Thread: I bought a dremel tool and seriously messed up a blade

The blade was a practice blade for honing...the hones didn't arrive today so I went and bought a dremel tool.

Sooooooooooo...How am I supposed to use the dremel? I doubt I'll be able to use it to sand anytime soon. I guess the polishing went well.

I'm thinking about taking it back.

Brilliant!

First I hope I am not misunderstanding here, but did you try to work on the edge with a dremel?
You need to make sure that the direction of rotation is away of the edge not towards. Also watch out for overheating, but with practice you can learn how to use the dremel effectively.
How did you damage the blade, do you have pics?

I'll limit my comment to the one most critical aspect of Dremels and razors.

ALWAYS think about the rotation of the Dremel wheel relative to the edge of the blade. The rotation of the wheel should always be from spine to edge. If you ever fail to think of this and approach the edge from the wrong direction, you risk serious injury and damage to the razor.

Don't ever forget how serious this is. You need to always remind yourself which way the Dremel wheel turns before you get anywhere near the blade.

There are a bunch of indentations on the blade. Grooves. Which bit is the best one for sanding? Do you move vertically or horizontally? I think my biggest mistake was using a bit that put deep grooves into the blade.

Is there a video tutorial?

Lynn's dvd is on the way...is there anything in there?

Also, I did use lots of safety precautions...googles, gloves, mask, blade secured to the table...

The best bit for sanding is not a bit. The best option for a beginner is plain old sandpaper. At least, that's my opinion.

what progression would you use???

Would a buffer be a better investment than a dremel?

JCsixx, I can help here alot, because I have been down this road recently.
I NEVER sand the blade with the dremel. It can only cause problems. If you have deep rust pits and you use the Dremel, you just end up with deep sanded pits. Just hand sand with a lower grit.
I only use the Dremel for:
Using the wire brush attachment to clean out jimps.
Use the felt polishing wheels after hand sanding to 2000 grit, applying a bit of Mothers Wheel polish to the blade.
Shaping scales to a rough outline shape with the drum sander.
Drilling the pin holes.

I just hand sanded a Dubl Duck that really looked far gone after my initial 1000 grit sanding. (thought it was only patina, boy I was wrong.) But Man! it came out great. Sorry I don't have pics yet.
I started at 220. Wrap the sandpaper around an old cork. Move in various directions. Circles, back and forth, up and down. THe I went to 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000. I swear this thing looks almost new.

I broke 2 blades and ruined another trying to go quick with the dremel. It isn't worth it. I can hand sand a badly pitted blade to new in about 5 hours. Crank up the music, and have fun.

Hope this helps.

Yes! It absolutely does! I'll have to buy you a beer sometime! Think I should return the dremel? I don't have any other use for it besides razors.

I would keep the Dremel. You can use it on the jimps, for polishing, and drilling holes in scales among other projects.

No, I would keep the dremel. Buy the stand for it that makes it a drill press ($47). Great for sanding scales to rough shape, drilling Pin holes, wire brushing jimps.
But that is just me, you can do those things with other methods, depends on your financial situation.