of work, IMO.
Pressure can be regulated , as you might have already assumed, so more delicate work can be done.
Not portable (dragging the compressor around isnt easy), and a bit harder to work with probably.

[guandi]

I do alot of work with air compressor attachments (i'm a mechanic/engineer/geek ... lethal combination ;) ) and i enquired about a dremil-like attachment for our small compressor, its only 80psi, our 200 and 600 psi ones would be a bit *too* powerfull, but even so you can get them rated that high, and have up to 200,000 rpm no load rpm. Just ask your local Snap-On / BluePoint / Chicago Pnumatics rep, be warned tho, i have seen them in excess of £3000 :eek:

[TerraMex]

3000 is waaaay overpriced.

Did a few searches:

http://www.mytoolstore.com/ir/ir301-k.html
http://www.mytoolstore.com/ir/ir307a.html
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1402154

Found these. Pretty cheap actually.

[Brians256]

TerraMex, those are die grinders that are a lot less maneuverable than the dremel. I'd hate to try and do delicate work with those.

Nice for grinding or cutting up stuff, though.

[TerraMex]

Define maneuverable.

PS : like i've said, i havent used one, cant comment much on that. But i've seen cutting done with a similar tool (if not equal) ... cutting through metal done easy.
The Dremel does eat up alot of cutting wheel .. and diamond disks are hard to find.

[Brians256]

Define maneuverable.

PS : like i've said, i havent used one, cant comment much on that. But i've seen cutting done with a similar tool (if not equal) ... cutting through metal done easy.
The Dremel does eat up alot of cutting wheel .. and diamond disks are hard to find.

Perhaps I should experiement more with a die grinder, then. I've never used one, although I do have an air compressor (and I think I got a die grinder in a kit of tools that came with it).

I do know that air tools last MUCH longer than electric tools, and I know that a die grinder would have quite a bit more torque than a dremel or similar rotary tool.

[TerraMex]

Try it, and report back.
I'd love to read a nice , good comparsion .

Althou exists pneumatic minidrills, googling only came up with engraving drills... not terribly extensive either, 100$ or such.
Still, a dremel is cheaper. But for more complex work (engraving, as an example), i still find the dremel a bit clumbsy, it's heavier than it should for that type for work and it tends to jump a bit at higher rpm's.

My father recommended a flexible drill extension (http://doityourself.com/store/screwdriverbitaccessories.htm) with a drill head. Haven't seen one on sale ... ever, but it sounds pretty good .

[bigben2k]

I've used both.

I can't say for sure which one has more torque: the grinder works very well at low RPMs though. A grinder can vibrate quite severely though, which will make it hard to use for detail work. I know my hand was numb after a straight hour of using it. I'd like to blame an unbalanced bit, but that just wasn't the case.

I've also used the extension for a Dremel, and it's really nice. I'm just not sure how long it would last, under heavy use though.


Brian, you might try spec'ing out that spring from McMaster's inventory. It can't be that hard to find.


BTW, if any fellow RC'ers have any tips for these springs, I need one for my boat! Miniature universal joints just aren't easy to find!

[Brians256]

I've used both.

I can't say for sure which one has more torque: the grinder works very well at low RPMs though. A grinder can vibrate quite severely though, which will make it hard to use for detail work. I know my hand was numb after a straight hour of using it. I'd like to blame an unbalanced bit, but that just wasn't the case.

I've also used the extension for a Dremel, and it's really nice. I'm just not sure how long it would last, under heavy use though.


Brian, you might try spec'ing out that spring from McMaster's inventory. It can't be that hard to find.


BTW, if any fellow RC'ers have any tips for these springs, I need one for my boat! Miniature universal joints just aren't easy to find!

Thanks for the info on the die grinder, BigBen2K. I'll probably try it out in the next couple of weeks. I'm trying to focus on techniques that I know will work, though, as I've had some disastrous results going off of my beaten path. For example, I tried to use aluminum flashing for a duct. Baaaaad results. It looked like a 5-year-old made it. An autistic 5-year-old. With palsy. :D So, I'm sticking with known construction techniques until I can GET IT DONE. I'm impatient to start using it.

As for the spring.... time is money. I dumped the old dremel into the trash (it was actually a black and decker) and got a new one that was on sale for $29.95. Besides, the chuck (collet actually) was getting worn and the motor was old and starting to heat up a LOT anytime I used it (I suspect the insulation on the windings was getting to be way over temp spec).

[Zhentar]

thanks for opening it up, now I know what happened to my dremel. Only a couple hours after ying/using it , it suddenly died. now I know what happened. At least RMAing it was sipmle.

[Brians256]

thanks for opening it up, now I know what happened to my dremel. Only a couple hours after ying/using it , it suddenly died. now I know what happened. At least RMAing it was sipmle.

Well, I figured it had to happen to at least one of you fellows out there. If nothing else, most of us haven't opened up our rotary tool to see what is inside.