Bought my first Dremel today!

So I bought my first Dremel today (the cheapest one). Anyone have any tips so I don't cut my fingers off? I bought a pair of safety gloves and some saftey goggles. I don't know how much of a mess cutting trash can plastic is going to be. Do you recommend I take it outside? I don't have a garage.
 
If you are that concerned about cutting your fingers off, are you sure you should be using a Dremel? :)

Really though, did you get one one with an adjustable speed? If so run it on a lower speed. Most of the bits arn't too bad... the circular blade is the most dangerous. But in all the years of using a Dremel, the only true accident I had was having bit, that wasn't tightened enough and it flew out and stuck in the wall...
 
lol, I have been lucky with my drumel, until she died that is.

I remember this one time I was using a metal saw wheel, it jumped and slipped, it rolled over my fingers on a medium high speed. Why in the world it didnt slice them off or even cut them I have no idea, I suppose the force was with me.
But be careful when using cut-off wheels, they are thin and often break, and when they do, LOOK OUT!!! They fly away over 100mph in 5 different pieces in 5 different directions. Why none has hit my face yet I am just thankful for. Just make sure nobody else is in the room with you. You can always vacuum up the mess later. Make sure you have good safety goggles. You dont need gloves, but not a bad precaution.

Also, dont rush it as I do, feel the dremel and let her work at her own pace to avoid unnecessary accidents.
 
I try to avoid running the emery or fiberglass cutoff wheels at high speeds to prevent shattering. The best suggestion that I can give you regarding those, however, is that you WANT a full-face safety shield. For anything other than using those wheels, safety goggles should be fine, but I've personally had too many close calls with the wheels shattering.

If you have the cutting disc at any angle other than perpendicular to the workpiece, it will be much more likely to shatter. Just don't be too aggressive with the discs, and your hands should NEVER be anywhere close to the cutting tool (regardless of what it is).

I prefer to use a set of Craftsman mechanic's gloves, an AOSafety full-face shield, and one of those orange Home Depot aprons you get from their Kids' Workshops.
 
If you're concerned about a shattered cut-off wheel, use the fiberglass reinforced ones. They tend to just wear down instead of shatter like the other kind. When I cut my chest armor out of a trash can it made a HUGE mess of little sharp white pieces of plastic, so cutting it outside is definitely a good idea.
 
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Hello all - well my first post here :D

First of all I have to tell you that I personally think that goggles mainly are enaugh to protect yourself when using a Dremel. With working gloves you don't have as much precision in your hand when you work on small parts. Especially when you have a "Flex Shaft" for those things (high precise work and you don't have the full Dremel weight in your hand with this tool) you can't really work with gloves. Sometimes this would make it even more dangerous because it could happen that you don't have much feeling in your hands, the Dremel stocks at the part or vibrates and it fells out of your hands and this would be very bad. ;)


So I guess: Goggles on, Gloves off when you work with the Dremel.


Some Security Tips for you would be:

- Always ensure that the rolling direction (there is a small arrow on the Dremel which shows it to you) turns off your body. If parts fly away or a bit splatters the dangerous parts will fly away from your body.

- Never change a bit when the Power Supply is plugged in. The Speed Control and on/off Switch of the Dremel is easy to activate. So if you change a bit you could accidentally activate the Dremel

- Attention when you wear clothes with ribbons (straps?) or something ... ok this is self-evident when using machines which drill very fast. ;)


But the best trick when you work with the Dremel is: Let it work for YOU! - This means that you don't use much pressure when you work with bits. Better speed it up when having problems doing the work. (That the material doesn't get too hot). This also prevents bits from interlocking or splattering.


Sincerely,
Chris
 
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