Thread: Dremel attachment recommendations

Hello,

I'm been doing some forum searching, trying to get info on recommended dremel attachments for restoration. My dremel turned up in the mail recently, and I'm keen to get underway.

I've got a couple of old Bengals that are rusty and tarnished, and I'd like to clean them up. What I'm chasing is some info on the specific attachments I should now get i.e. do I buy the steel, stainless or brass brushes? It came with polishing pads, but there's also a wide range of sanding wheels and discs with it too, but I don't know which ones to use.

Does anyone know if there's a list somewhere of which attachment to use for which restoration function, or can anyone give me a hand on what to go buy? I'm assuming that one of the sanding discs or flapwheels will be used to get the heavy rust spots out, and that I'll need to get a couple of brushes for the lighter spots and the tang, but I thought I'd better check first before I buy the wrong parts and ruin the blades.

Thanks very much.

craby

Before I answer your question, let me give you a warning:

Be VERY careful using a dremel to restore razors. I do it myself, but it can be very dangerous for the razor, and for you. Using a bench grinder or buffing wheel is dangerous enough, but using a dremel, both the razor AND the tool are movable, and you run a high risk of destroying your razor or suffering serious injury.

Take appropriate safety precautions and take your time.


Now, to answer your question, I recommend these for sanding out everything from light stains to moderately deep pitting.

The one I linked is the 'fine" version. They also come in a pack with one medium and one coarse. Start with the coarse, and work your way up.

If you use a light touch, the fine will leave an even satin finish on the blade that can easily be polished with a felt wheel and some rouge, and then finished with MAAS and a final buff with a cloth buffing wheel.

You'll note that they use the EZ-lock mandrel, and while they can be used with a regular mandrel, the EZ-lock is well worth the $8 it will set you back, and the cloth buffing wheels are available for the EZ-lock as well.

Everything Steve said about the safety measures.

For me the FELT wheels and Turtle wax premium green rubbing compound are a great combo on the dremel. But the felt wheels should be part of your dremel restoration tools. You can buy them in bulk HERE.

The abrasive buffs Steve was talking about can also be had here or here. They don't last very long and use up very fast. So stack up on those.

Get some sanding bands and flap wheels too.

The EZ lock is great but there's not enough attachments sold for it yet. The few EZ attachment that are sold for the EZ lock are more expensive too. I have one and the only attachment I use are metal cutoff wheels.

Thanks very much for those replies, that's exactly the info I was chasing.

With regard to the grit of the abrasives, what is the lowest that you would recommend? Should I aim for start grits of 180 and then move to 320?

I see that the widget supply place ships overseas, which is great news. Best of all, his bulk packs are cheaper than some of the individual brushes out here.

regards,

As far as grits, it depends on what you're talking about. Grits for handsanding, dremel sanding drums, and greaseless compounds are all a little different in terms of what you would use. Because I stick to the buffing wheels I linked, felt with rouge and cloth with MAAS, I'm not a good person to answer any of those questions, but I'm sure others will answer.

I will add, that I have to respectfully disagree with Max on one ver specific point. Obviously, max has probably done 500 or 1000 razors for every one that I've done, so take my advice against his with a grain of salt, but I would STRONGLY encourage you to stay away from those dremel sanding drums. Because of their small diameter and relatively rigid shape, the potential for damaging your razor is HUGE. I'm sure that they can be used to great effect, but the risk is simply too great for me. That's why I stick to the abrassive buffing wheels, felt and cloth. It takes a lot longer, but because they are all relatively soft and easily deformable, they are much gentler on your razor, and pose a lesser risk of causing damage.



I will say this however, I agree 100% with everything else, especially the fact that there aren't enough tools that use the EZ-lock. You can get a variety of cut-off and grinding attachments, these buffers, and cloth buffing wheels, but that's about it. I would LOVE to see more options.

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

but I would STRONGLY encourage you to stay away from those dremel sanding drums. Because of their small diameter and relatively rigid shape, the potential for damaging your razor is HUGE.

Who said anything about razor. I use the sanding drums to shape, contour and sand wooden scales and even acrylics or synthetics.
The OP asked for dremel attachments which could be used for restoration. For me restoration can mean anything from blade to scales. Sanding drums are GREAT for that purpose.

Originally Posted by Maximilian

I use the sanding drums to shape, contour and sand wooden scales and even acrylics or synthetics.

Ah, of course. I didn't even think about that.

In that case, I agree with everything Max said, right down the line, and good call on the attachments for working on parts besides the blade.

Due to a complete lack of space for a proper shop, I use my dremel for almost everything. When I do scales, I cut out an over-sized and crude shape with a hand saw, and then patiently shape them with those drums.

That's the one area I can say something about grit as well. Because I only use them for shaping, I just use the 80 grit and nothing else. Once I've gotten as far as I can with 80 grit drums, I switch to hand sanding, which I take up to 600 grit for wood. There's no reason you couldn't go to higher grits with them, I just prefer to do the rest with hand sanding.



Oh, and I just noticed that your links have those abrassive buffs for sale in bulk. Max, you are my hero for the day. I've been buying the dremel branded ones in 2-packs. The bulk ones may not use the EZ-lock, but at $15 for three dozen, I think I'm done buying them at Lowes.