Slow down Dremel

[Stumpy]

I've got an old single speed Dremel that scares everybody in the house
because it's too noisy. Too cold and dark to work in the garage. Will an
inexpensive lamp dimmer work OK, or would a Powerstat autotransformer be
much better? I would prefer to use the smaller and cheaper dimmer but
assume that the dimmer would clip the AC sinewave, Powerstat would not.

 

[Tom Biasi]

On 11/20/2013 10:33 PM, Stumpy wrote:

I've got an old single speed Dremel that scares everybody in the house
because it's too noisy. Too cold and dark to work in the garage. Will
an inexpensive lamp dimmer work OK, or would a Powerstat autotransformer
be much better? I would prefer to use the smaller and cheaper dimmer
but assume that the dimmer would clip the AC sinewave, Powerstat would not.
The speed controls meant for ceiling fans work OK.

 

[Helmut Wabnig]

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 19:33:30 -0800, "Stumpy" <perilmung@spamnet.corn>
wrote:

I've got an old single speed Dremel that scares everybody in the house
because it's too noisy. Too cold and dark to work in the garage. Will an
inexpensive lamp dimmer work OK, or would a Powerstat autotransformer be
much better? I would prefer to use the smaller and cheaper dimmer but
assume that the dimmer would clip the AC sinewave, Powerstat would not.

The dimmer will, but is not fine art.
There are dimmers available which have a motor current sensing
and they wiill keep the motor at constant speed under load.
But a normal dimmer is still better than nothing.

w.

 

[amdx]

On 11/20/2013 9:33 PM, Stumpy wrote:

I've got an old single speed Dremel that scares everybody in the house
because it's too noisy. Too cold and dark to work in the garage. Will
an inexpensive lamp dimmer work OK, or would a Powerstat autotransformer
be much better? I would prefer to use the smaller and cheaper dimmer
but assume that the dimmer would clip the AC sinewave, Powerstat would not.

Hi Stumpy,
I don't know if a dimmer will work or not, it would be the cheaper route.
I have a Staco Energy Type 291 variable transformer.
http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=70213081
It is NOS, very cute, about 2-1/2" x 2-1/2".
I got it from a company that went out of business.
If you are interested my email is good.
Price $85 includes shipping.
Mikek

 

[Stumpy]

Hi Stumpy,
I don't know if a dimmer will work or not, it would be the cheaper route.
I have a Staco Energy Type 291 variable transformer.
http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=70213081
It is NOS, very cute, about 2-1/2" x 2-1/2".
I got it from a company that went out of business.
If you are interested my email is good.
Price $85 includes shipping.
Mikek

I looked back in Google Groups and found that people have salvaged sewing
machine pedals to slow it down and change the speed "hands free". That
seems like a very good idea. Also found a current product that does the
same thing.

http://www.amazon.com/MOTO-TOOL-PEDAL-power-tools/dp/B000P4E412/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1385048448&sr=1-1&keywords=MOTO+TOOL+FOOT+PEDAL

I'll try it. Craigslist doesn't have any sewing machine pedals.

 

[Stumpy]

"Helmut Wabnig" <hwabnig@.- --- -.dotat> wrote in message
news:dlgr8996077rhaf1kenesesvb12up9ej9b@4ax.com...

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013 19:33:30 -0800, "Stumpy" <perilmung@spamnet.corn
wrote:

I've got an old single speed Dremel that scares everybody in the house
because it's too noisy. Too cold and dark to work in the garage. Will an
inexpensive lamp dimmer work OK, or would a Powerstat autotransformer be
much better? I would prefer to use the smaller and cheaper dimmer but
assume that the dimmer would clip the AC sinewave, Powerstat would not.


The dimmer will, but is not fine art.
There are dimmers available which have a motor current sensing
and they wiill keep the motor at constant speed under load.
But a normal dimmer is still better than nothing.

w.

Amazon had a reviewer list the specs on the Moto Tool like this:
-------------
"The specifications on the bottom of the control are:
110 - 120 V
60 Hz
10A
China
The control in the pedal mechanism is a ceramic block with dozens of
graphite discs in it, when you step on the pedal it progressively lowers
resistance contact. I guess the ceramic block is to handle and to dissipate
the heat generated. The female cord is short, less than two feet. The male
end is 5 or 6 feet.
It stopped working after one time, but after taking it apart (for $10 I
wasn't going to return it), got it to work again.
If you think of it as a very very light duty or disposable control, then you
have a reason to risk buying it for $10. "
----------------

So its not very sophisticated, but the price is right. $15 not $10 is still
OK.

 

[Tom Biasi]

On 11/21/2013 1:25 PM, Michael Black wrote:

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013, Stumpy wrote:

I've got an old single speed Dremel that scares everybody in the house
because it's too noisy. Too cold and dark to work in the garage.
Will an inexpensive lamp dimmer work OK, or would a Powerstat
autotransformer be much better? I would prefer to use the smaller and
cheaper dimmer but assume that the dimmer would clip the AC sinewave,
Powerstat would not.

I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

 

[Michael Black]

On Wed, 20 Nov 2013, Stumpy wrote:

I've got an old single speed Dremel that scares everybody in the house
because it's too noisy. Too cold and dark to work in the garage. Will
an inexpensive lamp dimmer work OK, or would a Powerstat autotransformer
be much better? I would prefer to use the smaller and cheaper dimmer
but assume that the dimmer would clip the AC sinewave, Powerstat would
not.

I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool". There's
a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a high
speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too much, and
not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may not
work as well either.

Michael

 

[Tom Biasi]

On 11/21/2013 5:15 PM, Stumpy wrote:

I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

Just drilling holes in leather. Nothing critical.
Should be OK.

 

[Stumpy]

I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

Just drilling holes in leather. Nothing critical.

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:15:50 -0800, "Stumpy" <perilmung@spamnet.corn>
wrote:

I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

Just drilling holes in leather. Nothing critical.

Punches make for neater holes.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[Michael Black]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013, Tom Biasi wrote:

On 11/21/2013 1:25 PM, Michael Black wrote:
On Wed, 20 Nov 2013, Stumpy wrote:

I've got an old single speed Dremel that scares everybody in the house
because it's too noisy. Too cold and dark to work in the garage.
Will an inexpensive lamp dimmer work OK, or would a Powerstat
autotransformer be much better? I would prefer to use the smaller and
cheaper dimmer but assume that the dimmer would clip the AC sinewave,
Powerstat would not.

I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

I think that was included. INitially it seems safer at a slower speed,
but that's not the case. Cut-off wheels are wonderful, and can break
quite easily, but they need the speed to do the work easily.

Michael

 

[Michael Black]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013, Stumpy wrote:

I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

Just drilling holes in leather. Nothing critical.

Then why use the Dremel tool? A drill is as good as anything for the
purpose of drilling. If these are tiny holes, well I just used my drill
in a drill press adapter. But yes, punches are probably the best method,
or just an awl.

Michael

 

[Stumpy]

"Michael Black" <et472@ncf.ca> wrote in message
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1311211921060.7202@darkstar.example.org...

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013, Stumpy wrote:



I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too
much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

Just drilling holes in leather. Nothing critical.

Then why use the Dremel tool? A drill is as good as anything for the
purpose of drilling. If these are tiny holes, well I just used my drill
in a drill press adapter. But yes, punches are probably the best method,
or just an awl.

Michael

I need to make very small holes. A punch is too big. My drill chucks are
too big. Even had to get a mini chuck for the Dremel. I've broken 2
stitching awls so far. A Jensen icepick stretched the leather around the
hole. I just want to try a Dremel at lower speed. 3 good needles from
Tandy, or 3 crappy sets from Harbor Freight cost the same as the pedal.

 

[Maynard A. Philbrook Jr.]

In article <e7qdndPSvaTENxPPnZ2dnUVZ_qudnZ2d@earthlink.com>,
perilmung@spamnet.corn says...

"Michael Black" <et472@ncf.ca> wrote in message
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1311211921060.7202@darkstar.example.org...
On Thu, 21 Nov 2013, Stumpy wrote:



I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too
much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

Just drilling holes in leather. Nothing critical.

Then why use the Dremel tool? A drill is as good as anything for the
purpose of drilling. If these are tiny holes, well I just used my drill
in a drill press adapter. But yes, punches are probably the best method,
or just an awl.

Michael


I need to make very small holes. A punch is too big. My drill chucks are
too big. Even had to get a mini chuck for the Dremel. I've broken 2
stitching awls so far. A Jensen icepick stretched the leather around the
hole. I just want to try a Dremel at lower speed. 3 good needles from
Tandy, or 3 crappy sets from Harbor Freight cost the same as the pedal.

Rip a laser out from a blue ray DVD and use that

Jamie

 

[Stumpy]

I need to make very small holes. A punch is too big. My drill chucks
are
too big. Even had to get a mini chuck for the Dremel. I've broken 2
stitching awls so far. A Jensen icepick stretched the leather around the
hole. I just want to try a Dremel at lower speed. 3 good needles from
Tandy, or 3 crappy sets from Harbor Freight cost the same as the pedal.

Rip a laser out from a blue ray DVD and use that

Jamie

Heh, now that's too small.

 

[Phil Allison]

"Helmut Wabnig"

The dimmer will, but is not fine art.
There are dimmers available which have a motor current sensing
and they wiill keep the motor at constant speed under load.

** Nope, back emf sensing that does that trick.

Usually by means of half wave drive via an SCR.



..... Phil

 

[Bob Masta]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:50:33 -0800, "Stumpy"
<perilmung@spamnet.corn> wrote:

"Michael Black" <et472@ncf.ca> wrote in message
news:alpine.LNX.2.02.1311211921060.7202@darkstar.example.org...
On Thu, 21 Nov 2013, Stumpy wrote:



I have a light dimmer in a box with an outlet for one of my soldering
irons. And at times I've used the dimmer with my "rotary tool".
There's a limit on how much you can reduce it, if I recall properly.

One thing to keep in mind. SOme of the functions really depend on a
high speed, so it's not just there to look good. Slow it down too
much,
and not only will the rotary tool not turn as well, but the cutting may
not work as well either.

Michael

And it be dangerous if teeth or blades were designed for a certain RPM.

Just drilling holes in leather. Nothing critical.

Then why use the Dremel tool? A drill is as good as anything for the
purpose of drilling. If these are tiny holes, well I just used my drill
in a drill press adapter. But yes, punches are probably the best method,
or just an awl.

Michael


I need to make very small holes. A punch is too big. My drill chucks are
too big. Even had to get a mini chuck for the Dremel. I've broken 2
stitching awls so far. A Jensen icepick stretched the leather around the
hole. I just want to try a Dremel at lower speed. 3 good needles from
Tandy, or 3 crappy sets from Harbor Freight cost the same as the pedal.

I use my Dremel for leather sometimes. If your leather is
not too thick relative to the diameter of the hole, you
might want to try ball-tip carbide dental burs. (I use
these for epoxy glass circuit boards, because unlike
straight drills they never break and never wear out.)

The carbide burr is attached to a steel shank that tapers up
to whatever standard collet size you are using. Some
designs taper rather gently, so you can make a deeper hole
before contacting the shank. Since the carbide is only at
the tip, there is no problem of breakage like a carbide
drill. (Once I managed to knock the tool to the floor,
bit-side down, and the shank bent. That's the only damaged
bit in 30 years.)

One big advantage of a drill (of any sort) over a punch is
that you only need one-sided access to the piece...
important if you are working on something like a boot.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

DAQARTA v7.40
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter
Frequency Counter, Pitch Track, Pitch-to-MIDI
FREE Signal Generator, DaqMusic generator
Science with your sound card!

 

[Stumpy]

I need to make very small holes. A punch is too big. My drill chucks are
too big. Even had to get a mini chuck for the Dremel. I've broken 2
stitching awls so far. A Jensen icepick stretched the leather around the
hole. I just want to try a Dremel at lower speed. 3 good needles from
Tandy, or 3 crappy sets from Harbor Freight cost the same as the pedal.


I use my Dremel for leather sometimes. If your leather is
not too thick relative to the diameter of the hole, you
might want to try ball-tip carbide dental burs. (I use
these for epoxy glass circuit boards, because unlike
straight drills they never break and never wear out.)

The carbide burr is attached to a steel shank that tapers up
to whatever standard collet size you are using. Some
designs taper rather gently, so you can make a deeper hole
before contacting the shank. Since the carbide is only at
the tip, there is no problem of breakage like a carbide
drill. (Once I managed to knock the tool to the floor,
bit-side down, and the shank bent. That's the only damaged
bit in 30 years.)

One big advantage of a drill (of any sort) over a punch is
that you only need one-sided access to the piece...
important if you are working on something like a boot.

Best regards,


Bob Masta

Thanks for that, I'll look into a burr later because I've already got some
small drill bits.

Those bent shanks don't work so good at ~3,000 RPM.

 

[amdx]

Bob Masta



Thanks for that, I'll look into a burr later because I've already got some
small drill bits.

Those bent shanks don't work so good at ~3,000 RPM.

Thirty tears ago, I worked at an electric motor rebuild shop.
We had something like a dremel on steroids. I was grinding on something
and somehow the bit bent about 90*, it was all I could do to get the
thing shutdown before getting injured. yow!
Mikek