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I have got a few razors that need polishing, removing some light rust. So I need a tool to get the job done as I want to move on from an old towel with chrome polish.
What is your opinion of a Dremel? Is it any good, or would you recommend something different? I am not in the position that I can have a large workshop and because I will not use it very often I cannot justify buying the big stuff.
Any input appreciated.
I just did a couple blades with one. I use paper to remove the bulk of the stuff by hand and then use the polishing wheel and some green compound to finish them up....just be careful of the edge.
hey kees. I use a dremel often on razors. I use it with maas polish and it works great. I havnt realuy cleaned rust with it however. I have only polished razors with patina.
I am not sure if there are bits that can be used for heavy pitting removal. On their website at least I did not see much more than sandpaper bans.
I used a dremel last weekend with a grinding bit and sanding bit. I didnt use the polishing wheels yet.
I own lots of dremel parts/accessories and it is what I use on my razor restores.
It works excellent, and they have thought of just about everything in the form of attachments.
If you buy one, get the following parts/accessories:
*Get the 400 XPR series. Its the best one. Dont get the cordless. The battery dies in a flash.
Dremel Chuck
Flex Shaft
Split mandrel for sanding OR sanding wheels
The polishing/buffing wheels
The polishing kit
Other stuff that is nice:
Dremel workstation.
The dremel is great for light duty work. It'll do the job just fine. Many people advise against it, and rightly so as it can ruin a razor very easily and very quickly. A light hand and attentiveness are key to successful resto's with a Dremel.
The polishing wheels work very well, but they generate a lot of heat so you have to be careful.Quote:
Originally Posted by mainaman
Here is a thread that I found helpful. Dremel attachment recommendations - Straight Razor Place Forums
I have ruined a few blades with my Dremel. Thus I agree that care is warranted.
Basically my routine is to use the Dremel polishing paste (Jeweler's rouge) with this attachement http://mdm.boschwebservices.com/MDMC...0/r00083v1.jpg
to get all the heavy stuff.
Then I finish it with some Maas and one of the 1/2 inch felt polishing wheel.
http://mdm.boschwebservices.com/MDMC...0/r00082v1.jpg
staying aware of which way the tool is rotating is important especially when you near an edge. The "pull' should always be away from or across the edge. I have made some big chips when I wasn't careful.
I like my dremel for polishing, but don't think I'll be using it for rust/pit removal anymore. Because of the speed, you can end up with a wavy, uneven finish because you left the dremel in 1 spot for a split second longer than other areas.
Sure, hand sanding takes a little more time, but I find the end product better.
Most important thing to remember when using those high-rpm tools such as Dremel is to use protective goggles. Careful with the blade edge.
If you know what you are doing, then Dremel is ok.
I got mine from Tyler Tool - Discount Power Tools, Makita, DeWalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee, Bosch, Hitachi, Delta, Dremel, Craftsman, Dremel, Rotozip, Festool, Fein and it comes in handy for almost every aspect of rebuild and restoration. It has so many accessories and attachments that if you get good with it, it becomes just about the only tool you need. :-)
Oh, and you'd benefit from getting one of the newer models with speed control so that you don't overheat or over-grind by mistake.
+1 on what was said about sanding/polishing INTO the edge, not away from. There is a good demonstrative post in the wiki that explains this nicely, entitled "Split Mandrel Sanding" or something like that.
Another good attachment is the 1" buffing cloth. It works well for a final touch.
I like the flex shaft rotary tools better than the dremel. Foredoms are expensive but you can get one of the Chinese knockoffs pretty cheap. The problem with the Chinese knockoffs is that their handpieces suck. They heat up really quickly. Fortunately, the foredom handpieces will fit. :) With the addition of a foredom handpiece, it will perform just as well as a foredom. I know because I've got both in my shop and use them both. With Foredom handpieces you can go up to 1/4" shanks, too. Very handy.
As others have said, make sure that you know the direction that the wheel turns and polish away from edges. The chuck recommendation is a good one, also. What I did was engrave the direction the dremel spins into the chuck. Its really important that you remember the direction, otherwise many attachments will catch on the edge of the blade and break or fling it.
Dremmel's are excellent. I've had one for years. I also have a buffer/grinder in my garage which is variable speed. The Dremmel will work well on razors, you just need to be aware of the heat, and feel the edge, and know when to back off. It can heat up the blade quickly. Dremmel's run at very high speeds, even on the lowest setting. The lowest setting is still considered to be to too high for straight razors. Still, it can be used, you just need to be careful. I use the Dremmel polish, Maas, and Mother's mag and aluminum polish which works well. You can go through 5 of those little buffing wheels easily polishing a razor. You'd be surprised how much dirt comes off one.
Got mine from Walmart. XPR 400. Didn't really care for cordless because you'll have to deal with replacing the battery eventually.
You can also get accessories from
www.widgetsupply.com
Aluminum Oxide Abrasive Buff Scuff Polishers for Dremel Type Rotary Tools: Widget Supply
Silicon Carbide Scuff Polishers for use with Dremel Type Rotary Tools: Widget Supply
Sanding Flap Wheels for Dremel Type Rotary Tools: Widget Supply
As usual I will add the dissenting opinion for the use of Dremel(s) for Cleaning/Polishing on razors....
Besides the danger to the blade, the un-evenness at which they clean and polish is worse... For quick polishing and spot polishing they are ok but for any type of blade wide restores I think they are a bad choice....
As I said I don't mind being the only one who thinks so....
If you decide to go ahead with the idea, make sure you figure out how to keep the edge safe....
use slowest speed possible. Or you will kill a lot blades. GL
I think that I should also explain the reason that you need to be very careful about the heat output.
As you may or may not know, blades are heat treated, and then quenched in an oil type solution which quickly reduces the heat from upwards of 1500 Degrees F to room temperature.
After that, the blade must be tempered in order to reduce the brittleness of the metal because after quenching during heat treat, the blade is almost glasslike and will shatter/crack easily. What tempering does, is slightly reduce the brittlenss of the razor. This is done by heating the blade up to around 400 F and allowing it to cool to room temperature slowly, usually by air. This is often repeated 1 or 2 more times. This considerably reduces the brittleness of the metal and makes if possible to handle the blade and for it to hold an edge.
SOOoooo.... What the Dremel is very capable of doing is ruining the temper on the blade. This is because you can easily raise the temperature of the blade to several hundred degrees if you are not careful, and if allowed to cool slowly the blade steel will temper itself again and again and make the steel too soft to be worth putting an edge on it as it will simply deteriorate. Imagine if you inadvertently tempered the blade 5 or 6 more times than it was originally, this would bring the steel right back to a pre heat treated state and would need to be re treated, if even possible.
A simple safety net while Dremel sanding/polishing is: If it feels to hot on the bare finger, its TOO hot!
If that doesnt make sense, sorry. But I just thought that I would explain the techs behind the danger of a Dremel.
I agree with PapaBull, use the chinese knockoff Foredom. It has an infinitely variable speed which is a big plus for control.Quote:
Originally Posted by PapaBull
Here is a link....
ELECTRIC FLEXIBLE SHAFT ROTARY CARVER GRINDER TOOL KIT - eBay (item 250496730995 end time Oct-10-09 17:00:43 PDT)
Here is my favorite attachment for sanding at a low speed, 7th item down. I also use the sanding disks.
Disks - Adhesive: Widget Supply
These do not work well with a Dremel, it's speed is to fast.
Hope this helps someone.:)
+1 for exactly the same reasons.Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
+1 on what Randy said about the disc sander. They do work well because of the flexibility of the rubber disc. The only downside is that they sanding disc's wear out fast and need to be replaced. What Randy has showen me was to use double stick tape and tape a whole sheet of sanding paper then use a die punch and hammer them out. Saves a ton of $ rather than buying the pre-made disc's.
Also on the Foredom that has the foot speed control. Use a small C-clamp and attach it to the foot pedal thus you can control the speed of the tool.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/456969-post7.html
Yeah this is just one of many posts about why I say what I always do....
Well, it seems I'm gonna post another link to American science and surplus. They've got a foredom type tool pretty cheap. I haven't bought it b/c I really don't have the space, but I've thought about it. You'll prolly see the same tool pop up on ebay. (I've seen alot of the merchandise from AS&S being resold on Ebay and Amazon, usually for $20 over the selling price or more. For example, I've seen the "roto-cornucopia" pop up alot on different places.)
American Science & Surplus : Search Results for "rotary tool"
Its the third one down
Dont buy the rotary chuck they sell, btw. Thats the one thing I've bought from them that was completely useless junk.
I wonder what they mean in their ad on this rotory tool. The last sentence says. "Intermittent Duty".
I think it means that its not for professional/extended use.
I also use a dremel with flap wheel sanders I get from widgetsupply.com This takes care of the rust them I finish with the paste.
Rich
Ahhh, this thread makes me feel better. I blew a big chip out of a nice King Cutter awhile back, now I know I'm not alone.
I agree with all the above posts, it works great but caution is needed.
One thing I would add is to check out a buffing compound called ZAM. Used with the felt tip, the stuff is awesome at bringing a mirror shine to any blade.
Thanks everyone for their contributions.
So I guess I would be better of buying one of the rotary tools that has a lower rotary speed than a Dremel. Do all the Dremel bits fit on a Foredom knock off?
Yes I am using one that Randy borrowed to me.He uses a c-clamp on the foot pedal for controlling the speed. Just make sure that you do not lose the chuck LOL. I put the chuck on a retractable ID holder and put it on the handle of the machine. this way I never lose it. Randy would kill me if I did. LOL joking.
Yeah, most seem to come with an adjustable chuck. The two linked to in this thread both accept bits up to 5/32. Most dremel bits are less then that. There are some 1/4 bits, but I haven't run into them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kees
Just wondering, how did can one ruin a blade with a dremel aside from chipping the edge? I've caused a massive chip in one of my razors, but want to know if there's anything else I need to be careful about.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyment
If you are not careful you can easily overheat the edge and ruin the temper of the blade. A friend of mine who was expert in the use of a Dremel to polish a blade (after 10 hours of hand sanding in progressive grits) would use a glass of water filled with ice cubes and dip the blade often as he polished with the Dremel.
How come dremeling ruins an edge but sanding doesn't? When I polish at 5000rpm with a felt wheel or tip, the blade feels much cooler than when I sand it for example. It doesn't even heat up at all from what I can tell.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyHAD
I asked Glen about this since I expected a buffing wheel to overheat a blade more than any dremel and he said that it's highly unlikely to ruin a temper using a dremel. He told me to keep the blade below a temperature that would scald my finger.
I'm wondering if I use my dremel correctly though. I may be using it wrong and that may be why my blade doesn't heat up. I gently touch the felt wheel to the surface. I can't get the blade to shine up quite like others do. I've seen heavily scratched blades that are still very shiny, but mine are still a bit matte after emery compound and jewelers rouge. Does anyone have thoughts on how I can improve my polishing?
I usually start out cleaning up a SR with a dremel & stainless brush, but wear safety glasses or a shield, those little wires leave at an amazing speed!