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The Dremel has tons of uses, and I've sworn by mine for many years, but I'm starting to find that's it's overkill for such small work. I'm finding that if you just want to do something small like remove a body tab, you can just shave it with an exacto blade before you could dig out the dremel, and need to clean out those wheel wells for larger wheels? Just scrape at it with the top of the blade angled towards the direction your scraping. Sure it takes a minute or 2 longer, but the results are so much cleaner. Want to cut out a window? With the dremel you'll probably take out half the side of the body. Use an eacto blade and carefully scrape the tip back in forth in the window lines, and it will eventually pop out, and looks so much cleaner than with a dremel. Want to chop a body in half? Well the knife set I have came with a razor saw for the large red handle, and a miter box, so you can make perfectly straight clean cuts, and using the large red handle with the knife blade allows you to safely apply more force, and have more control when doing so, than with a smaller Exacto blade

My point? I see a lot of people that think they can't do mods because they don't have a dremel, well I'm actaully reccomending you go out and pick up one of those $15 knife sets you see around. I think it would be cheaper, and more useful for bit mods when starting out.

On a side note, neither is safer. I've been hurt by both, but ironically I had my Exacto next to the keyboard, and when I reached for my mouse I jabbed my arm, and been bleeding profusely the whole time I typed this.

lol
I do that all the time (stab myself with x-acto).
If you notice, I'm always using x-acto, cleaner cuts for me, I'm not that good with a dremel.
I'm also like you - the dremel is overkill for such small things, plus it tends to melt the plastic a bit, making it harder to get those smooth edges and cuts that are absolutely neccessary for clean putty work with no leftover cut lines.

Sound advice from 'crazy' dave.

I almost feel bad about having a Dremel now...Almost.

for trims i use this bad arse pair of snips that my friend gave me. its industrial quality and cuts through any plastic or soft metal like nothing. he got 10 of em off of ebay for like 20bucks or something.

The Dremel drill press attachment is the key to good Dremel work. The tool, without the drill press attachment, is a bull in a china shop for tiny RCs. The Dill press allows for some extremely precise work, both grinding and drilling. Sure, you have to use an Exacto if you want an extremely clean cut line, but the Dremel is a great time saver for certain things.

Just a little exacto story:

I was working on an internal dual cell about a month ago, and I was working at a standing-height drawing table. I had a vanilla steel barrel xacto knife with a fresh blade on the table. I was barefoot. I bumped the knife with something, and the thing started rolling down the slight incline. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, but too late to do anything about it. It landed vertically, blade first. I heard it hit, and it made the sound like a thrown knife hitting wood. I look down, and the damn thing is sticking straight up out of the floor BETWEEN MY BIG TOE AND THE NEXT ONE! Close call.

you just made my toes curl up and hurt!

man u be lucky

the only thing i hate about the dremel is that it melts the plastic rather than cutting it so after a while u gotta clear the plastic by slicin into wood. i want the drill press but i'm low on ca$hola

That drill press attachment would be tits. I'd like to get ahold of one of those snaky attachments too.

Superfly, I was reading your story fully expecting some gore, that was a close one.

I had a chunk of metal stuck in my eye, by a dremel, had to have drilled out by a doctor. Not cool watching a high speed drill approach your eye. I always wear safty glasses when I dremel now. Ironically I got another chunk of metal stuck in my when I was playing with a spring stuck in a hole. I got it out alright, and it spit a chunk of metal in my eye on it's way out. Now wife and everyone makes fun of me, but seriously, how the hell was I supposed to know to wear safty glasses when playing with springs? I guess I'm just an endangerment to myself, and shouldn't be messing with power tools. Oh well.

well I just tried to take a picture for ya, but it didnt come out.

I had a cutting wheel on my dremel, I'm cutting the roof off my Porsche.
(to make a Targa top). and the dremel went wheeling across my thumbnail. I got this wicked grove embedded, nice and deep. it's made more than a ridge.

Are you saying it's a bull in a china shop?

it's a Redneck sharping a pencil with a chainsaw?

a computer dweeb cuttin cheap plastic with a high speed power tool?

you take away all excitment in life.


-nOx