Thread: Perfect is the enemy of good...

Originally Posted by Bruno

Dremel are like straight razors. Great tools if you are careful and know what you are doing

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

You really need to watch the direction the wheel is turning when using your Dremel.

Still have all your digits, right?

Ahhh good points indeed...

Just a little hint here OK for those of you that use Dremels and don't have the experience that Bruno, Jockeys, Ben and some of the other guys do...

Three things can happen very very fast with Dremel

The first is the obvious one, of catching the edge with the wheel going in the wrong direction.. I know we say it a 1000 times, but hey it still happens and damn it happens so fast....

The second is the Dremel "Spin and Snap" This is where the wheel is going correctly but the Spine catches and the Dremel spins around the back of the entire razor, and SNAP bye bye blade...

Third is the edge of the wheel catch, that drives the chuck into the edge of the blade..

All of these happen in a split secod...

They can be pretty much avoided by just using a smoothly sanded piece of wood (oh you can make the magnetic holder also) just rest the edge against the wood at a slight angle and keep it there the entire time the wheel is near the razor this will eliminated or at least greatly reduce Dremel risk.... About 6 in by 12 inches should do the trick sand it smooth or you waste felt wheels...

There is my Dremel tip of the Year !!

"I never said I couldn't use one, I said, I had no use for one" ~ Matthew Quiggly

I did that with my very first razor. A nice old Wade & Butcher. Most of it came out when it was honed, but I still have a small reminder to be extra careful when getting the dremel out.

I've got one of those magnetic holders on wood with the aluminum heat sink. I'm wondering how well the heat sink works for protecting the blade ? When I watched TheTopher use a Dremel he didn't use one. He dipped the blade into a glass full of water with ice cubes. Anyone have an opinion as to whether the aluminum heat sink is as good ?

I have a Baldor buffer 1725 rpm IIRC and I took a blade to that with a soft wheel. It snatched the blade out of my hand in a heartbeat and scared the dickens out of me. Didn't hurt anything but my pride fortunately.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Ahhh good points indeed...

Just a little hint here OK for those of you that use Dremels and don't have the experience that Bruno, Jockeys, Ben and some of the other guys do...

Three things can happen very very fast with Dremel

The first is the obvious one, of catching the edge with the wheel going in the wrong direction.. I know we say it a 1000 times, but hey it still happens and damn it happens so fast....

The second is the Dremel "Spin and Snap" This is where the wheel is going correctly but the Spine catches and the Dremel spins around the back of the entire razor, and SNAP bye bye blade...

Third is the edge of the wheel catch, that drives the chuck into the edge of the blade..

All of these happen in a split secod...

They can be pretty much avoided by just using a smoothly sanded piece of wood (oh you can make the magnetic holder also) just rest the edge against the wood at a slight angle and keep it there the entire time the wheel is near the razor this will eliminated or at least greatly reduce Dremel risk.... About 6 in by 12 inches should do the trick sand it smooth or you waste felt wheels...

There is my Dremel tip of the Year !!

"I never said I couldn't use one, I said, I had no use for one" ~ Matthew Quiggly

Just want to add that at a Dremel's RPM, things heat up quickly as well. Don't let the metal heat up too much if you're using it on the steel and definitely be cautious if using it to clean up pins/scales.

Thanks for the tips about using a Dremel. I don't think I am going to use one anymore...
I reload ammunition, and have a couple of tumblers with various media and polishing compounds. I did use the tumbler on this blade, but went from walnut with a cleaning compound to polishing with the Dremel. I think in the future I will go from walnut to corncob with polish, and then a final hand polish with a paste compound.

Lesson learned.

I used to use the Dremel quite a bit, but after a few mishaps(couldnt listen to Glen) handsanding took on a beauty of its own. I will still use the dremel once in a while, big rust on a tang or cutting, shaping a blade for instance, other than that, leave it in the box.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've got one of those magnetic holders on wood with the aluminum heat sink. I'm wondering how well the heat sink works for protecting the blade ? When I watched TheTopher use a Dremel he didn't use one. He dipped the blade into a glass full of water with ice cubes. Anyone have an opinion as to whether the aluminum heat sink is as good ?

I don't even have an aluminium heatsink. I just put it on a piece of wood.
Temper will only be affected at terperatures waaaaay above what you can touch. As long as your fingers can touch the metal without blistering, the steel is just fine. People are sometimes waaaaay too careful.

The key is to not continuously sand / buf the same place, but to gently move back and forth along a safe path so that no single spot gets the chance to overheat rapidly and the heat is spread around.