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Okay dakka, its official, I have a project that needs a real hobby drill. Looking through the hardware stores and walmart, the only differance I see in the drills themselves is the all of the cheap ones are single or two speed drills. Most of the expensive ones have a much large range of speed, including much slower.

Is there enough of a differance in the drill speed that it makes a differance? Do you have an models you would swear by (or at)?

I would be very intrested in the answer to this too.

I can't answer your exact question but I've had a basic dremel and I have not had any situations requiring multiple speeds.

I think it would be useful but it depends how much you wish to spend.

I have a multi-speed dremel. I adjust speeds depending on the material and what I am doing ie drilling, sanding etching etc. A lower end model should get you through most hobby projects though. That one just happened to have a nice deal with extra things to cause more destruction

I recently got me a 40 euro dremel. It's got multiple speeds, and so far, has been a great help. Much faster than drilling or cutting by hand.

Thats mainly what I was worried about. When handling multiple materials (plastic, resin, metal, random scenary) would the speed have much of an effect. Or does it depend much more on the kind of tips you get, which seem fairly cheap to get what you need.

A single speed dremel will cut through metal, plastic and resin without many problems. Obviously some metals are harder to cut but a good tip will help.

4M2A wrote:A single speed dremel will cut through metal, plastic and resin without many problems. Obviously some metals are harder to cut but a good tip will help.

to what was said. Whatever you decide, practice a bit on different materials if you have some old stuff you what to trash till you get comfortable with want the particular attachment does with a certain material.

If you are doing metal I highly recommend getting a 'milling bit' todo your cutting and a multi speed dremmel. I use mine for all different materials and I have even had some car repairs I needed done where it came in handy.

Also, be sure to wear safety glasses whatever you cut and I wear a mask when cutting metal models.

I have an adjustable speed multi-tool, though there have been occasions where I wish it would go slower, mainly when cutting plastic or polishing clear resin. Even at the lowest settings sometimes the plastic can burn, and the polishing/buffing discs were still grinding away at the resin far too quickly to get a controllable finish.

Other than that even a single speed will do you fine, but like me, one day you may wish you invested in one with a broad RPM range and want to get another one...

I didn't even know they still made single speed Dremels...

I have a Dremel 300 Series tool, and i have found it seriously awesome... only thing is though, i still need a regular hand drill. Gale Force 9 has a nice pin vice drill that i use regularly for multiple holed things like assault cannons.

The reason is, if you are drilling more than 2 holes in fairly quick succession, the heat generated by the friction will melt plastic rather than give a nice clean hole.

Can you give a bit of information on what you want it to reliably do? I have a dremel with a variety of attachments, the stand and vice but the speed is still too high to do a good job of drilling pinning holes in metal which require small bits. For that I'm still looking around for a good low speed drill/screwdriver with a reverse gear to get in and out.

Dremels.
I have two. I bought a cheapO one that has a single speed for detail work. Its fantastic for that. The second one has many speeds and is really friggin powerful. This one I use to turn metal minis into dust. I prefer this one when Im cutting, or doing the basic grinds on metal so I can move the process along faster. But once the cuts get close to what I want, then its back to Mr cheapO

Drills.
I just use my construction grade drill, why not I paid a gak load for it when I did cable install. Anywho, this is just for pinning and barrels as it has a great control and it has clutches in it to stop instantly when I release the trigger. This is a huge thing, because I used to have a cheapy I bought for that purpose, but it doesnt stop when I let go, you know one of them that spins a few times over first. That sucks, trust me you want a drill to stop when you release, other wise its too easy to ruin what your doing, AND bore a drill bit into your finger. Neither are fun outcomes

sgt1480 wrote:I have a multi-speed dremel. I adjust speeds depending on the material and what I am doing ie drilling, sanding etching etc.

Same here. I also see the variable speed as a safety issue...it allows you to use just the right speed for what you are doing, which allows better control of the tool.

When it comes to tools always buy the absolute best you can, even if it means waiting and saving up for it.


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calypso2ts wrote:If you are doing metal I highly recommend getting a 'milling bit' todo your cutting and a multi speed dremmel. I use mine for all different materials and I have even had some car repairs I needed done where it came in handy.

Also, be sure to wear safety glasses whatever you cut and I wear a mask when cutting metal models.

Agreed. I have several from my days of doing cylinder head work on cars, they are great for metal minis.

Some pics would be good. Maybe a link to someone who sells one.

I would say a vice would be handy too.

@Veldrain, what do you need one for?

OoieGoie wrote:

I would say a vice would be handy too.

Yes it would. A vice isnt needed, but highly recommended, especially if you are drilling. Ive never had one, and my hands and a couple projects have paid the price for it. I have a project still sitting in the box right now waiting for me to get a vice.


oh...pics and links to what? The dremel or the bits?

Good point on the vice, I forgot about that one. I work mostly in metal and if you plan to use a dremmel on metal I would HIGHLY recommend a vice as well. Get one with rubber padding on the clamps so you can cinch it down pretty well and when it gets warm you dont burn up your fingers.

A thing to note - rotary tools aren't really meant for drilling, most times. These are predominantly VERY high speed, low torque tools (most variable speed models don't go under 12K RPM). While you can get away with throwing a drill bit on a low-speed model and tearing through plastic, thin bits and high RPM will lead to snapping and dulling of bits and overheating of both bits and materials on pretty much anything harder than that. If you have a nice, sharp bit, a pin vice with a swivel back take practically no time or effort and will save your bits and lead to fewer mistakes. Just something to think about.

If you're looking for a cheap but quality rotary tool in the states, I'd steer clear of Dremel. Quality has really dropped in recent years without the price following suit. They're not a bad buy, maybe, but they're nowhere near the best bang for your buck. For under $40 (if you're in the US, you can find them at Walmart - call for availability, as they may need to ship one to your local store) you can pick up a Black & Decker RTX. This thing is cheap, rock solid, can take Dremel accessories, has easily double the torque, runs equally quietly at lower speeds, and is true variable speed (the box says 3-speed, but there are 3 points where the control locks - you can adjust between them like a normal rheostat). After using an older model Dremel for a few years, this thing is definitely heavier (getting a flex shaft eliminates the issue of greater hand fatigue), but in EVERY other way, it's the tits.

The advice on buying good tools is solid, if you want to keep using them for a while. In this case, price doesn't necessarily indicate quality. Read some product reviews online and I think you'll see that lots of people are looking elsewhere, as recent Dremels suffer from cut corners in production - speed controls crapping out in the first week is a common cry, and this is on models easily 2-3x more expensive than the RTX.