Dremel workstation question ?

I just recently bought a drill press mini from my local super hardware , and due to my lack of modernisation I probably have every access.known for Dremel dating back to the 60's , and I even have homemade adaptors my Pop made for lack of availability.

My question is I have the thing mounted to it's own place on my bench , but it did not come with any lock clamps for the press floor to secure any piece i may want to work up.

I"ve Read the booklet and it almost seems to tell me to make my own!

Any info on this puzzle

Thank You,P12

Here in the US machines are typically sold either with or without accessory kits. Shipping accessories separate being so economically advantageous, do many vendors Down Under sell machines without accessory kits? Never known any DP to come with T-slot clamping set unless it was an add-on package from the distributor. Anyway, that is how the retail-ripoff vendors plan on making any money selling low-cost imported tools - they are planning on soaking you on the accessories.

Plenty of vendors offer aftermarket T-slot sets.

You will probably not require clamping with a Dremel; a big powerful drill requires workholding but the Dremel is all revs and no torque.

Here is a Dremel stand with a home-made "fence" mainly used for drilling holes in circuit boards;



I made two of these "fences" from aluminium.

The four slots in the base accept T-nuts underneath; you could probably use square or hex nuts, filed if required, if you can't get/make T-nuts.

Incidentally, I tried a Dremel initially but it wasn't smooth and tended to break the tiny carbide drills.

The stand itself is not a precision device and this may have contributed to the breakages; I found that grease on the rack & pinion tended to stabilise "wandering" due to the stand.

The MiniCraft 12v drill in the photo is run at 28v via a PWM controller; I don't know how fast it runs but I guess at well over 20 000 rpm on full speed.

It doesn't break drills (using the "greased" stand) and has lasted for several years of this over-running.

I had to look for a picture of a Dremel workstation because I had never seen one. I see it has slots for carriage bolts, with the bolt head down. You need a few carriage bolts of whatever size fits the slots in the base, in assorted lengths and with nuts and washers to suit. If carriage bolt is a term not used in your country, Google it and you should find a picture and possibly what they are called in other parts of the world.

Then, if you want a vise, look for this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZONA-Tool-H...537?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58907bc131
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-3-4-TINY-...408230261?pt=Clamps_Vises&hash=item53ea012975
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Proxxon-242...311?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0d251787

You may also look at vises for Unimat, Sherline and Taig.

And you can expect a visit from the site owner, who will lock this thread about forbidden subjects. We all have to begin our journey toward professional machining somewhere. Good luck.

Larry

Larry

Do you think there's anyone on this site that doesn't(whether admitted or not)
use a dremel tool. You may be right about the lockdown, but when you're doing a job, and the $80,000 Austrian special fries, the big box store will see you till replacement parts get there. What he has just makes it more versitile, I bought one, mounted the dremel in it, took the dremel out and threw it away.

I think it would have worked in balsa or styrofoam if you put a pilot hole to keep it from flexing and wandering around. M.I.C. and very flimsy plastic, not up to the old standards.

I was trying to drill the holes in these grips while on the road. Worked fine by hand after spending $33.00 in the depot for nothing.

Ben

I searched the western hemisphere and found this:




Now to make something better and more universal.

I will show you all a series of photos when complete, I am working on it now .

I decided maybe ABS Plastic for a floor.

Realising that this is just a speck of dust in the world of "TOOLDOM" I still like the small things in life too!
And everyone has or still does own a Dremel tool of some sort, don't they?

Cheers/ Eric/P12

Yeah a dremel can with skill or at least a little imagination do and resolve some very interesting little problems. All i do know is that i have more than recouped the purchase price of mine several times over on real paying jobs.

I like my Dremel for what a Dremel is designed for. BUT, I needed a high speed DP, for drilling deep holes in brass for mini steam engine parts.

If that "Workstation" is actually their version of a tiny drill press, it flexed so much that I would have broken out the side of the 3/16 X 1/2 steam path.

All it took was to set it up and bring the spindle down and a bit of pressure made it flex. It went back, the next day.

I have a copy of HSM or the other mag that has a very nice build of a precision mini DP, post of 3/4 or 1 inch ground rod. Neither of those will flex like the Dremel model does.

Forget the Dremel.

Cheers,

George

Looks like I really stirred it up, but that is GOOD for a product to be undressed as it were!

I used it 2 nights ago w/ my 1.3 m "FLEXSHAFT" and it worked very well on a Browning Hi-Power I am restoring for a friend, it acted as a stable fixture to put the Main tool into and work on a finer piece that would not have been possible w/ the Dremel main tool itself, it acts and feels comfortable like a good artisan hand tool.

as a DP i know it is dung for any projects the require any real pressure behind it,and before i forget MY Frau is the one who spotted it first by perusing through my periodicals while cleaning my workshop( that she sometimes uses for her crafts )So any blame would roll down her back like fish oil.

I an using it later today to test my homemade T-Slot bolt clamps,which by the way i padded the small plates on one side only, mainly for firearm restoration ,and repair use.

as i said I will supply the full experience on this subject upon today's results.

I must add that all of you Gents show remarkable insight, and curiosity in this, and i hope we shall pursue another Endeavor Very Soon,.


Till then,Cheers from The FreeState,Eric/P12

I have some Dremel tools, but almost never find a use for them. I need two types of small hand-held power tools: motorized hand tool and flexible shaft tool.

For the small motorized hand tool, I have my "thousand dollar Dremel," actually a Korean Marathon 700 50,000 RPM brushless micromotor that holds up to 1/8 inch shank dental tools. They are also sold with the Foredom brand name and do cost close to $1000, depending on where you buy. I have added a couple of other micromotors that run off the same power supply and can use right angle dental burs. It is a fantastically high quality machine and worth the price.

For flexible shaft tools, I use an American Foredom tool with over a dozen different quick change handpieces. Most of the handpieces have ball bearings. They have far more power and much better quality than any Dremel tool. Pfingst also makes very good flexible shaft tools, and the Foredom and Pfingst handpieces fit each other's machines. There are also Chinese copies, but I don't have one.

Foredom makes a drill press adapter to hold one of their model 30 handpieces, but I have a much better small drill press.

Foredom Electric Co.

If you don't want the top of the line $1000 Marathon micromotor, the 35,000 RPM brush-type is a super deal from some Chinese dealers. This model only accepts 3/32 inch long shank dental burs and mounted points, but that is good enough for most purposes. They are far better than any Dremel tool. Here is one for only $100.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dental-Lab-...154?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1bb10872

Larry

Thanks loads LarryI'm downloading their catalog right now, gotta check this out!

See ya/Eric

The pic that Plasma guy shows is not the mini-DP that I mentioned. It looks like a simple hanger to suspend. I think I could rig such for less than a Dremel costs.

I, too, have a Foredom, it is about 40 years old, foot pedal, needs a new shaft, got a kink. That, I like, but I don't know if I can drill the deep hole I mentioned free hand.

Cheers,

George

Thanks again Larry,

I downloaded that company's tool and access. catalogs , they sure have a lot of things i have to drive 40km. just to look at in person.

The tools available in Europe and Asia often fluctuate not only in price, but when you buy something for the price they ask,pay the very high shipping,or have to speak in some language you only heard before the whiskey hangover ,It's never right!
I mean what you see is not what comes in that crate of confetti.

So i noticed most of what is available is compatible with most of the tools I am using now ,good news , I don't have to toss anything!

I still need to replace an old small lathe that has no name , and has had many Fathers before it dropped in my wallet.
If you might know where i can continue to look for one it would be a big help, I have the usual catalogs such as the Amazon clearinghouse which is only the middleman, and Harbor freight along with about 3 more , and the internet, but then I only get something that I need from a reference from someone who has had experience with "THE Net".

Again thanks for some Library reading,and hope all is in order before Summer hits.

Sincerely,Eric V./ P12



p.s. (one of my other Hobbies)