What do you use your Dremel for?

L

Little claw

Joined
Mar 4, 1999
Messages
581
I know that this is verging on off-topic, but so many of you refer to using Dremels to modify/repair your knives...plus it cuts, sometimes.

I've been toying with the idea of getting one for a while, now, but I'm not sure that I'd really use it enough to make it worth the money. So, what do you guys (and gals) use 'em for. Particularly in the way of making my knives 'mine', but non-knife related too.
 
I use it to wood carve, polish brass, steel, ect., grind, cut off steel blade blanks, etch, ect.

yes, they are definitely worth the money!!! buy a craftsman one, its cheaper, or a black and decker model even cheaper!!:)
 
Put one of those little wire brush attachments on, and it makes for a good nose cleaner! :D
 
Hey Danbo was that you peeking in my window? Man put it on about 20,000 rpm and that wire brush and you have the cleanest nose in town!:D

Other, more mundane uses would include.............about EVERYTHING!
 
I use my dremel mainly for rounding off and polishing some of the sharp edges on my handguns.
 
Half of my shop is in half of the garage.I keep 2 Dremel 395's or Sears equivalent hooked up there...use sanding cylinders on final profiles on liners, blades, etc, use the cutoff wheel to cut slot for the lock part of the Ti liner. use reinforced cuttoff wheel as a mini grinder...to shorten screws a small bit. also cut off pivot pins and removing any excess metal around a drilled Ti or Steel hole. cut screw slots in torx and pivot pin heads. Also profile cleanup on the inside of Ti or Steel or micarta spacers. Also to grind the face of the lock on the linerlock when hand fitting the final bit.

Other half of my shop is in the house...back room.Keep 2-4 Dremel 395's or Sears equivalent hooked up there. Use the fine cutoff wheel to grind down the little bit of screw thread that sticks through the liners after you ust endcutters to almost cut them flush. Use the reinfroced cutoff wheel as a small grinding disk to shorten screws etc., smooth around drilled holes.Us the 3M bristles to clean up the residue on an etched Damascus blade and/or bolsters .use small buffing wheels with Zam or Fabuluster to shine parts such as inside of spacer, bolster, liners, etc.
If I err in engraving my Mark on the inside of the spacer, buff/grind it off with Dremel and try again. Often use small Cratex wheels on a dremel tool to cleanout recessed corners, and other small areas. Use the chain saw sharpening grinder stone to clean up or make minor adjustments at the recess where the stop pin fits into the blade tang or liner locking folders.
Oneis good ,then 2 must be better, right!
Stay Safe,
 
I find a ton of uses for it...its much handier than a hacksaw, with those reinforced cutting discs for cutting metal. For example, last weekend I put a new threshold in between the livingroom carpeting and kitchen linoleum, it wasn't a square cut, I had to cut angles in it to make it set flush with the mouldings and the dremel worked perfectly and it came out much better than I ever could have done it with a hacksaw or tin snips.

Thats just an example, I find stuff all the time that its usefull for...Have any doors that when you turn the handle it kinda catches?? If you take it apart hit the area its catching on with the ol dremel, good as new again.

Its one of those things, that once you get it you'll wonder how you lived without one.
 
Cleaning the housing in traditional folders. A little cardboard disc with Chromium Oxide paste de-rusts backsprings in minutes.
 
If you can, go for the 3981 model, it's a little more rugged (though a little heavier) and the digital speed control / electronic torque is handy.
I got mine initially for cleaning / polishing / modding knives, but it now gets used for a lot of tasks the main power drill used to do. Like Patrick, I make my own discs for polishing, I use 2" diameter cardboard discs with ordinary paste metal polish, seems better than the Dremel felt pads / Dremel polish for what I do.
 
Excellent idea about using cardboard with the Dremel guys!!

I use mine to cut off pin stock, trim off excess pin stock after mounting handles, route out slabs for mortised or rabbett tang knives, polishing in the very hard to reach nooks and crannys.
I use the sanding drums to finish sand finger grooves and choils on neck knives and other smaller type blades.

There are dozens of uses for a Dremel tool and all you have to do is use your imagination and hope more people post their uses in this thread as I'm hoping right now.:D


All the best,
Mike U.
 
OK. OK.
A "Dremil" tool is like the Swiss Army Knife of power tools. Know what I mean?

I've used mine for many things, but I find myself using it most for polishing and grinding. When I have a bead-blast blade I take it apart and use my "Dremil" to polish the blade around the pivot point.

I don't know if you're into guns at all, but I've bought grips that don't QUITE fit my gun and have been able to, quickly, make NICE fitting grips out of them.

I have the Craftsman little cordless version. This thing is as tough as nails! It'll last a LONG, LONG time on a battery and had done everything I need.

Of course, if you're into MAKING knives, you might need a little more power and battery life, but for everyone else I'd recommend the, economical, Craftsman cordless version.
 
It would be quicker to list what I don't use the Dremel for.

Ummm... mmmm...

I don't use it to brush my teeth.

I do use it for just about everything else.
 
Pretty useful for general drilling, cutting, polishing my watch band, etc.

I've also used it to grind away the serrations on a CRKT P/K Companion, and gave it a recurve. Taped it to a Sharpmaker rod to keep the angle consistent. I posted a picture of the setup in a thread in this forum.

Brushing teeth, good idea. Maybe it'll help me whiten up my front teeth. :) My dentist will be horrified.
 
Originally posted by misque

There are dozens of uses for a Dremel tool and all you have to do is use your imagination and hope more people post their uses in this thread as I'm hoping right now.:D
Click to expand...

ME TOO! Thanks guys, I can see there's lots I haven't thought of. I'll definitely get one, hopefully by Christmas. I'm hoping that this thread can serve as fuel for my 'imagination'!

Zardoz:

Did you get yours from the UK or overseas? And how much did it cost you for the 3981? Also, do you have any trouble getting hold of the extra bits?
 
My sisiter came home from a trip to Japan and she had lost the key to lock for her luggage. My Dremmel ate through that lock in seconds and left me looking like a hero. this is one wonderful tool, I originally brought for craving marbel.
 
Hi Little Claw - I got mine from MachineMart over at Croydon, that was £94 for the 3981 kit (ouch!). But it will be the only one I ever buy and will probably outlive me, the motor brushes are quick changeable and the bearings easily sourced.
Any tool bits will do, Black and Decker, Minicraft etc., or these people -
Ensign
(Dremels are used a lot for Horse Dentistry)

On the Dremel page theres a cool new LED light that uses the tool bit's rotation to power it! Dremelite
 
I've used one to remove to pins on my balisong. Went through em nice and easy, love it.

Oh yeah, used the cordless version to carve other peoples names into car windows.:D
 
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