Drill as a Temporary Dremel?
 

Sooo, I've yet still to invest some money into a dremel, because all the old school tools work just fine, so far.

Until then, I'd like to get a cutting wheel and perhaps pop it into one of my Dad's DeWalt drills..

Would this suffice? Do such cutting wheels exist with a tail on the back that can be used into a drill?

All I want to do is cut some perfect cuts in an Altoids can (very thin tin/aluminum) for a little side business.

Yes yes yes, invest your money into proper tools, but honestly this is the only thing I'd use it for, for now..

Honestly, as strong as a drill it is, I don't think it will spin fast enough for you to get a perfect cut in the aluminum. If you go to Walmart, you can get one pretty cheap, OR if you really want a cheap one that will do small jobs, you should check to see if you have a Harbor Freight Tools near you. I get all my small tools and other parts I need for R/C there and they are SUPER CHEAP! Good Luck!

I've used dremel bits in a drill press before, including dremel cutoff wheels. Drills and presses do rotate much slower, wasn't a problem for my particular application. But could prove slow and harder to control for yours, give it a shot.

Hmm, didn't know they spun significantly slower that it'd affect the cutting control-ability.

I'm curious as to see how the Harbor Freight ones perform, I see them a ton of times for $10.. But I've heard cutting aluminum is even tough with those guys..

As far as the dremel bits, do they sell them with the little shaft that could fit in a drill?
It's worth a short, and with Spring Break coming up... might not be a bad idea to just grab a Dremel..

My dad bought my little bro and me a cheap harbor freight dremel for kicks once. It had terrible torque, and would bog down doing anything at all (even polishing). Cutting with a cutoff disk could be done, but slowly. Worked for probably 7-10 projects then crapped out on me, but was very cheap, and probably worth the price he paid for it.

Which one would that be?

They look like they have three different ones.

http://www.harborfreight.com/80-piec...kit-97626.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/profess...kit-40457.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/96-volt...kit-92880.html

As appetizing the cheap one is, I really like the flex shaft that the cordless one comes with, however, the cordless one is well, cordless.
And for a cheap tool, I'd much rather have a plug as it should obviously have as much power as it needs as opposed to a battery.

LOL hey! i didn't say it was perfect! You would probably get it there for less than $10

Try using a box cutter and back the cut with wood, should cut through pretty quickly

The cutoff wheels those kits come with are a joke, they shatter if you look at them the wrong way. The reinforced Dremel ones with the quick change mandrel are the best. Pick up one of them and put it in your drill chuck and give it a shot.

When using a cutoff wheel, slower speeds generally make the tool want to grab the work and jump around more. Higher speeds (to a certain point) generally slice right through instead of grabbing. Drill speeds were fine for my application, but for thin metal and/or fairly long cuts, a higher speed would help with control. All depends on the material and what kind of cuts.

Kind of hard to find the perfect piece of wood to fit into the small box.
(here comes the jokes.)
But I think I just may saw one off one of our 2x4s and give that a try..

Interesting.
How much are the reinforced Dremel wheels?
Which one would I want for aluminum (more specifically, thin aluminum?)
It will be very precise cuts, to give you an idea, I'm just cutting a hole for a small USB port, so it will have to be a pretty small blade?

put some weight into it, you're trying to cut an altoits tin

You're not going to be able to use a cutoff wheel for that. There are some Dremel bits that act like a router, but even they are too large for a mini USB, plus they are hard to control.

My suggestion is to drill a series of small holes, you can drill just the corners or drill a complete outline. Then use a xacto or box cutter to play connect the dots.

Tried the series of small holes and cut across with xacto/box cutter..
I guess I just need a new razor/something hard to press through.

If you can start with a 3/8" hole, a nibbling tool makes nice square holes: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=360-022

Otherwise, a knife would be better IMO.

the one I had was comparable to the $10 model, though this was ~8 years ago, so the exact one is probably long gone.
And yes, the cutting disks shattered all the time, wear safety glasses!

I would drill it round to fit then neatly fill in with epoxy or sho-glue.

I usually cut just a big enough hole for it to squeeze through (female end has some little bends outwards on the front, so it needs to be bigger for it to go through). Then I fill in the gap with some hotglue.

I stopped by Harbor Freight on the way home, the $10 '80 piece rotary tool' they advertise is tiny!
About the size of a regular phone, just about as big as an iPod touch.. about 5inches long, which is perfectly sized for what I want to use it for (cutting very thin aluminum), however I figured if I'm going to grab a dremel, might as well get a somewhat quality one for future uses..

The compact nibbler tool, bigger than I expected, and a good backup plan.

I tried out some new xacto blades, and it worked almost perfectly... though, I've always wanted to buy a dremel!

Right now, I have a few options:
~$30 (Dremel 2855-01 - Original boxes, etc)
~$50 (Dremel MiniMite, Dremel Model 275 - both used)
- or $26 shipped for either one.

The $30 model is corded, the $50 models, minimite is cordless, and the 275 is corded.

I'm between these two, but for a bit I've been leaning towards the 2855 model, but it's almost impossible to find some reviews/videos..
Anyone?
Opinions would be greatly appreciated!

corded for sure

Been thinking this as well, considering corded would always have the 'umph' if I need it.

As far as the Model 275 vs. 2855-01, anyone have the differences/pros,cons?

yeah, more power and wont die 1/2 way through the job, cord can be annoying but you can always get the flex shaft attachment which makes life so much easier. mines a 385 with multi speed but really it usually used slow or fast

How much are flex shafts, and are they universal?
Couldn't find much info..

im not sure but they seem mostly universal on the rotary plug in ones

http://www.ebay.com/itm/42-Rotary-Gr...item3a68e31d6b

http://www.amazon.com/TEMO-Rotary-Gr...pr_product_top

Buy it. http://www.menards.com/main/tools-ha...67-c-10099.htm As an upgrade you'll want the dremel brand ez lock cutoff wheels and arbor. Only dremel on the ez lock arbor. You can buy generic disks, but the arbor must be dremel. The ez lock disks are larger and much more durable and last longer than the normal cutoff wheels. However, for small work on an altoids the regular cutoff wheels may be the right size.

The flexible shaft is a very nice upgrade. They are not universal, but are all about the same size. I bought one that didn't fit exactly and made it work.

Show us pics of what you're doing player:party:

Ended up getting the $30 shipped for the Dremel Model 285 (2855-01).
I think it's a pretty good deal!