Which Dremel drill should I get?

October 11, 2007 1:56 AM

Dremelfilter: I want to put some holes in plastic. What should I buy?

I have decided that my toy electronic musical keyboards need line out jacks installed. I have a circuit-bending book that recommends picking up a Dremel drill for making holes in plastic housing.

At the moment, this is all I plan to use it for: making nice round holes in the plastic housing in order to mount line out jacks. Depending on how well this project goes and how much I enjoy it, I may move on to other stuff as well, although the basic need -- holes in plastic -- will remain the same.

I've never used one of these; I'm not, in fact, 100% sure what the difference between a chuck and a collet is (my book recommends the former). I googled around for a while trying to find specific recommendations, but did not see anything useful.

I found two on Amazon that look like they would work. This one is $55 and this one is $88.

That difference of $33 is a fair chunk of change for something that I've never used, that I don't know how much I'll use in the future ("some" is a safe bet), and that I don't know enough about to really be able to see what I'm getting. I'm scared that I'll buy the cheaper one and then discover that it doesn't do what I need it to do or that I really needed that flexi-shaft after all.

I'd like some advice from people who are more familiar with this stuff than I am. If you have advice on these -- or another alternative -- I would love to hear it. Thanks!

posted by Karlos the Jackal to Grab Bag (21 answers total)

A Dremel (ie a small, variable-speed, easy to control hobby drill) sounds like the right tool, but there's a dazzling array of bits and attachments. Most Dremels come with a sort of starter kit (with poor documentation). Best bet might be to check out all the different bundles in a Lowe's or other superstore.

I'd probably go for the cheap one, try out all the bits on samples of the material that need drilling, then go back and buy a handful of the useful drill bits for future use. The bits break, and most of the ones that come in the starter kit are pretty useless.

Have fun.
posted by rokusan at 2:13 AM on October 11, 2007

Just so it is clearly known Dremel is a brand name and the name of the tool is rotary tool. I've only used two brands, some cheaper type they got for our senior design teams and the Dremel brand that my mom got for free for me from her work. (thanks so much mom!) The Dremel brand has treated me oh so right.

I'd say go for the cheaper one. The flexi-shaft can be useful in some cases, but isn't really needed. It can only be run at the slower speeds. Since you only have one specific purpose right now, get the cheap one and if what you want isn't in the regular accessories (probably not) then just grab the right drill bit or grinding part from the rotary tool section.

The chuck is the outer part of what holds the bit in place. This is what your little wrench will go onto. The collet is the part inside of the chuck that comes in different sizes. As you turn the chuck, the teeth on the collet clamp down and secure your bit in the tool.

Make sure to wear some safety glasses when using it. I never really cared about it too much until the first grinding wheel broke on me. Just be patient and safe when using it and you'll learn to love your rotary tool in no time. I love breaking mine out and finding a way to use it with every project I do.
posted by Phantomx at 2:46 AM on October 11, 2007

Dremel knock-offs are everywhere, and if you're just drilling a couple holes, you should get a knock-off (and some safety glasses):
Generic rotary tool at Northern tool
Cheaper version

See also:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40457
http://www.grizzly.com/products/H6155
(All of the above probably came from the same Chinese Factory and should be considered consumables rather than heirloom tools.)

Dremel charges high prices for the little grinding bits. Go to your favorite cheap tools shop for those instead. Make sure you pick up a set of diamond-coated cutting wheels along with grinding-bit variety pack.
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:39 AM on October 11, 2007

I have both of the models you link to (or at least their counterparts of older models and the specs don't seem that different). The main differences that jump out at me are:
- Control: The more expensive one offers more speed control. The $55 model has two speed settings (speed one, click, speed two); the $88 model has variable speed (nudge for fast, faster, a little faster, whoa back off that's too fast!).
- Comfort: I find the flex shaft more comfortable to use for longer projects because the shaft is lighter and thinner to grip.
- Perpendicular vs. oblique work: The more expensive one gives more control for angled work. This one I can grip like a pen. The other one I have to grip with my whole hand. I do stuff like writing on glass, so fine motor control oblique to the surface is difficult without the flex shaft.

If you think you're only going to use the tool for drilling holes perpendicular to the plastic surface, you could probably get away with the $55 model. If you end up doing a lot of it, you might consider a drill press stand to help with precision and fatigue, instead of a flex shaft. This one is from Dremel but I'm sure you could find an older model for less. I have an older Dremel press that looks more spartan, like this one from Milescraft (which is cheaper but some of the comments say you need an adapter for the Dremel). You could check ebay or such for a used stand if you decide it would help.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:39 AM on October 11, 2007

I was recently doing a little work with acrylic and other plastics. I used the Dremel for drilling holes exactly once. After that I picked up my regular drill and used that. The Dremel did more melting of plastic than drilling of holes.
posted by sanka at 4:38 AM on October 11, 2007

sanka has a point - the Dremel spins very, very fast, faster than a regular drill. This would tend to make things hotter (thus meltier) than a regular drill would. I'd guess that for plastic, you'd want to be sure that a Dremel-like tool is what you want, probably use a lower speed, and be sure you know what bit you should use.
posted by amtho at 5:27 AM on October 11, 2007

A collet grabs a tool shaft more securely and precisely, but a given collet can only grab the particular diameter shaft it was designed for. A 1/8" collet can't grab a 1/16" diameter drill bit, for example. A chuck can grab a range of diameters, at the expense of some security and accuracy.

You haven't said what sort of plastic you need to drill through, how thick it is or how large the holes. You mention line-out jacks, which require a hole that is... how big? Half an inch, maybe? A dremel can't handle drill bits on that scale. Still, it may be useful for grinding (rather than drilling) sizeable holes in thin material with a cone-shaped stone. It's harder to control the diameter of the hole this way, but grinding avoids the risk of shattering delicate material. Conventional twist drills can grab and damage thin stuff.
posted by jon1270 at 5:45 AM on October 11, 2007

If you only need to put some holes in this one time and don't think you'll need the Dremel for future use, you can easily melt some holes with a soldering iron and then shave the melted plastic away with a knife.

A Dremel is a nice thing to have around the house though.
posted by bondcliff at 6:00 AM on October 11, 2007

If you're trying to make a hole that large, you'd probably use a burr, not a bit.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 6:13 AM on October 11, 2007

...but you'd definitely want to practice it a few times on a throwaway piece of plastic before trying to do it for real.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 6:14 AM on October 11, 2007

The variable speed is feature, in my experience, ludicrously handy and I would never (personally) buy a rotary tool that didn't include it, regardless of brand. FWIW.
posted by aramaic at 6:28 AM on October 11, 2007

I got one at BJ's for $35 last year. It's variable speed and has been pretty handy to have for odd uses - like cutting a too long end off a screw that was digging into my leg while I was biking.
posted by any major dude at 6:55 AM on October 11, 2007

tend to make things hotter (thus meltier) than a regular drill would.

You could try squirting cool water on it while you drilled.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:59 AM on October 11, 2007

Before I started collecting various power tools, a Dremel rotary tool was my main implement of destruction and I quickly abused the crap out of doing things that the Dremel company probably never wants to know about, but they built it well. Mine is 20 years old and still runs well. I highly recommend it as a hacking tool.

There are a number of things you need to when you're hacking things:
1. stick things together
2. tear things apart
3. change the shape of things

A rotary tool will help you with 2/3 of those tasks. Big win.

Buy the lesser and spend the difference on safety glasses.
posted by plinth at 8:02 AM on October 11, 2007

For what it's worth, I've put many line-out-jack-sized holes in plastic (I make electronic drums as a hobby) and the way I do it is by using a massive drill bit (I think the one I use is 3/8ths for a quarter inch jack) and then use a hobby knife to cut away the burrs around the hole and widen it a little bit more for the jack to slide in. Works great.

I own a Dremel tool and use it for a lot of stuff, so I'd still recommend you get one. But you don't really need it for this.
posted by DMan at 8:12 AM on October 11, 2007

For jacks (unless you're only going with an 1/8"), I would just use a regular drill. It'll be cheaper than a Dremel. Whenever I would drill the hole too small, I would widen it with a round file.
posted by drezdn at 8:36 AM on October 11, 2007

I received a knockoff Dremel a few years ago as a gift and the motor didn't survive my first project--trimming down and drilling out a plastic pickguard I had made. A real Dremel, or a drill, is a much better value.
posted by Benjy at 9:09 AM on October 11, 2007

Sciplus has nothing but bargains in the rotary tool category, Armor-All is the best coolant for machining plastic.
posted by hortense at 9:26 AM on October 11, 2007

You could try squirting cool water on it while you drilled.

Soap also works.

I've used Dremel rotary tools for years in various projects, and I agree with sanka that if you are just going to be poking in a couple of holes in it, I'd suggest a drill.

Rotary tools are really useful, but mainly for cutting and grinding. Their high speed is anathema to plastic though, as you will likely end up melting it more than you cut. (It can be done, but it takes some practice.)
posted by quin at 4:39 PM on October 11, 2007

I've used a dremel quite a bit to cut sheets of acrylic (clear plastic). It's easy to do after a bit of practice, just make sure to use really slow speed so you're cutting and not melting.

That being said, I would think for a line out hole (3/8 in or something?) you'd only need a drill.
posted by !Jim at 8:01 PM on October 11, 2007

OP here -- thanks, all. I'm going to try using a drill and a reamer and see how that works before springing for the Dremel.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 1:26 AM on October 14, 2007