Is there such a thing as a good rotary tool?

Off-topic Chatter
1

I bought myself a Dremel 3000 and after approximately 1.5 hours of light use sanding wood and grinding rust away from steel, it started losing power, and then wouldn’t power on.

I took it back to the shop and swapped it out for a Dremel 4000 which lasted 1 hour before the same thing happened.

Then I bought a very cheap Ozito branded rotary tool which cost about 1/5 of the price of the Dremel 4000 and so far I’ve used it for at least 5-6 hours, and I’ve run that one much harder than the Dremels. The Ozito works well apart from intermittent surging. Even when spinning in free air at any power setting it suddenly increases power for a split second, then drops right down and then goes back to normal, all in about 1 second. Very frustrating.

Are there any rotary tools that are not absolute crap? Or do I give up with power tools and buy an air tool instead?

2

There are definitely better brands like Makita and Proxxon.

But I don’t have first hand experience in any of these.

3

Proxxon (with the aluminum front) is cheaper and better than dremel.

4

Rotary tools to me are for light work — they don’t seem to have the Torque/HP and need the RPMs to do any work —— I use to use Air Die Grinders for heavy jobs— you can still slow them down but without hurting the motor

5

Foredom flexible shaft rotary tools are pretty good in my experience.

6

Not that i’ve seen— any product using a plastic housing to hold and align bearings and a motor is just a toy and another example of the disposable economy.

7

My Dremels were the US made ones, going strong (so to speak) for about 25 and 30 years now…current ones seem like a real crap shoot. Generally the more expensive units that use a separate hanging motor with a flex shaft are much better, and more powerful. For handhelds, with any of them you just have to expect that they are light powered and not intended for long use/100% duty cycle, especially when they are getting sustained continuous load (ish) like when sanding, grinding, brushing, polishing. Mostly intended for light quick jobs with cooling time afterwards (really better for things like engraving and cutting of thin stock…router bits will really strain them). You might want to look into a small die grinder instead (they are larger but loads more power…and generally for 1/4” shanks but most have 1/8” collets available, maybe 3mm too). Air power is another option with lots of power and durability if you don’t mind all the hassle with air. I’m not sure what Foredom is like today but they were always the cream of the crop.

8

My Dremel’s last me at least few years, and i do not baby them. but i do not run them for long time continuously, or they overheat, especially when ran on 15k+ rpm, nor i cover vent holes with my hand when i work with them, i also use compressed air after each dusty work, i make sure to get as much dust out of the tool as i can. the fan inside the tool sucks air and dust in, as well as anything else that is airborne.
However one has to realize, Dremel’s are tools for delicate, small jobs. If you try to use it to get old grout out of tiled bathroom wall, you will definitely kill it in no time. use the right tool for the job.

9

Many years ago I invested in a Foredom with keyed chuck. A much higher cut than Dremel and the likes. Cuts, drills, bores and works on any materials, including the hardened steels (provided you have carbide tooling and a very steady hand).

All the little accessories such as cutting discs and the like, when ‘Dremel’ brand just disintegrate. When I go to the machine. shop stores, I try to pick up some of the smaller discs for air grinders (1/8” arbour types) – albeit somewhat rare.

May have to change your work technic as these are flexible cabled drives. The foot pedal is electronic now – don’t know how it will hold up over time. Mine is the very-old fashioned Carbon Pile Regulator which I wouldn’t be surprised would have been used by Edison. Just to say it was built to last – today’s models may be more HP and RPM, and if they are still in business and made in the USA, probably will last as well.

Ledhead has an Amazon link. I got mine off someone’s listing of a deceased parent and was selling the accumulated tooling. This back in the day when people would advertise in the local papers. Try eBay.

10

^This… My “rotary tool” is an old Craftsman that was a ripoff of the Dremel at a lower price. It’s probably 20 years old. It’s been stored in an attached garage and has the rust spots suggesting bad storage/maintenance habits. It still runs like a champ, but the “hardest” jobs I’ve ever used it on was cutting a plexiglass oversized motorcycle wind screen and reshaping the spine on some S30V folding knives.

All were relatively quick jobs, although sometimes I’d stop every 30-60 seconds and let it cool down if the heat from the venting area was excessive. Additionally, I took care to not cover the venting holes with my hand, which could easily happen while manipulating the tool.

If you are planning on using it for longer periods of time on things much harder than buffing some metal or quick grinding/small cutting tasks, I’d suggest a more purpose built tool for your particular task. There are some smaller versions of tools, i.e. powered multitool, drill, and grinder for those that need more than a rotary tool for DIY projects, but don’t need a professional/industrial version for 40+ hours/week use. This can save $$ and storage space, but even those aren’t suggested for larger jobs. They are sometimes handier because of their reduced size and weight for when you need something once a month or so.

One other suggestion that you probably already know. If you require a lot of pressure with the rotary tool for the jobs 1. make sure you have the proper attachment (they have many options with different degrees of cutting/grinding abilities), and 2. if you still require a lot of pressure with the proper attachment see the previous paragraph.

11

I’ve had my Dremel cordless for about 5 years with no problems.
I did have to replace the charging unit.
They also have, oscillating and saws.
Here

12

You have to go easy on them. Bog them down too much, and they overheat and die. This is not new, but everybody uses them slightly different, so everybody’s experience varies. People were killing Dremels 30 years ago, too.

The same applies to angle grinders, which are another high RPM, low torque tool that tends to have extended runtimes. I bought a new one recently and was shocked how many 1-star reviews the good brands hand. Dewalt, Makita, Bosch, etc - all of them had numerous owners complaining about them dying after a few hours of use.

Most, of course, had good experiences, but at the same time, so did most owners of the cheap brands like Ryobi, Skil, Harbor Freight.

Unless and until I can find other information that paints a more logical and clear picture, my conclusion is you have to be careful not to bog down your tools too hard.

And if you really do need to run really hard for extended periods of time, air tools are probably the way to go.

13

Look at the rotary tools that Jewelers use such as Foredom. Those are good.

14

This sums it up perfectly as far as I am concerned, well said.

15

I have had at least 3 Dremels over the last 25 years. I’m on the third one and it’s been good for over 15 years so far. It’s an XPS version with variable speed. It has been awesome and I am not always kind to it and run a 2.5” buff wheel on it and have cut lots of metal with it. You just need to replace the motor brushes every 10 years and blow it out with compressed air every once and a while to keep it happy. It’s NOT a heavy duty tool and wasn’t meant to be with a 3 mm collet. I’d you need something more heavy duty, get a 1/4 die grinder. I’ve used the cheap ones and they’re junk.

16

I have a Dremel 8220-1/28.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DRY5AI

I did the research, found a potentially great product...

and never used it.

17

My experience with Dremels (395/3000) has been that they are made to fail by their inadequately designed speed controller.

A few years ago I found and bought a Hilda rotary tool with continuously adjustable electronic speed controller. Its manufacturing finish may seem a liittle bit shoddy for perfectionists, but in my experience with it, works like a charm. It is this one:

The 350W rating is a lie, its actually about half that “continuous” power.

Here is a related video I found:

Of course your mileage may vary, as you are also responsible of giving proper care to the tool.

03:36

18

My Dremel is around 20 years old. Not used a lot, but has worked fine for the most part. The speed control was a little temperamental. If turned up all the way it would turn off and if on very low it would also turn off.

So I sprayed the switch with some electrical contact cleaner and that resolved the issue.

Last summer my son took over my Dremel to work on his rocks. He’ll spend hours outside with it on full blast grinding away on rocks. And now I have to ask him to use my Dremel. And despite it looking like it’s been dropped in mud, it still works great.

Interesting that the newer Dremels may not be of high quality.

19

The only good rotary tool is a dead rotary tool.

I got an original Dremel, a different brand (can’t recall, don’t wanna go and look), and a pair of Tacklifes. All brush-motors, all gonna eventually need maintenance, all crappy potentiometer-set (read, scratchy) speed-controls.

I don’t abuse my tools, even tend to baby them, but I still consider them disposable. Plastic cases, carbon brushes, potentiometers, etc. Toys. Ball bearings vs sleeves is a step in the right direction, but…

You want good, you go for brushless.

And cordless is convenient, but like it or not, nothing beats AC. My neighbor got a battery-powered oscillating tool, which is handy, but runs down pretty quickly, and strains quite a bit cutting branches (flush with brick, whereas a sawzall couldn’t get nearly as close).

In contrast, my plug-in oscillating tool is like a f’n chainsaw even on its lowest setting. Never even needed it any higher than its lowest. It’s a beast. (Todoscope? Some off-brand I got offa Amazon…)

Anyway, keep yer mitts from blocking the vent holes, don’t run them too high for too long, and don’t “lean into them”. Especially that last part. I’ve had cutting discs blow to pieces when pushed, grinding stones wear into oddball shapes, and even those nylon brushes turn into cutting-wheels on plastic.

20

get the AC powered ones