I have one that was part of a wolfcraft drill-powered lathe kit - the lathe idea is only really capable of turning very small items like cupboard knobs and whistles, but the drill clamp bit, I use all the time - such as in shaping of my Walking Spoon (skip to about 4:10 to see the drill clamp in action)
I look forward to hearing about (and hopefully seeing) the results of this - I like the idea a lot. You’ll probably find that the colour of the items you make this way will change as they age, but that could be a fine thing all of itself.
Walnut oil is great for finishing wood - it’s a drying oil, so it can be buffed glossy - if yo’re working on fairly small pieces, you probably don’t even need to buy the pressed oil - just rub the wooden item thoroughly with a peeled walnut a few times.
I have one of these. It was a two-part gift. My son got the tool and my daughter got the station. It has to be bolted down, I think. And I have no idea what any of the pulls and levers do.
Next project I think will be bolting this to the table. I’m a bit hesitant as my work table is something I threw together out of a big-ass piece of particle board and some scrap 4x4s. It is not the most stable of tables. I told you, I’m garbage at this. I think it’ll be fine because popsicle sticks will not test the table’s structure much. I hope.
You could bolt it to a board that is bigger than the baseplate - big enough to clamp to the table - easy enough to remove when you want the whole table top for something else.
Turmeric and very, very, very weak coffee. They are both still a little shiny from the vinegar and oil. I’m thinking of hitting them with some spray clear Rustoleum and using my buffering thingies on them. For fun.
Just using that as a drill press you probably don’t need to bolt it down but bolting it to a larger board is a good approach. I think someone should make something similar to a Shopsmith at a smaller scale for modelers and crafters. One power head can be used for a lot of different functions. The Dremel work station is very close to that, it mainly needs a table to use when the head is turned horizontally.
The main level on that is to move the power head up and down in the manner of a drill press quill, but instead of having a telescoping shaft connected to the motor the whole motor moves up and down. That allows the whole head to be rotated to any angle with the knob on the side. In a traditional drill press the head always remains vertical and the table has to be tilted for angles. Your drums will be easier to work with if that power head is rotated to a horizontal position and the drum will stick out the side instead of underneath. The whole power head can be moved up and down on that big steel post so you can drill can drill into material of different thicknesses. Many conventional drill presses only allow the table to move up and down. It doesn’t seem to have a depth stop but you should be able to slide the head up on the post until the maximum plunge is your maximum depth.
The manual (pdf) shows that you can also use the post to hang a tool for use with a flexshaft, very useful if for crafting.
The only thing the Dremel will not do well is drive a sanding disk. The high speed and low power limit the diameter of a sanding disk and you need the area of a larger disk work pieces in the right position. Even small 4" and 6" disks have limited usefulness but anything larger will get you into a much heavier tool.
Popsicle sticks aren’t the softest wood around. They’re made from tight grained Birch so they don’t splinter in your mouth. Glued up sticks like that are pretty decent material but they don’t show much grain. Any woodworker should be able to supply you with small pieces of good looking wood to make things like your pendant (very attractive BTW!). Walnut will be dark but has nice grain. Curly maple is fantastic if you use oil or stain to bring out the grain.
Speaking of oil and stain, you can buff up a round piece that you make if you can chuck it up in your Dremel or a drill. It’s a good way to apply the finish and buff it out, just hold fine cloth against the wood while it rotates. Mangetout’s suggestion to use Danish oil is a good one. There are a number of similar products based on Tung oil or that have similar properties. They dry to a clean hard finish. You can use multiple applications to produce a really tough surface that shines.
I always have eye protection because I’ve had corneal abrasions in the past (not due to messing around in the craft room) and I ain’t about that noise.
TriPolar, for sanding for now I have the plate that fell of of the orbital sander and I go back and forth on it by hand. Makes me miss the sander a lot.
Also, I got a 6 foot, quarter inch stick of poplar for 2 bucks. My plan was to cut it into pendant size pieces using my baby Ryobi circular saw but I can’t find it (power tools are gently used here) so I used the Dremel cut off saw and now my craft room smells like barbecue.
I know this is not a blog but you guys have been so fantastic helping me out. Just want to say i took beowulff’s advice and got out my jewelry saw. Cuts through it like butter! Soooo much easier than copper.
My suggestion is more generalized. My rule of thumb is that hand-held power tools are great for large projects like construction and stationery power tools are great for small projects like handicrafts. The point is that, ideally, either the tool or the target should be moving, but not both.
That would mean it’s…well, not necessarily problematic or counterproductive, but far from ideal…to clamp your small pendant into a vise and run a belt-sander around it for shaping. Yeah, it can be done, but clamping can alter the shape and a belt-sander is a bit cumbersome for the size of the pendant. For your purposes on that particular project (and the resin-cast version) you would be better-off with a benchtop disk sander (with or without the belt-sander on the side) and using your gloved hands resting on built-in stabilizing braces to shape the piece.
That would mean it’s…well, not necessarily problematic or counterproductive, but far from ideal…to grab a 8" x 10" x 96" truss and drill four 1" holes in the end using an eight-foot tall floor-model drill-press. Yeah, it can be done, but lifting and shifting that truss is a pain in the ass. Better to set the truss on the ground and use an electric drill - with a cord or a battery pack.
There are exceptions, of course. Chop saws do just as well with 2" by 4" studs as with quarter-inch trims and, while a Dremel rotary tool is quite small and light, there are accessories that can make it act like a stationary miniature drill-press or router. In fact, I’d recommend the latter for your type of handicraft and I’ve even seen some miniature table saws at Michaels Craft Stores (though I have no idea how good they are).
I do hope you’re using eye, ear, and respiratory protection. Cut-proof gloves are also a good idea.
Finally got the Dremel into the workstation and you are so right Grestarian. It is much, MUCH easier to not have to hold both tool AND piece in hand. Moving the small piece against the tool makes for a lot more control.
Never thought of using it as a router. Maybe I can make a ring now!
