New Dremel Tool

[Roger Pellett]

I thought that I’d never be shopping for a Dremel tool BUT:

I’ve reached the point on my present model where I cannot use my favorite drilling method; drill press. I have a Dremel Mighty Mite that’s about to give up the ghost and with apologies to my friend Bob Cleek I don’t want to spend the $$ for a Foredom tool.

My needs:

Slim design to get into tight spots on the model.

Chuck or collet that closes to zero to use wire sized HSS bits, NOT those proprietary bits with larger shanks

120v motor, NOT cordless.

I don’t need it for sanding, cutting, grinding, etc. Just drilling.

The tool that seems to best fit my needs is a Dremel Stylos. Although classed as”Light duty” my on the model drilling is limited to holes under1/16.” Everything else goes to the drill press.

Roger

 

[Y.T.]

I believe you are asking for too much. Such wonderful tool does not exist as one product. You can buy a Proxxon flexible drilling shaft with collets plus an adapter chuck for holding zero diameter HSS drill bits. You will power this shaft off your drill press. This system works I use it.

 

[Graham]

What Y.T said - I use exactly the same setup.

 

[Rob444]

I thought that I’d never be shopping for a Dremel tool BUT:

I’ve reached the point on my present model where I cannot use my favorite drilling method; drill press. I have a Dremel Mighty Mite that’s about to give up the ghost and with apologies to my friend Bob Cleek I don’t want to spend the $$ for a Foredom tool.

My needs:

Slim design to get into tight spots on the model.

Chuck or collet that closes to zero to use wire sized HSS bits, NOT those proprietary bits with larger shanks

120v motor, NOT cordless.

I don’t need it for sanding, cutting, grinding, etc. Just drilling.

The tool that seems to best fit my needs is a Dremel Stylos. Although classed as”Light duty” my on the model drilling is limited to holes under1/16.” Everything else goes to the drill press.

Roger

If I may suggest, a tool I have been using a nail drill. It is very compact easy to handle. It does not take Dremel bits. but you can buy arrowmax drill bits that are perfect. not tremendous torque but I have no problems with soft woods or annealed brass. It is inexpensive and a delight to use. you can also buy burrs that work well with it.

Here is an example.

https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Nail-Drill-File-Professional/dp/B0CKYJ63SG/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1TC88GZJJCL9P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WZXXpxeNydd7DJ2Np05XRKv-LqgkiO7emDiSYVHMIBD9N6SdhTsZbwHcy__3YowTw_aLg0Ml81RgDEwcjLtEixc_C7YKcXcqtu8BOLjjbDFdFbR8Y7c096_pvdBrbRAhsPMK2Lw9SWLaoFK95L1TumJ6SLcY5LYWZNy8phGiryBtTYfCqn4GSKoXUZce9QaemF_wQcJm6E8omRqF1Yp6REwr-g52w8X2Nb5tyhVZDWH_3EVeO7WM_8MKki5tENurK5-dsZcXMfxzqz7Tonm5d2wjHuaxg8bbu7BYmQ57r6c.7J-ck_iIw0RuHuVidhkCY20g0sWGAXvmAE48zclU26k&dib_tag=se&keywords=nail%2Bdrill&qid=1774466993&sprefix=nail%2Bdrill%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-8&th=1

And drill bits

https://www.amazon.com/AM-ARROWMAX-0-5mm-2-3mm-Titanium-Drilling/dp/B0D9W89Q4Z/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1DMW9N838YIVX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KYZ9OQ-O5HEzMJjav19NoXbw_4iTLO67fiKdiUHBFTh-htlZ-qg-uM2GpEXlHf1Uk_DDVhxVD4iArqY825ygncfi6ux2rlhMD8X9WKRH3MpDuYAyp2PLv4yYAx1FCeu-lvSpYiKwUlWAcqnJ5bKwdayrTMkH9ZomXbSgQbzXEwL4pDIVJdpdFR2qHuK4sTCFWx2XOCYj4q1YN9bnlhFng_v9HPxuMfJJXWfgqcdKTNDuPl_oENjNJncJfmp04vIuOxhZxaQ81A6rFIX6dWogThnYNnt1gwhxr4LmrOn1l4E.rcu12mQ5-o6K-2DL4yvrDJPJQpGMFVGnGc0eSQT_8Nc&dib_tag=se&keywords=electric%2Bnail%2Bdrill%2Bbits%2Barrowmax&qid=1774467067&sprefix=electric%2Bnail%2Bdrill%2Bbits%2Barrowmax%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-7&th=1

Rob

 

[Rob444]

I thought that I’d never be shopping for a Dremel tool BUT:

I’ve reached the point on my present model where I cannot use my favorite drilling method; drill press. I have a Dremel Mighty Mite that’s about to give up the ghost and with apologies to my friend Bob Cleek I don’t want to spend the $$ for a Foredom tool.

My needs:

Slim design to get into tight spots on the model.

Chuck or collet that closes to zero to use wire sized HSS bits, NOT those proprietary bits with larger shanks

120v motor, NOT cordless.

I don’t need it for sanding, cutting, grinding, etc. Just drilling.

The tool that seems to best fit my needs is a Dremel Stylos. Although classed as”Light duty” my on the model drilling is limited to holes under1/16.” Everything else goes to the drill press.

Roger

If I may suggest, a tool I have been using a nail drill. It is very compact easy to handle. It does not take Dremel bits. but you can buy arrowmax drill bits that are perfect. not tremendous torque but I have no problems with soft woods or annealed brass. It is inexpensive and a delight to use. Here is a picture of the one I use.





Rob

 

[Y.T.]

If I may suggest, a tool I have been using a nail drill. It is very compact easy to handle. It does not take Dremel bits. but you can buy arrowmax drill bits that are perfect. not tremendous torque but I have no problems with soft woods or annealed brass. It is inexpensive and a delight to use. you can also buy burrs that work well with it.

This tool is not suitable for me as I do not want using special same size shank drill bits. These bits do not have proper diameter diversity. Topic Starter mentioned same requirement to his new tool. I use the tool like yours for polishing the blocks I make exclusively.

 

[Bob Cleek]

I have a Dremel Mighty Mite that’s about to give up the ghost and with apologies to my friend Bob Cleek I don’t want to spend the $$ for a Foredom tool.

I feel your pain! I know you probably know this stuff, but I'll lay it out for those other readers who might not.

I guess I forgot to tell you that I got my Foredom motor and two handpieces, the collet one and the one with the zero closing chuck (a good quality chuck, too!) used from a neighbor guy off a local "for sale" website for seventy-five bucks. That's eleven bucks less than Proxxon charges for just their flex-shaft and a collet handpiece and, no doubt there's a huge difference in quality. No plastic on the Foredom stuff, either. People who buy Foredom flex-shaft stuff pay enough for it new that they generally don't abuse it. They come up used fairly regularly. Often, it's a woman who thought jewelry making would be a good hobby and then lost interest in it. They are pretty much indestructable and, should anything go wrong, they are designed to be repaired. About all they need are brushes.

Alternately, you might consider getting a used bench top dental engine. These are fairly widely available on eBay, etc., these days. Their collets are generally 3/32", but there are cheap zero-chuck adapters available. I can usually fit a 1/8" bit shaft in mine without a problem, anyway. I got mine with a handpiece in "as new" condition off eBay for seventy-five bucks plus shipping, quite a bit below market price because it was missing a couple of sheaves and a drive belts. (Those replacement parts cost me about twenty bucks from the manufacturer.) It's a "steampunky" contraption, but, despite appearances, it's really easy to control. If you think about it, this was the technology dentists used to use to drill cavities, so it's gotta do detail well. (They've gone to air turbine and "micromotor" handpieces in recent years... ultra-high speed and disposable diamond burrs. Good for teeth, but not so good for wood and metal. I used to get used burrs from a dentist friend. I asked my dentist if she had any dull burrs I could have for modeling, and she told me the diamond burrs aren't designed to last more than one use and now they don't bother to sterilize them after use but just throw them away. ) Check with your dentist or local dental lab. They may have a couple of dental engines gathering dust on a shelf in their supply closet.

As you know, particularly at low speeds, which modelers need for careful detail work with rotary tools, torque trumps speed, so if you don't want to struggle with stalling out at controllable slow speeds, or risking destroying tiny detail work with a high-speed tool, the small high-speed rotary tools flooding the market these days (thanks to the wider availability of rare-earth magnet technology, I think,) are way too fast for my taste. With rotary tools, as with most other powered tools, I think the "heavy metal" is the way to go.

A Buffalo Dental Mfg. Co. bench dental engine just like mine. $800.00 retail, plus handpiece(s) which start around $200.00 retail! Never pay retail!

https://buffalodental.com/shop/heavy-duty-bench-engines/ (Also a good place to check out for other modeling tools.)



A few selections from today's eBay:

Emesco Dental Lab Jewelry Engine Set - 4 Pieces including handpiece - Refurbished. $175.00

Vintage Emesco Buffalo Dental Lab Jewelry Engine Set - 4 Pieces - Refurbished ! | eBay

Buffalo Handpiece.

www.ebay.com

A complete wall-mount dental engine set up and handpiece, $240.00 or best offer.

Pardon Our Interruption...

Buffalo Dental Flex Shaft Cable Drive Hanging Engine Model FC. This is the Buffalo dental engine motor with a flex-shaft attachment and two handpieces. $180.00 or best offer.

Pardon Our Interruption...

There are a ton of complete Foredom flex-tool sets with handpieces going for between $125.00 and $250.00 depending on model and condition on eBay. See: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nk...=164352&_from=R40&_trksid=p3519243.m570.l2632

The one advantage to a dental lab engine over a Foredom flex-tool, though, is that you can always ammortize the complete cost of a used dental engine and then some the first time you do your own dental work with it. (Like DIY haircuts, practicing on the wife and kids first is advisable.)

For those who haven't seen these yet:

From good old Doc Budzik, DDS. His "Scale Model Workshop" YouTube channel is full of good modeling tips.

 

[DAWarden-(Jaager)]

If you wish to go low cost you could check out AliExpress (I tried TEMU but could not find a search term that worked).
They have lots of types and sizes of small DC motors not powerful I bet, but using a small wire gauge drill bitt and time it could work.
I have a select DC power supply 3-4.5-6-9-12 (2A?) When bought it it was $20. That DC drill that HF used to all but give away - the one that never worked because the little black power supply was pitiful - does work if the power supply kicks its butt. There are chucks for the motors. It is just a matter of matching the motor shaft diameter to the chuck diameter.

 

[Rob444]

If you wish to go low cost you could check out AliExpress (I tried TEMU but could not find a search term that worked).
They have lots of types and sizes of small DC motors not powerful I bet, but using a small wire gauge drill bitt and time it could work.
I have a select DC power supply 3-4.5-6-9-12 (2A?) When bought it it was $20. That DC drill that HF used to all but give away - the one that never worked because the little black power supply was pitiful - does work if the power supply kicks its butt. There are chucks for the motors. It is just a matter of matching the motor shaft diameter to the chuck diameter.

One reason I tried the nail drill is low cost. I bought mine for $12, but they are on sale on Amazon for $10. You can get a cordless one for about $16. I also have a Dremel with a large set of different bits, but it is now in the closet used only occasionally.

Rob

 

[AllanKP69]

I do not want using special same size shank drill bits. These bits do not have proper diameter diversity.

Totally agree with you. A set of collets that will handle a wide range of diameters is a good thing. I have no idea about the bits in the photo above, but the ones that seem popular, and I have used them in the past, break very easily in my experience. I am betting the Arrowmax in post #5 above are better as they advertise as being HSS.
Allan

 

[Rob444]

Totally agree with you. A set of collets that will handle a wide range of diameters is a good thing. I have no idea about the bits in the photo above, but the ones that seem popular, and I have used them in the past, break very easily in my experience. I am betting the Arrowmax in post #5 above are better as they advertise as being HSS.
Allan

I agree also with collets to handle different size drills. However there are 2 things I love with the nail drill. One is the compact nature of it, I don't have the hesitation to use it around delicate parts for fear of my clunky hands with a clunky machine damaging delicate parts (I sometimes spend more time repairing something I have damaged than it took to shape and install the part ) The other is the price. I would love one of the Foredom machines but TBH I don't have the room and the Admiral would not take kindly to that kind of expense.

The Arrowmax drill bits can be delicate (I snapped a smaller one) but they are reasonably priced. They work well. I also picked up a set of burrs from model expo on sale for $7 that work very well. I have used them to clear out a rabbet and do some carving. The compact nature of the drill is really helpful.

Enkay 368-20C, 20 Piece Assorted Shape Swiss Burs

Mini Burr Set 3/32-inch Shank 20 pcs. Assorted shapes Swiss Burs Made From Tungsten CRV HS Steel For etching and shaping wood, metal and plastic

www.modelexpo-online.com

There are of course down sides, like a Dremel, while the speed is variable it only runs at a high RPM and it has limited torque. However that being said it works well with the soft wood we usually use.

Rob

 

[AllanKP69]

I also picked up a set of burrs from model expo

Make friends with your dentist and many useful size and shaped burrs come cheap (free)
Allan

 

[Rob444]

Make friends with your dentist and many useful size and shaped burrs come cheap (free)
Allan

Drat! I just had a cap installed a few days ago! I will certainly do that for future visits!

Rob

 

[AllanKP69]

Drat! I just had a cap installed a few days ago! I will certainly do that for future visits!

It worked with my dentist when we lived in NJ and has been working here in Florida the past 10 years. Can't hurt to ask.

 

[Jimsky]

If I may suggest a tool, I picked up a few years ago as a replacement for the Dremel Stylo+, it might fit your requirements well. It’s the David 360—compact like a Dremel, with variable speed, corded, an aluminum body, and a Japanese motor or bearings, I don't remember. It uses a miniature chuck similar to Dremel’s.

What really stands out is how low you can run the speed, along with its quiet and precise operation—something a Dremel can’t quite match. The on/off switch is integrated into the speed control, unlike the Dremel’s separate button on the opposite side of the chuck lock. I don’t know about you, but I was always pressing the wrong one when trying to stop.

One small limitation: it has less torque compared to a Dremel.




If you have further questions about this tool, let me know. The tool is made in Taiwan

 

[Roger Pellett]

Thanks Jimsky, that’s pretty close to what I’m looking for.

 

[DAWarden-(Jaager)]

One small limitation: it has less torque than a Dremel.

That drill is battery powered?
If there is a practical way to attach wires to the battery connection points?
If the motor gets a 6V to 12V kick in the butt, I bet there would be some torque.
The wires required are closer to a human hair in gauge than to an AC lamp cord. Never really in the way, just fragile.

 

[Jimsky]

That drill is battery powered?
If there is a practical way to attach wires to the battery connection points?
If the motor gets a 6V to 12V kick in the butt, I bet there would be some torque.
The wires required are closer to a human hair in gauge than to an AC lamp cord. Never really in the way, just fragile.

This tool is not battery-operated; it uses a 6A, 12-volt power supply. It still has sufficient torque (at least from my perspective) - I just compared it with the Dremel Stylo. I typically use it for very delicate work where tiny drill bits (0.2–0.3 mm) are required. With its extremely low speed and such fine bits, it delivers precise, reliable results every time.

 

[DomCee]

I thought that I’d never be shopping for a Dremel tool BUT:

I’ve reached the point on my present model where I cannot use my favorite drilling method; drill press. I have a Dremel Mighty Mite that’s about to give up the ghost and with apologies to my friend Bob Cleek I don’t want to spend the $$ for a Foredom tool.

My needs:

Slim design to get into tight spots on the model.

Chuck or collet that closes to zero to use wire sized HSS bits, NOT those proprietary bits with larger shanks

120v motor, NOT cordless.

I don’t need it for sanding, cutting, grinding, etc. Just drilling.

The tool that seems to best fit my needs is a Dremel Stylos. Although classed as”Light duty” my on the model drilling is limited to holes under1/16.” Everything else goes to the drill press.

Roger

When I started this hobby I kept buying lots of tools, but nearly all of them have ended up not being used and relegated to the back of draws! The best thing I have bought and use all the time is my little USB Ma ANT D1 (I think it has been upgraded to D2) mini drilling/grinding/polishing pen. It takes 2.35mm shank bits which are easily purchased from ebay/Amazon/Ali and I have sets of micro drills, diamond grinders and some different sizes of diamond cut off wheels. The charge lasts ages or you can run a long USB lead to it for continuous use. It does everything I need for detail work, shaping cutting drilling etc. Anything larger off the model I use my MF70 Proxxon Mill.

 

[Jimsky]

When it comes to cordless tools, I have a pen-type rotary tool from DSPIAE (I’m actually a big fan of many of their products). For a long time, I couldn’t quite get used to it because of the somewhat cumbersome process of changing bits (two hex nuts). Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t take long to change the bits, but with my frequent bit changes, it just didn’t suit my workflow.
At one point, I found a small adapter from Micro-Mark, and since then, I’ve been using the tool more often, especially with small drill bits. The tool has three speed presets, but even the lowest setting is still a bit too fast for delicate work on plastic models. However. I do appreciate the precision and build quality of this tool, but not as the 'go-to' rotary tool.