Dremels

just a word of advice, that i regret not taking now... but I wouldnt have the words of advice if i did.. lol... when shopping for a dremel.. buy a CORDED one, not a battery one. The one I bought only lasts 20ish minutes cutting through plastic and latex helmet parts.. i havnt even finished my T on the helmet yet becuase the battery wore low. so my advice is pay the 20-30 bucks extra for the cord powered ones.

if anyone has a batterly one and disagrees, please tell me, and maybe I can figure out why mines sucking.

I have a battery powered Dremel and the battery lasts quite a long time


Randy
:jet pack

Ya buy one with a cord, who wants to wait to recharge it up, I have one that takes the bettery and cord, and prefere the cord.

I have heard before about cordless not lasting long. It's never good if you are motivated for a few hours and you have your tool cut out leaving you stranded. I have both. My cordless I bought used and does not last long. My cordless is good for some intricate work so I can alternate between them. The speed of your dremell will also drain the juice. Just like most cordless tools the battery life will diminish.

When you bought it, after you opened it, Did you let it fully charge first?

If not, then maybe that's the problem.

I did that with a cordless drill. I bought a cordless drill for use at my job. The company paid for it, and it was really nice. It fully charged in 30min and worked great. I bought one for myself, a different brand.... the stupid thing takes 3 hrs to charge! It doesn't last as long either. I actually bought one of the hobby grinders with the larger motor, flex shaft, and foot controll pedal. I've had 3 other dremel type tools, the chuck wears out, and I've had a flex shaft break, and a motor just burn up....Depends on how much you want to invest, and weather you will use it enough to make it worth the purchase.

i got it outta the box and did what the instructions said (yes.. i read them.. a man read instructions.. the world is ending as we know it_+) to let it charge OVERNIGHT, so i did, then used, blew through it, and spent 3 hours recharging (also has a 3 hour recharge rate, as odd as that is) its been recharging for more then that.... iama leave it in overnight again.. but its ... its ok for "intricate work" like he said.. but for cutting a T visor out its sucking. Iam not sure how you all did it, i cant get into the areas i need to now, the eye slits
(i ended up taking a HACKSAW and cutting the main portion of the T out. LOL)

The one I use usually lasts for about 2 hours fully charged. I trimmed most of my helmet in one night. And it needed a lot of trimming!

what size/type of bit did you use? i cant seem to figure out how to cut the T accurately

uhm.. maybe im being old-fahsioned or soemthing... but I just used a few knifes.. then sanded the bloody thing...

especially with the soft latex mask ur doing, it should be all the more easy to work with.

lol i fiberglassed the inside ^_^ the dremel did ok,, its not TOO bad... ill post a pic later with a lil more progress done. i found a tiny bit i didnt know i had ^_^ so it worked well. drum sanded the thing, going to sand by hand some later too... some of the fiberglass matting is pointy and would skewer my brain (i know.. no loss) any ideas on how to fix them? maybe a real then layer of fiberglass patchin?

Corded Dremel WITH a "flex-Shaft". Nothin' better!

I have to agree with GEO.. Get the corded Dremel with a flex-shaft. Paying the extra bucks will safe you in the long run. MORE POWER IS BETTER. Having a battery one is not bad for duing light jobs but if you're going to start really using it extensively think plug-in.

i already had bought this one, and since its "used" it cant be taken back.. so ill keep it around for little stuffs.... and right now ill just use til it dies, recharge and repeat til i get my helmet and things done heheh

Grind and pray, Grind and pray.. that's all anyone can hope for.

Originally Posted by Kissker

what size/type of bit did you use? i cant seem to figure out how to cut the T accurately

I used a big cutting wheel ( best to take it slow as it might melt the helmet otherwise ) and needled filed the rest.


I use a Dremel Lithium-Ion cordless 10.8 volt model and it does just fine and lasts a good long while. the cordless factor is handy for those that usually have to work outside.
Different strokes for different folks I guess

Randy
:jet pack

Originally Posted by Geo

Corded Dremel WITH a "flex-Shaft". Nothin' better!

No doubt. The flex shaft lets you work with the dremel like a pen. The cordless is really handy thing to have around in general, but not so optimal for cleaning up a helmet.

Adjustable speed is a nice-to-have thing to. - Not just 1 or 2 or 3 speeds, but a dail that lets you set the exact speed you want is really helpful.

I found that the cord really doesn't get in the way too much. I spent about 60 in mine, comes with the variable speed and the router attachment. And then about 10 bucks on a cutting set. So far, I think it's paid for itself.

The cordless Dremels are pretty good, the battery last will last for as long as most cordless tools
it is quite a handy thing to have when you have to work outside


Mike