This might have been covered earlier, I might have missed it, cuz I read thru the replies kind of quick Andy, but the Dremel is a very light duty tool. Like Ozarks_1 said, I have too have had them probably since they were introduced. Mainly good for models or that category of work. I use it a lot on my radio repair bench. Comes in handy with a brass brush to clean the seats of brass fitting. Good for instrument work and hard to get at places like under the dash inside a distributor or generator, etc. I had the battery powered version at work for the last few years and their ok, kind of handy and since most jobs that call for a light duty tool like a Dremel are small, i.e. short duration, the battery life was adequate, doesn’t hurt to have a spare in the charger.
The biggest problem with them is people try running them to long and they will over heat and burn the wires to the commutator. I always kept a spare armature in the cabinet at work because guys would try to use them where an air tool was called for.
The Foredom that Larry mentioned is a lot more sturdy tool than the Dremel, more for the professional, you see them in many commercial shops, of course they are a lot more expensive. Feel lucky if you can find one at a garage sale and grab it.
If your thinking of porting a set of heads, grinding rivets off a frame or things like that, get something more suited like a 4” disc grinder, die grinder. If you have a fair sized compressor think air tools, they are pretty cheap now days from places like Harbor Freight. Not the best tools but good enough for the home shop.
Fin; Dremel a good tool, if you use it right.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
