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Mini Rotary Tool (Dremmel like)


cloudbound

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I want to share one of the neatest tools I have ever owned with everyone.  It's called a 'Rotary Tool' and I found it at Harbor Freight Tools for just $9.99.  I expected it to break quickly but it wasn't that expensive and I thought I'd give it a try.  Its like a Dremmel Tool.  But its small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.  The Rotary Tool comes with some drill bits, a few sanding wheels and a few different sized 'colets' for changing if you're using regular drill bits.  I don't know what half of the things are for but I DO know a drill bit and sanding wheel.  They also sell a set of 'Precision Drill Bits' that drill really tiny holes.  A set of about 16 cost me an extra $12 I think.  They're so tiny that they can break and over the past 3 months that I've owned the Rotary Tool I think I've broken about 3 of the bits.  But I've still got lots to use before I need to buy another set.  I even went back last week and bought an extra Rotary Tool because I figure for my $9.99 investment it has been more than worth that price.  If it breaks it was still a great deal.  You can find it online at Harbor Freight Tools (we have one just down the street though).  It is light as a feather too.  I absolutely LOVE this thing and I wish I'd known about it back when I was building my first dollhouse last year! 

dremmel.jpg

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Hi Patricia - I'm glad you found such a great tool for yourself! Good tools are THE key to making better and better minis! I am not sure if you know about MicroMark, but they carry tools specifically designed with small creators in mind. Some of their products are quite expensive, but if you take some time to look through their catagories and learn about options, you can generally find them at Amazon much more affordably.

http://www.micromark.com/

Have fun! It's so great to learn about the possibilities!

Jodi

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I saw those at our Harbor Freight and wondered about them. I have a Dremel that I bought years ago. I need to buy smaller bits/attachments and didn't know if that brand would fit

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On 7/24/2016, 10:43:05, havanaholly said:

I love Micro-Mark!  I also love Harbor Freight.

Me too.  

I love my dremel too. I got all my kids a dremel even if they said they didnt need one (so silly of them)!

I also have a few extra "rotary tools" hanging around the house also.

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On 7/24/2016, 10:43:05, havanaholly said:
16 hours ago, KathieB said:

Between us, Lloyd and I have a several Dremel rotary tools. My go-to, like Holly, is the cordless pistol grip Dremel Stylus. 

dremel%C2%AEstyluslithium-ion-2584.jpg

I never got around to buying one of these and now that I am looking to get one - they have been discontinued!!!  Guess I wont be getting one....

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1 hour ago, jbresr said:

I never got around to buying one of these and now that I am looking to get one - they have been discontinued!!!  Guess I wont be getting one....

There is a similar item, a Genesis 7.2V Lithium ion Hobby Tool  GLHT72-65 currently available on eBay for $29.95, and it includes 65 accessories. I don't recall what I paid for my Dremel, but this looks to be a good deal.   

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  • 3 months later...

I want to buy a dremel but unsure what one to get for dollhouse sanding. I don't want to spend  a lot,  yet i don't want to waste on a cheap version. Not wanting to get online, since i want it this weekend.  I looked some at Lowe's but it was overwhelming. What do you all recommend? 

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You might want to check online just to see if any of the local retailers have one in stock - like Walmart will tell us if they have something available in our store...  I'm still using my cheap $10 tool from Harbor Freight Tools but I have an extra one on 'stand by' since I figure the first one isn't going to last forever.  Plus it doesn't have the power than a normal dremmel tool would have.  I still love it because its light as a feather!

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  • 4 years later...

Hi! My Dad just gave me his Dremel! I am trying to learn how to use it to do very simple things such as sanding annoying glue drips, paint drips, excess spackle and other tasks on the houses I am rehabbing. I also want to cut 1/4" x 1/4" wood pieces to size (they are 24" long and I need short pieces.) And, of course, there will be a zillion other things I will want to do. I have never used a Dremel before and just found out that the nifty tool I was using to sand with is really a metal grinder (lol!) It is pointy, so I used it to get into a teeny area I was having trouble reaching.

What bit should I be using instead? I am working on houses which are already assembled and spending a lot of time sanding all sorts of things.

Also, I'd like to cut windows into my cigar boxes and I think I could do that with the saw attachment (I am thinking of buying that.) The wood is very hard but not thick. I'm not sure how to hold the boxes still while sawing them - has anyone come up with creative ideas for that (as I have posted before, I am a "dining room table" creator without a workshop.)

Any tips for how to put the Dremel to use would be great! I feel like there is a Ferrari in my "garage" but I don't know where to go with it. Thanks!

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When my hubs got me started in this hobby (he figured I needed a hobby like his, that lots of money would be spent, it would make no sense to most people, and would keep me happy and focused for hours, like his hobbies) the first mantra he taught me is that you cannot have too many clamps.  You will need to clamp whatever you're cutting really, really well.  If you are going to use your Dremel as a saw to cut holes in sheets of wood, it's safest to make a jig to hold your Dremel and make a table to slide your wood on (like a table saw, only mini) because the saw blade can bind in even a thin piece of wood and either kick up and remove or at least severely injure body parts, or stick in the wood and burn out your Dremel's motor.  I have a Dremel Trio I use to cut window and door holes (their website says they are making the Trio again).  I hope your apartment doesn't have carpet, because you're talking sawdust.

For sanding there are sanding drums for getting into curved spaces, in two sizes:  small and itty.  For sanding flat surfaces (like spackle that you've filled rough grain with) I prefer using a sanding block, which you can make by gluing a 1" piece of square dowel cut to length to the middle of a 3" by 5" piece of wood 1" thick that you wrap with sandpaper and staple to the top.

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14 hours ago, havanaholly said:

I have a Dremel Trio  I use to cut window and door holes (their website says they are making the Trio again).  

Holly, I couldn’t find anything on the Dremel website. Then I clicked on your link…and it brought me to a press release from 2010.😪

I am still mulling over whether to get a “reconditioned” Trio, or just a compact saber saw. 

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20 hours ago, peonyfoxburr said:

Holly, I couldn’t find anything on the Dremel website. Then I clicked on your link…and it brought me to a press release from 2010.😪

I am still mulling over whether to get a “reconditioned” Trio, or just a compact saber saw. 

I found this about the Dremel Trio. Is it current? https://www.dremel.com/gb/en/p/dremel-trio-6800-3-8-v437

I had also found a saw attachment but I am not sure it can do tiny work: 

https://us.dremel.com/en_US/products/-/show-product/tools/670-01-mini-saw-attachment

Funny about the carpet. I have area rugs and hardwood. Also an air filter. But it is becoming clear that at least some of the time, what I am doing is a little crazy for this space! I am going to have to think about how to plan the work so I can either make cuts elsewhere all at once or convert an area to a workshop and do all the messy stuff at once! 

And thank you for the safety tips. I now have work gloves, safety glasses and a table clamp. Clearly I need more clamps! It is nice to know that people I have never met care whether I lose or keep body parts. :) Seriously, thank you.

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2 hours ago, Tinyroomartist said:

...It is nice to know that people I have never met care whether I lose or keep body parts. :) Seriously, thank you.

I'm a retired RN.  Losing body bits to power tools is NOT fun and actually a bit of a drag.  Push sticks are nice to know about

2 hours ago, Tinyroomartist said:

...I now have work gloves, safety glasses and a table clamp....

Consider a box of disposable dust masks.  Some of the substances you might be sanding may contain chemicals you don't really want in your lungs.  Also, a plastic sheet can go over carpet and then gather up the corners and take it outside to dump into your garbage container.

I can't help you with the Trio.  It's nice to have and I don't know why Dremel stopped making it.  You can drill a hole in each corner of your opening with your Dremel and then thread a coping saw blade through one hole, attach the ends to the saw frame, and cut your openings that way.

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2 hours ago, Tinyroomartist said:

I found this about the Dremel Trio. Is it current? https://www.dremel.com/gb/en/p/dremel-trio-6800-3-8-v437

I had also found a saw attachment but I am not sure it can do tiny work: 

https://us.dremel.com/en_US/products/-/show-product/tools/670-01-mini-saw-attachment

Funny about the carpet. I have area rugs and hardwood. Also an air filter. But it is becoming clear that at least some of the time, what I am doing is a little crazy for this space! I am going to have to think about how to plan the work so I can either make cuts elsewhere all at once or convert an area to a workshop and do all the messy stuff at once! 

And thank you for the safety tips. I now have work gloves, safety glasses and a table clamp. Clearly I need more clamps! It is nice to know that people I have never met care whether I lose or keep body parts. :) Seriously, thank you.

There is a little blue box in the first link above the pic that says retired. Oh poo!

Angieaug did a YouTube video about a month ago where she cut a round window out of a RGT MDF kit with a saw from Harbor Freight that has a head much like the attachment in your second link so perhaps you have what you need. 

I found this (pic) in my stash...been looking for ages and had almost convinced myself it didn't exist. Thinking of taking it for a spin this weekend on the drive in window opening of the coffee shop. rsz_20210826_124705.jpg.cf082e32c6de265db811f57c67e3b0ee.jpg

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My husband bought me a Dremel 3000 when i first started out....actually I insisted that I had to have one, and that it would be used for all sorts of jobs :doh:

He tried to dissuade me from buying one, nonetheless, I have one! All those uses I envisioned for it quickly fizzled. My unit is very large and probably over powered for what I need. I have the saw blade attachment, and used it once.

If you just can't live without a rotary tool, my advice is to buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight or Amazon. If you love it, then you will love a Dremel. You can always upgrade.

Buy a cheap jigsaw from Harbor Freight too....It is the easiest tool for cutting windows.

My husband also bought me some mini power tools from Micro mark one year for Christmas.....they are way over priced IMO and should only be used for modelers. They were way under powered and frustrating!

Just my experience....but Harbor Freight is a good way to learn to use power tools without too big of a monetary investment

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