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Dremel

R

Rob Davey

Joined
Mar 23, 2025
Messages
16
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48

Hi everyone
Just looking for some advice
I am currently in the early stages of the Riva Aquarama by Amati 1:10 scale
About to start sanding the bulkheads for planking..
I noticed a Dremel lite 7760 price drop on Amazon from £70 to £56 (tempted)
Would this be up to the job or should I get the more powerful Dremel 8150 for £80 ?
Or are they both a little overkill?
I usually hand sand but this model looks like
it needs a fair amount of sanding
 
If you want to use a power sander maybe consider a mouse sander or palm sander as it will work more easily in getting the right bevel across multiple bulkheads for a smoother transition from one to the next and easier to control how much to sand.
Allan
 
Dremel Lite is very weak, you'll quickly replace it. I don't recommend it, it's not suitable for continuous sanding.
I recommend something much more powerful, mains-powered, with a soft or flexible shaft, as Allan mentioned above.
 
I have three of these rotary tools; a 1970’ Sears ‘Lil Crafty a Proxxon engraver, and a Dremel Mini something or other.

Each has its own characteristics. The ‘Lil Crafty runs on 110v AC. It is fast and powerful. The Proxxon runs on 12v DC from a separate power supply. It is variable speed and uses a .5 mm diameter ball tool. The Dremel is cordless with an internal rechargeable battery. Two speed.

Long story short, I did not find any of these tools to be useful until my last project which requires extensive metalwork; fabrication of many soldered brass fittings.

The ‘Lil Crafty is a clone of a single speed 110v Dremel and gets the least use of the three. It’s single high speed is much too fast for drilling, and if powered through a variable power supply like a light dimmer it rapidly loses torque. It’s principle use is powering an abrasive cutoff disc.

The Proxxon is useful for cleaning up a soldered joint although it’s fixed .5mm engraver ball limits access to tight spots.

The Dremel is perhaps the most useful of the three as its collet will accept tiny < 1/32” dia dental bits. These will drill a hole through thin brass or will grind a dimple in heavier stock for the Sherline Sensitive drilling attachment on my mill. It does not have enough power for stock removal, and like most cordless tools it never seems to be charged when you need it.

I would not use rotary tools for fairing bulkheads on a POB model. Invest in some good files and maybe a set of riflers.

Roger
 
I have a dremel corded and find it very awkward to use. I have been using a nail drill that I picked up from Amazon for $13. It is much lighter weight and easier to control than a Dremel. The shafts are not the same size but arrowmax drills fit it. I use it mostly for sanding and drilling holes. It does not have as much torque as a Dremel but it is more than enough for my needs. I highly recommend it for use on model building.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DBKQVJHB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
IMG_0275-1.jpeg

 
One of the first tools I bought in 1972 was a Dremel Mototool it may have been their only model. It was a single ridiculous 30K RPM. The whole machine is based on the contrary concept that speed replaces force (torque) - Dremel then provided a solid state speed control - it got the speed down to something that did not throw a user across the room or break every wire gauge drill bit near instantly. The best use I found for it was the emery disc to cut steel bars and rod - faster than a hacksaw but easy to break.
I do like my Dremel 8050 - Lithium - recalled to fix battery fires - no longer sold - I only use it for ad hoc holes and reaming out glue filled holes - I wish it would default to 5000 rpm - slow is better.

I doubt that any Dremel will be of much help for what you want.
If you need to use big boy carbide cutters or sanding disc consider a Foredom flex shaft machine - torque not RPM - tools up to 1/4" shaft -But this is serious scratch build stuff. If you stay with kits there is no help here.

For sanding blocks give a thought to a cork yoga block:

Any shape that you can imagine can be cut from this.
Cork block.jpg



With a saw:

knew 5inch_.jpg but not actually a Knew - unless buying a Ferrari to to a job that a Yugo can do is not a problem.

and a place to hold it: fretsaw table.jpg

Staples or double coat - dry - stick rubber cement to hold - if cement -avoid the Norton no skid backing paper - cement hates the coating.
Open coat Al oxide - cloth backed lasts longer - better quality too

If you have more money than sense a Micro Mark - MicoMake DC right angle tool: a sander and a drill- almost all of the other tools look more useful than they are - and certainly not the belt sander - unless you want to turn the model into a layer of sawdust covering everything in the room.MicroMake rightangle.jpg
 
Best advice is to 'always' purchase the best tools that you can afford, up front... otherwise you'll typically wind up falling short 'later' on and then spend even more money buying a more capable tool that can better handle 'all' of the needful tasks to come in the future. If you're new and not sure, well. I'm sure that ship modeling won't be the only thing that you can use 'the tool' for. It will come in handy for many other things over the years.
 
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Then, when nothing but the best will do, there's Fein!'

1762479220634.png

Do yourself a favor. The variable speed Fein Multimaster multitool will sand model hulls better than just about anything. It's also good for all sorts of odd jobs in tight places. It's a oscillating saw and sander. Essentially a medical orthopedic cast removal saw, you cannot hurt yourself with it because it won't cut skin. Get the bottom of the line corded model. The basic corded model will do anything you need it to do, and you aren't going to be taking it to work with you every day. (Fact is, if you work in the trades, you've probably already got one.) Forget the battery driven ones. They're great for construction site work where you don't want to have to be running cords all over, but for shop bench use there's no need to pay the extra bucks for the battery model and being bothered keeping batteries charged up.

I've done a lot of boatyard refinishing sanding over the years. I've got two Porter Cable quarter sheet Speed-Bloc oscillating sanders, a couple of DeWalt quarter sheet oscillators, a 12" Makita polisher and disk sander, a Porter Cable 5" random orbit sander, and I've had the original Fein MultiMaster from shortly after they came out about 25 or 30 years ago and were the only multitools available. It was one of the few power tools I've ever bought new and paid retail for. From the day I bought it, I've used it more than the rest of my sanders combined, not just for sanding, but for sawing, scraping, and even removing polysulfide seam stopping on yacht decks with the special attachment Fein makes for reefing seams. The entry level plain vanilla Fein MultiMaster will set you back about $250. The deluxe models go up into the three hundreds. It's expensive, but you get what you pay for. You can purchase generic sanding paper, saw blades, and other attachments these days for far less than what Fein charges for their versions, as well.

If you can afford it, buy the Fein. It's a tool you'll use for the rest of your life, and you'll use it a lot. There are brand-name Chinese knockoffs all over the place these days for forty or fifty bucks and even less at Horror Fright and Home Despot, but you get what you pay for. Buy the Fein for the rest of your life and keep it in the family when you're gone or buy three or four of the knockoffs between now and when you punch out. Your call. :D
 
Bob Cleek said:
Not sure if you are aware, but for the information of anybody who may be helped by it, Dremel makes a fairly broad range of differently sized collets for their Mototools. Not particularly expensive.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jaager for your reply
But I was inspired by this YouTube ( Link above ) of this guy using a Dremel sanding the bulk heads on a Amati Italian Runabout build.
I am only a beginner who now is retired (69 yrs old) and has some spare time (apart from Golf) , only made the Occre Endevour before but
really like this Amati larger scale boat with the big bulkheads etc but was intimidated by the amount of sanding required so I thought a Dremel was the answer

Part 2 - Sanding & Planking Preparation: Amati Italian RUNABOUT (Riva Aquarama)​


Yossarian’s Model Crafting
but after all your replies maybe its not :)
I steered away from the cordless Dremel's as some of you suggested it is underpowered
I have ordered (black friday deal) this Dremel, always fancied one, not a bad price from Argos
however will be stocking up with sanding sponges, files etc :)
Dremel 3000-15 Multi-Tool Kit
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Dremel 3000-15 Multi-Tool Kit
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£44.99​
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I have three Dremel MotoTools, two corded and one battery operated, all variable speed. They get more use trimming my dogs' toenails than they do building models. Dremel tools are useful for some grinding and cutting and high-speed sanding tasks, depending upon the circumstances. The Dremel's "weakest link" is its low torque power, especially at lower speeds. It won't win any prizes for ergonomic design, either. The "fat" body makes doing fine work with it difficult. For mentioned above, Dremels are designed to run at very high RPM speeds and take a very small "bite" with each revolution. Therefore, if you want to do any sort of fine work with a Dremel, you'd better have a very steady hand.

A far better option, albeit more expensive, is a high-torque variable speed flexible shaft machine, not a high-speed, low-torque rotary tool. There are Chinese knock-offs, of course, but the "industry standard" is the Foredom flex shaft machine line. A basic motor and handpiece will start around a couple of hundred bucks, as I recall, and the prices go up from there. There's a very large range of Foredom flex shaft powered accessories. By taking advantage of the wide range of accessories and specialty handpieces in the Foredom "system," savings can be realized on top quality tools that would otherwise have to be purchased separately. You only have to buy the "tool," not the "motor" every time.

Foredom tools live long lives and there are always many available on the used market. Check out eBay and local "classifieds" sites for used listings at big savings.

The economics are like most tool purchases. You can spend three or four times the price of a Dremel tool for a new Foredom, or two times the price of a Dremel for a good used Foredom flex shaft machine, but the new Foredom machine will outlast at least a half-dozen Dremels and the used Foredom probably close to the same. The Foredom is a commerical level machine. The Dremel is produced for the hobby and homeowner market. I'm not knocking the Dremel for what it is, although most expect far more from it than it's capable of doing. But if you are talking about using a rotary tool for the rest of your life, amortized over time, the Foredom will give you a lot more bang for your buck and if you find you no longer have any use for your Foredom, you will always find it easy to sell at a reasonable price.

I got my very lightly used Foredom flex shaft machine and two handpieces, the standard collet (just like a Dremel) and the standard drill bit chuck models, used from a local "want ads" website for $75. A lady bought it to make jewelry and lost interest in the hobby. I've used it regularly for about ten years now with no problems at all.

1762540123719.png
 
Here's my sanding solution for bulkheads. A dowel or a 1/2" square wood strip covered with sandpaper. Long enough for multiple bulkheads at a time in order to get a smooth flow to the bulkhead surfaces. If you have filler between the bulkheads, then a power sander like described in a previous post would be better.

II think the small sanding surface of a Dremel would lead to uneven sanding across multiple bulkheads vertically and across several of them horizontally. Dremels can be useful in harder to reach areas and around the stern, however.

ac4ba4a1439b2779d4f4d34c9dfb4e358697f1cd-1.jpg
 
My tuppence worth, as an ex-tradesman and hobbyist: palm / mouse sander = great; multitool = unbeatable for flush cutting etc, can be good for sanding in corners: dremel (and similar), the least used tool in my workshop. That's not to say I never use it at all, just that it hasn't earned it's keep. Others will have different views.
 
Jeff T said:
Here's my sanding solution for bulkheads. A dowel or a 1/2" square wood strip covered with sandpaper. Long enough for multiple bulkheads at a time in order to get a smooth flow to the bulkhead surfaces. If you have filler between the bulkheads, then a power sander like described in a previous post would be better.

II think the small sanding surface of a Dremel would lead to uneven sanding across multiple bulkheads vertically and across several of them horizontally. Dremels can be useful in harder to reach areas and around the stern, however.

View attachment 555519
Click to expand...
emery boards too... 5 for $1.25 @ dollar tree!
 
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