Dremel question

donnord

donnord

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Dec 22, 2007
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My 25+ yr old Dremel messed up yesterday and I am looking for advise on a replacement. It appears that just the chuck seized up so I can replace that alone and I think it will be OK. But I was wondering if I can convert the old dremel to the newer quick change mandrel system. I am finding it harder to get bits for the old 1/8" straight chuck.
 
donnord said:
My 25+ yr old Dremel messed up yesterday and I am looking for advise on a replacement. It appears that just the chuck seized up so I can replace that alone and I think it will be OK. But I was wondering if I can convert the old dremel to the newer quick change mandrel system. I am finding it harder to get bits for the old 1/8" straight chuck.
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Good morning,
I still find the 1/8” shaft bits at the big box stores. That said, did you try a pliers rather than the supplied little wrench? Not much leverage with that thing.
 
I removed the chuck from the dremel and put in my vise to get the bit out. The big box store by me dont have many of the 1/8 bits so I end up going to the hardware store, which I honestly don't mind, but their selection is also limited.
 
Buy the bits on line. There is a great selection and they are cheap. You can also buy different collets for the Dremel to take smaller bits.
 
Thanks, the big box store had the new adapter and an updated chuck, works fine now. I saw on line that the bits are cheaper, I will go that way next.
 
Just more opinions, but getting sick of going through Dremels....

I bought a Proxxton Pro with the metal front end.

Just a little bit more money, not terrible.....but so far seems better, higher quality
 
I think the older ones like mine hold up OK, not sure about the newer stuff. That said, mine has gotten noisy so it may be wearing out.
 
donnord said:
I think the older ones like mine hold up OK, not sure about the newer stuff. That said, mine has gotten noisy so it may be wearing out.
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If yours is one of the models that have quick change brushes it might be worthwhile to pull them and have a look to see if they need replacement.
Periodically i pull the brushes on mine and give them a bit of a touch up with emery paper to deglaze them.
 
I have a bunch of Dremels. One still hangs under my bench for specific purposes. The others are in drawers.

For not much more money, you can buy a Chinese flexible shaft machine with a Jacobs chuck (#30) handpiece. These are far superior to Dremels for most hand work. There are better models made by Foredom but they are expensive. There are Chinese Foredom counterfeits, too. My suggestion is just buy a cheap one. They come with a foot rheostat and are variable speed. They rely on torque rather than speed. The Jacobs chuck will accept bits from tiny to almost 1/4 inch, and the handpiece is easier to use. I have 5-6 flexible shaft machines- a couple of Foredoms for dedicated purposes and 2-3 cheap ones.

Yes, I know Dremel makes a flexible shaft model. I have no experience with it, but it appears to run extremely fast, and the tabletop mounting is not as versatile in actual use. The other machines are typically hung on a shaft above your bench. You can see a couple on the right side of this picture of my clean bench.
 

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If you are looking for something with a bit more utility check the secondary market for used Foredom flex shaft grinders.
They can be had at or below the price of new Chinese models but have the advantage of far better build quality and any needed repair parts or consumables are readily available.
I recommend doing a little due diligence with a quick goggle search on the particular model before laying you money down but for the most part it is hard to go wrong with a Foredom grinder.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
I have a bunch of Dremels. One still hangs under my bench for specific purposes. The others are in drawers.

For not much more money, you can buy a Chinese flexible shaft machine with a Jacobs chuck (#30) handpiece. These are far superior to Dremels for most hand work. There are better models made by Foredom but they are expensive. There are Chinese Foredom counterfeits, too. My suggestion is just buy a cheap one. They come with a foot rheostat and are variable speed. They rely on torque rather than speed. The Jacobs chuck will accept bits from tiny to almost 1/4 inch, and the handpiece is easier to use. I have 5-6 flexible shaft machines- a couple of Foredoms for dedicated purposes and 2-3 cheap ones.

Yes, I know Dremel makes a flexible shaft model. I have no experience with it, but it appears to run extremely fast, and the tabletop mounting is not as versatile in actual use. The other machines are typically hung on a shaft above your bench. You can see a couple on the right side of this picture of my clean bench.
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Thanks for the advise, I'll look into those.
 
Years ago I got a Foredom at a garage sale for about $30. As i was getting ready to leave, one of the guys running the garage sale pointed to a small steel sheet metal box that was marked $5, he told me i needed to get it. Glad he told me, it had a crap load of accessories for the for the Foredom. My old Dremel (one speed from the eary 70s) doesn't get used neary as much.
 
Phydeaux said:
Foredom
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I have one but keep coming back to one of my Dremels for small cutoff wheel work. The Foredom turns the other way and unscrews my really thin (< 1mm) and medium thin (~ 1mm) cut off wheels which is about all I use . I have the thicker , fiber reinforced , wheels but almost never find myself wanting to move all that metal / generate all that heat .

Ha ha back in the day ~ early '80s before I had the Foredom . . . maybe before I owned an angle grinder I needed to cut two small slots in a car bumper . By the time I was done the poor little Dremel was almost too hot to hold and I think I even saw a bit of smoke .
She survived but it didn't do it any good .

Someone elses car so I couldn't remove the bumper and use a hand saw. Remember when automobiles came with chrome plated STEEL bumpers ?

I can't tell you how many multiblade slip joints I cut the second and some times third blade off of rather than push the pins out of the bolsters etc.,
I just cut'er off near the pivot and fold the stub closed for ever .

I just did two matching Case Black Synthetic Sowbellies . One I only kept the Wharncliiff blade on and the other I kept the very negative angled spay and clip point ; those two close really far into the handle so no prob . I have a pile of blades I have cut off slip joint knives that just keeps getting deeper .
Uncompromised handle shape is important to me . Give me a Case Trapper with only one blade on the thicker two blade handle and I am a happy boy ! ! !
 
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You guys would have loved it . . .
About twenty five years ago I worked in a fine arts bronze foundry . We had bronze grinding stations and in each station an air line came down from the ceiling
into
a carousel
the carousel was a round , rotating rack of small air grinders.
each grinder had a different bit
just turn the rack and grab the tool you need. When done with that bit push the grinder back in a slot and grab the next grinder with the tool already in it that you need.

That was one damb noisy place , I can tell you ! ! !
We all wore ear protection and air filtration masks all day long .
My specialty was Tig Welding and ceramic shell mold making so I rarely used the grinders .
But those grinder carousels were grab and go ; no fiddling around .
Pretty reliable too; I fixed all the air and rarely worked on the grinders.
 
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