mini grinders

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

I use a Dremel every day at work making boilers – they tend to last about a year of low speed use before the speed controller fails and it goes open full speed – which doesnt work for me. Argos offer an extended warranty which serves me well. Never had a motor fail. I always keep a spare in stock, just in case. A superior tool which gets a lot more use is the Proxxon long neck mini grinder – I use the 2" abraisive sanding pads and it gets used a lot – I keep two as back ups. They regularly go pop but thats due to copper dust getting into the switch controller. Thankfully they are cheap and easy to fix. I have three of these in different parts of the workshop and wouldnt entertain working without one.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

When running an electric motor on low speed, not only is the torque reduced but also the cooling fan speed which can cause overheating.

[PeroParticipant @pero]

I note that the tool linked by Juddy is shown as "sold out" however I have purchased the same thing ( i.e. visually the same ) via Aliexpress for not a lot of money. They also sell clones of the older Dremel 395 for even less money. At one time these were sold as genuine Dremel which I think they probably were.

On the lasting power of Dremels, my go to machine is more than 4 decades old and features the original bronze bearings with felt wick oilers. The only issue I had with this machine is that the hole for the back bearing oiler was originally covered by a factory label. Fortunately this was found and opened up for oiling before any damage was done. A drop or two of 3 in 1 oil before each days use and away it goes ( at its one and only speed ). However these machines are only designed for light work and wont sustain heavy loads for any length of time.

The bigger machine ( as per Juddy's link ) is much more capable but gets heavy in the hand fairly quickly.

Pero

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

I have had a 12v Proxxon for over 10 years, it has done a lot of work and is still fine, never gets hot and is above all quiet compared to some I have used.

Regards

Gray,

[HollowpointParticipant @hollowpoint]

The old B&D minicraft drills are my favourite. They are a bit of a hidden gem amongst tools! I have one from the 80's that absolutely refuses to die, even with fairly heavy use. Most of them where made in England or Germany using good quality components, the motors for example are Johnson and the bearings are usually European or Japanese. I've had other brands since which haven't lasted nearly as long.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Hollowpoint:

My "Dremel" is a MINICRAFT too but not B&D branded. It's a 12V 100W device "MADE IN ENGLAND" with a West German 6mm chuck by Rohm and the German language preceding English on the box.

I wonder if it's the same under the skin as yours?

[HollowpointParticipant @hollowpoint]

Posted by ega on 22/05/2022 12:32:18:

Hollowpoint:

My "Dremel" is a MINICRAFT too but not B&D branded. It's a 12V 100W device "MADE IN ENGLAND" with a West German 6mm chuck by Rohm and the German language preceding English on the box.

I wonder if it's the same under the skin as yours?

Very likely the same. Mine isn't B&D branded either. I don't know why some are and some aren't.

[Author]

Posts