"So what do you use your Dremel for? " Topic

It's been over two years since this topic has come up.

Browsing the old stuff reveals a small consensus on NOT using it to drill out hands for spears and lances.

Well, what do you use it for then?

Like my Hoover mine collects dust :)

Note: 'Hoover' in the UK is synonymous with a vacuum cleaner.

Much the same as Jim.

x42

I use a pin vise to drill out hands for spears. The Dremel has too much torque if the bit jams.
I do use it with a nylon brush when I am doing the final cleanup on stripped figures. I have given up on stripping figures, BTW, so I have not used my Dremel in a while.

I also use it to shape hammered brass rod into lame halberd heads. Haven't done that in a while either.

I use it to drill out hands. Most often I use the grinder bit though, removing parts for conversions. The other week I removed the hood from a Wehrmacht smock to turn it into an SS one:

link

Cheers,

Burkhard

Mostly used for misc. cleaning and reshaping.

I use it for non hobby applications for cutting things in tight spaces.

Not wargames related, but I used the cutoff wheel not too long ago to remove the substantial castings on a 1/35 Legends resin Nagmasho't hull.

Damon.

Another Hoover here too.

To cut out stream beds in blue foam, cut out styrene for windows and doors in walls, cut out turret ring in scratch-built armor and ships, rough shaping of wood and plastic bits when scratchbulding various scenery and whatnot.

The last time i used my dremel I drilled out my hand…my thumb, actually. Haven't used it since.

I use mine with a cutting head (or cut off disk) for conversion work or for removing particularly egregious amounts of flash. I use a grinder head to shape brass rod spear heads and for deburring cut brass tubing when required. I use mine with a drill bit for various hobby drilling needs such as adding a hole to sink a rare earth magnet, although not for drilling out hands – more precise work such as that usually takes a pin vise.

I also use various cutting and grinding heads for household repairs when needed and a sanding drum for trimming back the dog's nails.

Some drilling, but mostly grinding, polishing and cutting. The same for model kits, but also weathering for those.

I love my Dremels – I have three.

* Grinder for conversions/Sculpting
* Saw for conversions
* Buffer to smooth out texture on hardened green/brown stuff
* Grinder to rough up metal bases before attaching figures

I use mine for attaching cavalry figures to horses. Does anyone know a good source of small drill bits. I break mine all of the time but Home Depot only sells sets of 5, 4 of which are too big

- Drilling out hands for spears or flagpoles
- Drilling for pins to attach riders, arms, other parts
- Grinding down unwanted tabs, excessive mold lines
- Cutting irregularly shaped bases

I use mine (well, a small power drill of a hobby variety) for drilling hands to take spears. Tried the pin vice and it took too long for me.

I buy spare bits from Hobbycraft – they do about 5 in a pack, all of the same diameter. I use 0.8mm for 15mm figures.

I've used mine for drilling, cutting, sanding, polishing and as a mini lathe for gaming and miniatures. I've also put it to great use while working on projects around the house or to cut off rusted bolts and nuts on my car. I've found it to be one of the best tools I own.

I use mine all the time for many of the things already mentioned above by others. Invaluable tool for me.

Dremels are awesome, especially the cordless variety.

I drill out hands for spears or guns, use it around the house, drill holes for antennae on vehicles, drill out barrels on guns amongst other 'stuff'.

Interrogations-I have GOT to stop watching Scandal…

Is a Dremel not perfectly suited to removing flash and mould lines in quick-time then?

With the round sanding tool to shave down/clean up bases.

I catch the shavings and use them with super glue to fill in gaps after doing head/arm/body swaps.

Some cutting and some drilling as well.

Alot of things, including removing parts of minaitures and shaping the copper fittings that I use for cutting foam cavities to make miniatures cases. However, the most common is cutting and shaping chunks of toys and other junk for terrain building. Here's a bit I recently wrote for my blog about the most amazing Dremel bit I've found yet, the 542 Cutting/Shaping wheel.

I can't recommend this tool highly enough. The disposable cutting wheels included with most rotary tools are useful for fine cuts where you don't want to lose much material, but they aren't made for shaping, and they break easily. The 543, on the other hand, is a piece of steel with rough bits of tungsten embedded in it. Not only does it cut like a champ, but you can push and pull to shape, trim and grind things down to size. It's not cheap, but in the past two years I've cut more things with it than I can count, and even as the tungsten grit wears off it shows no sign of stopping.

Further, by pushing and pulling lightly across the plastic surface, you can nicely roughen up the surface and make it look more like cement or plaster without making gouges. I did this to almost all the smooth areas of the blue support structure. It was much faster than adding texture by smearing a thin layer of concrete patch all over the model.

Polishing aluminium tubing at the minute, a before and after shot

I last used my cordless Dremel to twist strands of picture hanging wire in making barbed wire for 15mm. Otherwise I use the corded one from time to time for household repairs.

Drilliing out hands for spears, or to swap weapons or standards. I use it a lot to repair or convert figures, inserting pins and tidy up work mostly.

I use it to bevel the edges of wooden bases. A friend built me a custom jig that sort of turns it into a miniature routing table.

I knew a fellow once who used his to sharpen his lawn mower blade…once. I don't advise using it this way.

I mostly use mine to cut steel wire and tubing.

I started my own neighborhood discount dentistry practice. Cash only.

I have a battery dremel in case but mostly use it as a place to store my pin vise and bits. So I get out the dremel case and open it frequently, but nearly always to get the pin vise to drill a figure.

Another for the corded one as a household tool (and for large hobby jobs), a slower speed battery model for drilling out hands, pinning, etc.

Does anyone know a good source of small drill bits. I break mine all of the time but Home Depot only sells sets of 5, 4 of which are too big

Have you tried Lee Valley?