Dremel tool

Since 2001, over 90,000 cyclist's have joined Cycling Forums to discuss topics from general cycling to equipment, training, racing and travel or vacation destinations (especially in europe during the tour de france). We also feature an great deals in our online store, 100's of articles, classifieds and product reviews.

I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?

JT

On 8 Jul 2004 04:53:57 -0700, usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest
Tomlinson) wrote:
>I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
>housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
>powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?

I have a Craftsman 9.6v cordless that works great, but I
wish I also had a corded one. It's perfect for cable
housings and such. I understand the corded ones have a
little more torque, which I sometimes want when doing large
quantities of heavier work (usually not bike-related).
--
Rick Onanian

usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest Tomlinson) wrote:
>I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
>housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
>powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>
>JT

I've always wanted one but haven't been able to figure out
exactly what I'd use it for.

What kind of things is a Dremel good for w.r.t. bike
maintenance?

What about other uses around the house?

Thanks, Michael

In article <84314734.0407080353.55f8fb35@posting.google.com>,
usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest Tomlinson) wrote:

> I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
> housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
> powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>
> JT

Yep to both.

The cordless is the tool of choice for bicycle thieves.

With a diamond cutter blade, it only takes about 20 seconds
to cut a U Lock or cable.

HAND

--
³Freedom Is a Light for Which Many Have Died in Darkness³

- Tomb of the unknown - American Revolution

usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest Tomlinson) wrote:

>I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
>housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
>powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?

Any Dremel tool with a cut off wheel should make short work
of a cable housing. Just take your time so you don't melt
the end into a big blob.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com (http://www.habcycles.com/) Home of
the $695 ti frame

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

> I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
> housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
> powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>
> JT

Hi, get the variable speed one. I have a single speed model,
I got a deal on it, but often use it with a variac, so I can
regulate speed.

Life is Good! Jeff

"Mark Hickey" <mark@habcycles.com> wrote in message
news:aijqe05funnv6ure3tarkvcglk7a3or8ih@4ax.com...
> usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest Tomlinson) wrote:
>
> >I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
> >housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
> >powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>
> Any Dremel tool with a cut off wheel should make short
> work of a cable housing. Just take your time so you don't
> melt the end into a big blob.
>
> Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com (http://www.habcycles.com/) Home
> of the $695 ti frame

If you have a Harbor Freight tool store in your area, they
sell a decent Dremel clone for about $20. Looks just like
the Dremel I bought for $65.

Neal

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 08:42:04 -0500, Jeff Starr <jstarr@animalpc.com>
wrote:
>Hi, get the variable speed one. I have a single speed
>model, I got a deal on it, but often use it with a variac,
>so I can regulate speed.

I'll second that. When cutting or shaping plastics, too much
speed can overheat the material.
--
Rick Onanian

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
> I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
> housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
> powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?

My friends won't allow me to be near -- much less own -- any
type of power tool or equipment.

Bill "the bolt stripper" S.

On 8 Jul 2004 04:53:57 -0700, usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest
Tomlinson) wrote:

>I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
>housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
>powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?

A cordless model's battery will eventually fail to take a
charge (as a neighbor discovered), and none of the cordless
units I've tried (of which all were more than a year ago)
had the power of my old plug-in-the-wall unit. Variable
speed is very handy. I wouldn't buy one that didn't have it,
particularly if you're going to use it for buffing ridges
from inner tubes with a sanding drum, where max speed is
probably way too fast. A good variable-speed cordless is
probably close to being as powerful as the regular unit,
though, and has the decided advantage of being able to go to
the work instead of requiring that the work be brought wihin
range of the extension cord.

In my experience, the no-name imitators are not the equal of
the real Dremel, but that may have changed.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to
reply via email. Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 09:17:03 -0400, Michael Press
<michaelpressNOSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote:

>usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest Tomlinson) wrote:
>>I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
>>housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
>>powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>>
>>JT
>
>I've always wanted one but haven't been able to figure out
>exactly what I'd use it for.
>
>What kind of things is a Dremel good for w.r.t. bike
>maintenance?

Cutting cables and housings square and burr-free, grinding
down small nicks, removing lawyer lips from forks, buffing
the ridges from an inner tube before applying a patch,
grinding small rivets down to punch them out of things like
cassettes, putting a slot in the head of a screw that came
as phillips- or hex-only, shortening a skewer rod or spoke
without crimping the threads at the end, taking the burr off
the end of something that's freshly cut...the list could go
on for quite a while.

>What about other uses around the house?
>
>Thanks, Michael

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to
reply via email. Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 15:37:41 GMT, "S o r n i"
<sorni@bite-me.san.rr.com> wrote:

>John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
>> I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
>> housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
>> powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>
>My friends won't allow me to be near -- much less own --
>any type of power tool or equipment.

So buy your own, and don't tell them!
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to
reply via email. Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

Werehatrack wrote:
> On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 15:37:41 GMT, "S o r n i" <sorni@bite-
> me.san.rr.com> wrote:

>> My friends won't allow me to be near -- much less own --
>> any type of power tool or equipment.
>
> So buy your own, and don't tell them!

I would...but I like having fingers.

Bill "all thumbs (ironically enough)" S.

Checker Auto Parts regularly has one on sale for $19.99.
While it is not quite as nice as a real Dremel, I am sure I
won't go through three of them in the time it took me to go
through one Dremel. It came in a plastic case with a small
but versitile tool set, and included a router base which has
turned out to be surprizingly handy for non-bike tasks.

I don't think the battery units cannot match the power of
corded units. Having spent time building electirc powered
radio control airplanes, there seems to be no way to pack
much power into a battery small enough to be comfortable to
hang on the back of a Dremel. That said, if you are only
using them occaisionally for limited tasks like cutting
cable housings or buffing tubes, I can see no reason not to
take advantage of the convenience. With my 13-year old son
as a helper, I'd want a beeper button on the charger like a
cordless phone so I could find it.

Brian

"Werehatrack" <rault00@earthWEEDSlink.net> wrote in message
news:k72re0p3ik76bc5sgj5vsir7qo1rf1r4i2@4ax.com...
> On 8 Jul 2004 04:53:57 -0700, usenetremove@jt10000.com
> (John Forrest Tomlinson) wrote:
>
> >I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
> >housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
> >powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>
> A cordless model's battery will eventually fail to take a
> charge (as a neighbor discovered), and none of the
> cordless units I've tried (of which all were more than a
> year ago) had the power of my old plug-in-the-wall unit.
> Variable speed is very handy. I wouldn't buy one that
> didn't have it, particularly if you're going to use it for
> buffing ridges from inner tubes with a sanding drum, where
> max speed is probably way too fast. A good variable-speed
> cordless is probably close to being as powerful as the
> regular unit, though, and has the decided advantage of
> being able to go to the work instead of requiring that the
> work be brought wihin range of the extension cord.
>
> In my experience, the no-name imitators are not the equal
> of the real Dremel, but that may have changed.
>
> --
> Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required
> to reply via email. Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 18:05:23 GMT, "S o r n i"
<sorni@bite-me.san.rr.com> wrote:

>Werehatrack wrote:
>> On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 15:37:41 GMT, "S o r n i" <sorni@bite-
>> me.san.rr.com> wrote:
>
>>> My friends won't allow me to be near -- much less own --
>>> any type of power tool or equipment.
>>
>> So buy your own, and don't tell them!
>
>I would...but I like having fingers.

Then buy the tools and invite the friends to come over
and donate *their* fingers. (Why stop with a collection
of just 10?)

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to
reply via email. Surrealism is a pectinated ranzel.

> If you have a Harbor Freight tool store in your area, they
> sell a decent Dremel clone for about $20. Looks just like
> the Dremel I bought for $65.

It's total crap. If you try to cut paper with it, it will
stop turning just from the friction.

It is also insanely unbalanced and vibrates your hand
completely numb within seconds.

DON'T buy into their prices... it's cheap for a reason.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 04:53:57 -0700, John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

> I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
> housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
> powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?

The newer (variable speed) cordless Dremel is the one tool I
will not do without. It does much more than cut cable
housing; it cuts water pipe, type-NM electrical cable, etc.

Cordless is powerful enough. Used to be not the case, but
now it is. AFAIK it only comes in variable speed.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Accept risk. Accept responsibility. Put a lawyer
out of _`\(,_ | business. (_)/ (_) |

usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest Tomlinson) writes:

>I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
>housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
>powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?

I like it at $20 (generic, variable speed) from KMart. Don't
worry about the dremel corporation; they make a ton of money
by selling the bits to me (currently at $100 and counting.)

This is the most useful power tool i've ever owned. The top
five applications, from a bike restorer's perspective, are
as follows:

a. brass/steel wire brush for de-rusting chrome parts
b. grinding bit(s) for shrinking bolt heads
c. buffing wheels and compound for polishing steel /
aluminum / newly chromed items.
d. flap wheel for prepping badly rusted surfaces for new
brush chroming
e. cutoff wheel for shortening bolts :-)

Don't forget to buy good goggle and NEVER TURN ON A DREMEL
WITHOUT GOGGLES ON. In particular, the wire brushes can
expel metal splinters in 360 degree directions, e.g. into
skin and eyes.

- Don Gillies San Diego, CA

Michael Press wrote:

> usenetremove@jt10000.com (John Forrest Tomlinson) wrote:
>
>>I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
>>housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
>>powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>>
>>JT
>
>
> I've always wanted one but haven't been able to figure out
> exactly what I'd use it for.
>
> What kind of things is a Dremel good for w.r.t. bike
> maintenance?
>
> What about other uses around the house?

Dremel tools are used in veterinary dentistry. ;)

--
Tom Sherman – Quad City Area

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 04:53:57 -0700, John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

> I'm thinking of getting one, mainly for cutting cable
> housing. Does it matter what model? Is the cordless one
> powerful enough? Is variable or dual speed important?
>
> JT

The cordless is powerful enough, but the extra power of the
corded ones helps. I had a cordless one, and the design was
crap--The variable speed was done by combining the battery
contacts and the switch. If you looked in where the battery
goes, and turned the switch, you'd see the battery contacts
rotate. If they have improved that design, I might consider
cordless again. I'm happy with my corded Black and Decker
clone, considerably cheaper, and good enough.