"Dremel do's and don'ts" Topic

DO wear proper eye protection.

What else? Does it melt plastic? So no pinning?

Doesn't it melt lead too and fill the bit grooves?

What about a vice? Or should you use a gloved hand to hold the mini?

Dremels can (and usually will) melt plastics from my experience unless you're using an extremely low speed.

I'd not hold the mini in my hand while using a dremel. Too much risk of injury, even with a glove.

I use it to drill out holes in metal miniatures even though I know it is dangerous. I use it on a low speed, wear heavy leather gloves and I am very gun shy. Needless to say I've had my share of near misses but live to tell the tale. *whew* The safest approach is to drill in a little, come out, repeat until the bit gets the slightest clog and then clean if off before starting again. When you have 30+ miniatures to do, using a pin vise is… annoying and safer.

Eye protection is aways a good idea.

It can melt plastic but it;s not a given. If you go easy, use the lowest speed you can for the job, and don't try to hog out material you can carve and drill without melting if you use the correct bits.

It can melt any metal with a low melting point such as lead, pewter, silver, or gold. As with plastic though going easy and using the right bits it shouldn't be a problem. The problem will be if you can't fit the item your working on in a vise of some sort the part is going to get extremely hot and difficult to hold even with a gloved hand.

Use a vice if it all possible. It's just safer and easier for most things. One that has the ability to swap out the jaw inserts is the best. If you have no other choice then a glove is an option, just make sure its a heavy one with no threads or frays that could get wrapped on spinning dremmel.

Lowest speed can overcome a lot of difficulties with drilling on miniatures…

They are not precision devices for cleaning up miniatures though. I found out the hard way :-)

I usually hold the mini using a set of ViceGrips. I have put more than a few holes in my hand from either slippage or 'drill thought'…

Don't use it on softer resin. The material is soft enough you can use a drill bit by hand (Without the aid of the hand drill) and just make your guide point with an exacto knife.

I echo the remarks on plastic. It can gather heat even on lower settings depending on how long you hold it against the object being drilled, but if you're magnetizing, you only need to hold it long enough to make a recess for the magnet to fit.

If you have long hair, pull it back. Hurts when it gets wrapped around the spinning shaft. Sounds weird but believe me, I know.

I bought the drill press "attachment" for my dremel and I find that made it much more useful (and safer)

It can melt any metal with a low melting point such as lead, pewter…

And heat up the entire miniature in the process. Wear gloves and be mindful of what surface you set the hot miniature down on.

Don't try to file your finger or toe nails with it.

They make the neatest little holes in the end of you thumb. I learned to start a batch of figs with the dremel and then finish them with the pin vise drill.

VISE.
Not "vice".

I have found that some kind of locking pliers is better than using gloves which are kind of difficult to maneuver with. The figures do get hot so be careful when you take the pliers off.

Besides the possibility of personal injury there is also a chance of damage to figures. I have drilled out hundreds of necks to put in heads and wrists to change hands and the biggest problem is breaking off the bit in the neck or in the wrist. That's a very difficult problem to fix. My usual solution to this problem is to just glue on the head or the hand where the bit Broke off using two part epoxy instead of super glue that I would've used. Breakage is usually caused when you're using a very small bit and you drilled too deep into figure and it catches and breaks when you try to take it out.

Do not attempt to use it on corns, bunions or hard skin. I know someone who tried, it was a casualty job.

For most people, Don't use it for pinning. A pin vice (either is correct grammarist.com/usage/vice-vise/) is a much safer bet, or a variable speed electric drill for that matter.

Dremels are best at what they were designed for; grinding and shaping and the occasional cutting chore.

Dremels turn at too high RPMs to be good for most applications. I've been a jeweler for 35 years and all this period I've used a Foredom Flex shaft with foot control that run 0-1200 rpm. Much better control and safer.