Thread: New toy

This is exactly why I should never be allowed into hardware stores without adult supervision. I swear I just went in to buy two pieces of sand paper. That's it. But I impulse bought...

This!



It's a workstation that turns my Dremel into a small drill press, amongst other things. I love my Dremel and I use it a lot, since I don't have anywhere to set up a proper workshop at the moment. I need a real drill press, and I will get one once I am more settled, but for now this thing is going to come in plenty handy, especially when drilling pin holes in razor scales, which I was a bit worried about doing freehand.

You know what Dremel should make? An attachment for this attachment that allows you to turn your Dremel into a small lathe. It wouldn't be hard to make, this workstation already turns the tool on its side... Somebody invent one! I'll buy it! (And pay you in brush handles )

I love this tools, bought nearly the same some years ago.

That looks nice for small work. Especially when you don't have enough room for a floor model.

I'm not sure that a Dremel would be slow enough and powerful enough for turning. I know that they make a specific mini-lathe, but it doesn't work very well: too unstable. I couldn't get a satisfactory turning with it.

I was talking about that thing a few days ago in the Chat... I thought it looked sweet! How well does it work? I've been drilling all my pivot holes by hand.

To tell you the truth, I'm still yet to put it through its paces. I need to find some time and acrylic! But it feels good and I will be drilling up a storm on the weekend!

I'm sorry to say that I, too, bought one of these Dremel rotary tool drill press workstations. While it does seem to have some good features to recommend it, I do not think that its actual performance is equal to that which a first glance would suggest. It exhibits the following problems:

A) The method of securing the Dremel tool into the housing is somewhat clumsy. It holds well enough, but it seems like it was designed to take three hands to mount the tool properly.

B) Once mounted, I find it rather difficult to easily access the nose and spindle lock of the rotary tool for mounting drill bits and grinding points.

C) The working tolerances are too loose for my taste. The carriage wanders a bit from a true straight down plunge when using the feed... as much as 1mm to 1-1/2mm at the extreme of the stroke.

D) The plastic carriage can flex under pressure so that the drill bit (or grinding point) can wander from where you meant to drill/grind. This is not something you want to happen when trying to drill or grind a razor pin.

Now to fair, the stand can also be used to hold the rotary tool in a number of positions for use as a stationary buffer or else to suspend the rotary tool when using a flexible shaft extension. That is all well and good, but my primary reason for purchasing this workstation was to use it as a miniature drill press, and in that respect it doesn't measure up to my expectations.

In my opinion, this is not a design which should have been made using so much plastic. Proper metal castings with better tolerances would have made for a much, much better end result. True enough, the price would have been higher, but as it stands now I'm rather disappointed with the actual performance of this workstation and wish I would have saved my money for something better.

I too, had this little Dremel station in my arsenal of tools, before eventually realizing I was settling for sub-standard results because of the fact the entire thing is made out of plastic, and can flex/bow quite easily.

I agree with everything ignatz said.

When a fairly solid budget drill press from Harbor freight is $42.00,... I have to say..do not bother with this dremel workstation. After I bought the HF drill press, I wondered why I hadn't sooner. It seemed all great at the time I got it, but, looking back, it was kind of a joke. I don't want to make ya feel like you got ripped, but, I also don't want anyone else to go out buying this gizmo due to the buzz your thread created.

While you are right, in one sense, you have to appreciate why myself, and a lot of other people use this device.

Is it made with a lot of plastic? Yes.

Will it ever be a substitute for a proper drill press for heavy jobs? No.

But it is small, the footprint is about the same as a paperback book. I don't have anywhere to put a drill press at the moment. It is accurate when drilling light materials. Like razor scales. A lot more accurate than drilling by hand, anyway. Which is what I was doing.

It also serves as a "third hand" to hold the Dremel when I am sanding and grinding. Again, not good for heavy jobs but for small wood and acrylic things (like razor scales....) it does the job.

Don't buy this thing to be a substitute for proper power tools if you have the money and the space for the big toys. But it does make my Dremel a lot more versatile, which is good because it is the only power tool I can have right now.

YMMV.

My neighbor owns one of these and I have used it in the past. Cheap comes to mind, and whimsical.

I def would not take it to any of my ivory.