Blessed are the Dremel Tools

5/5/2011 7:01:50 PMEdd

Sirs . . . . .

Timely Technical Tip . . . .numbah wun t'ousand , two hunna ands lebenteens . . .

Now I must have just right at 6-8 Dremel tools, so I must be sold on their total usefullness, with my very first one going back to the 50's and the newest ones being the two flexible shaft ones that I recently came across at a gee-roj sale..

It must have been years before I was knowledgeable of there being a cut off wheel and its mounting arbor as being an accessory for them.

Orrrrr . . . they may have just been years in coming onto the scene as valid accessories.

Now THAT particular accessory is probably my very-very favorite . . . . from its aspect of my being almost able to fabricate any metal or plastic part with its use . . . . . all the way down to the speedy grinding off, of the MASTER Laminated Chastity belt lock of some Desperate Housewife. . . . on going to extremes .

Invariably, I now have cut off wheels permanantly affixed to at least three of my units.

Now frequent users are well aware of the PING . . .whizzzzzzzzz . . .ker-chunk of a wheel, if it is pressed into work too hard/fast or gets laterally skewed, even the slightest bit.

And then, there is the optimal situation of your having successfully used one ALL the way down to the arbor holder, and I even save some of those ~ 1/4 in or so diameter remnants . . . to use in close quarters work.

But, and thats heaveeee on the BUT, I invariably am handling one of those Dremels with a mounted wheel and happen to touch something and snap a brittle wheel in half . . . or something gets shoved up against a wheel.

I would guesstimate that at least 1/4 of my past wheels have befallen this situation and PREMATURELY snuffed out their widdle lives.

Now trying to trudge on and use !/2 of a NEW broken wheel is gamble city, along with its fierce imbalance, and bobbling cutting action.

I have come up with an add on which will sheath my cutting wheels , when not directly in use and it certainly seems to have then eliminated those handling accidents.

HOWS TO . . . . Dooos it to it :

The provided photos below should explain the mere initial acquisiton of two sizes of PVC pine plastic unions and having the small one telescoping within the larger sized one.

Manufacture-er-er-ers tolerances along with any mold flash present, may require the use of a mill file to enact a smooth telescoping of the two pieces., as they will then get sooper glooooed or e-poxxxxied within each other.

I believe that the definition of the last photo will even give the units magic I.D. numbers, or carry your Dremel tool in with you for a trip to the mens fitting room, when you go to the HOMEless DEsPOT . . . or just how . . . LOWES . . . are their prices?

One can normally hold the Dremel unit like a giant pencil when using it and notice that there is a valley in the size of the housing in that area from the overall max diameter of the unit to the other minor extreme of that molded end of the housing that forms a nose cap around the end of the cases 2 part unitized housing.

That is where your fingers actually settle in to hold the unit . . . take note of its position.

That is also the point where you mark up the smaller plastic piece to then drill a hole thru it and then epoxy on an an outer nut for providing a robust threading for the set screw to then pass thru.

That slight low point is where the Knurled heads machine screw (8 or 10 /32 threading) rests, when it is being tightened down. Now, exactly 180 degrees opposite the set screw position is where you get to use the cut off wheel to fashion that deep U opening which rests upon the molded shoulder that is around the spring loaded silver shaft locking pin.

Actually this would be the first operation, as this U cut out is being initially necessary for you, in orer for you to be ABLE to even pass the smaller plastic fitting down low enough to judge where to drill the hole thru to line up with that mentioned low spot.

Refer to the A-B-C photos for clarifying the positions of operations

Photo D shows the adequate clearance of protection provided for even a full sizeed, new cut off wheel.

The final E photo shows how the unit installs and nestles around the Dremel tools end

Thasssit . . . . .

Illustrations . . .Beee-lowwwww . . . . .

73's de Edd

MAKING A DREMEL TOOL PROTECTIVE SHEATH:

5/6/2011 9:57:33 AMDennis Wess

Timely post Edd.........

Brings to mind another item that can be made using the cut-off wheel:

I needed a METRIC set screw to retain a knob on a Euro set I am working on. A very tiny one I might add.

Best I could come up with at my local ACE hardware (They have a very wide assortment of screws, nuts, washers, etc etc) was a metric slotted head screw that was much longer than required....but the correct thread.They had metric set screws but not of the small size I needed.

I used the cut-off wheel to trim off the screw head and trim the screw to the correct length ..... I then used the EDGE of the cut-off wheel to cut a screwdriver slot in the end of the screw.

Worked great.

Don't see how I could get along without my Dremel......there's always some job that pops up where only the Dremel will suffice.

And yes you are right about the danger of a disintegrating wheel. I've learned to NEVER have my face in-line with the rotational plane of the wheel. In addition.....6 words must be kept in mind at all times....."SAFETY GLASSES, SAFETY GLASSES, SAFETY GLASSES" .

The shield that you've constructed is a great idea...too many times I have broken a wheel by leaving it chucked and cramming the Dremel into the tackle-box I use to store it in.

Dennis