SawDust wrote:
Just because I say it's unsafe - doesn't mean she's going to listen. I
ain't never used a dremel,
Try it. The concerns you're expressing here IMO reflect a lack of
familiarity with the capabilities and limitations of the tool. Whatever
you expect of it, I suspect you'll find that the reality is quite
different.
but I have seen my 1.5 HP router spinning a
3/4" bit in that stock and the dremel's going to come apart in my
opinion.
Naturally, I don't want to see her get hurt doing something dumb, so
I'm looking for backups and advice regarding her doing this.
When you say she has a "Dremel" do you mean a "Multipro" (or one of the
older tools with more or less the same configuration) or an "Advantage"?
The "Advantage" with the router base is a router just like any other router.
Only difference in practical terms between that and a Porter Cable or Bosch
is power, features, and ease of adjustment. If she goes slowly then the
Advantage should cut her grooves just fine.
If she has a "Multipro" then just tell her to use safety glasses and quit
worrying about it. While it's possible to hurt yourself seriously with one
if you deliberately set out to do it with a clear plan of action and a good
knowledge of anatomy and don't wimp out from the pain, the only way it's
likely to happen accidentally is if it manages to throw something into your
eye. Anywhere else if it does anything at all it will most likely give you
an itty-bitty burn--the bits do get hot--if it does manage to cut you the
cut will be considerably less severe than the average cat-scratch. While
it is possible to break a bit you have to work at it--get it caught in a
hole and then bend it or the like, but even there you're more likely to
stall the tool and if it does break the broken off part is going to remain
in the hole.
The problem with using one of those for what she wants to do isn't danger,
it's lack of power. Not only won't it spin a 3/4" bit, there is no way to
attach one unless you take a regular router bit and grind down the shaft to
1/8 inch. The cutters that are made for it are tiny, the only ones larger
than maybe 1/4" are thin saws, and the 1/4" has a depth of cut about the
same as the diameter. There are grinding wheels that are larger but she
wouldn't be using one of those to cut wood (she might try but she'd give up
on the idea right quick) and even if she did use one, cutting wood she's
just going to stall the tool, not shatter the wheel. Dremel and a couple
of other companies sell router bits specifically for the MultiPro and its
competitors but they are intended for modelmaking and the like and the
diameters are tiny.
If she tries this with a Multipro then what is going to happen is that
either she is going to develop immense patience or she is going to decide
right quick that she doesn't have enough tool for the job. She's not going
to get hurt unless she has quite phenomenally bad luck.
Just for hohos I tried cutting a 3/4" wide groove in a piece of 1x3 pine
using a Multipro and a 1/8" diameter HSS burr (the 1/4" seems to have
walked off). Didn't count the passes but it took 8 minutes to cut 3/16"
deep with no sign of strain in the tool although there was little smoke
coming out of the groove. No apparent burning though. Tried making one
pass across a piece of lignum vitae at the same depth to see if it would
cut hard stuff and it cut it just fine (it doesn't come much harder or
denser than LV), no more strain than the pine, just had to feed a little
slower and enjoy that marvelous aroma.
The way the router attachment is constructed by the way, the chances of it
actually throwing a piece of bit at the operator in the unlikely event that
it does break are pretty small. It's more likely to end up in the bottom
of the cut.
Thanks
Pat
On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 21:40:30 GMT, "Michael Latcha"
wrote:
Two good rules:
1. If you don't think it's safe, don't do it.
2. Friends don't let friends do unsafe things.
"SawDust" wrote in message
. ..
I think this is crazy. But I'd rather have someone with experience
of using a dremel tool explain whether this is safe or not.
A female freind wants to cut some dado's or grooves for a shelf.
For the sake of arguement assume the depth to be 3/8" x 3/4" wide.
Dremel tool. I assume she has the router base for it. The wood is
old pine. It's hard and very dense.
Is this safe to do. "Personally I think the bits just going to come
flying off the dremel, when it get's hot and snaps...
Any thoughts...
Pat
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
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