Can I get a good dremel for under 40$ from lowes or home depot? If so what would you recomend. How would I set this up. Would I need an adjustable chuck so I could put a needle in. I looked up an article or two on here but I still don’t totally understand how to set it up and what to get. I like the bugs they make and want to try it but I need help getting set up
As I have had Dremels for ages, I have no up-to-date knowledge on prices for new ones. They do not have chucks. They employ what is known as a collet system for holding the tools.My older Dremel came with two or three different size collets, which enables holding needles and larger shafts on their tools. Absent more specific information on what kind of flies you plan to make with them, it is next to impossible to answer your question about “…what to get”. I prefer a multiple speed with an A/C motor over the battery powered version. As the A/C motor has brushes in it, you can safely convert a single-speed to a variable speed by powering through a light dimmer switch (rheostat). My multiple speed has only three speeds: Off; Medium; and, High! With a rheostat, my older two speed :On and Off; can be run at any speed between these two speeds. If you are planning on doing balsa and foam bodies with it, the two attachments that I can’t live without are the sanding drums and the ball-shaped grinding stone. The latter is used to make the cupped face. It is my understand that Dremel may now offer sanding sleeves for the drums with grit finer than the 120, which has been their finest, and WAAAAY too coarse for bug making. I buy a sheet of 320 grit regular sand paper and cut strips the same width as the sleeve and glue over the grit on the sleeve, using a contact cement. Make an effort to cut the length so the the ends just barely meet when wrapped around the sleeve. You do not want one end to be glued on top of the other. If the ends overlap, and if wraped in the wrong direction, the edge of the end of the sandpapaer can catch and create problems. Life is much simpler if you cut them “just to length”.
Dremels work exactly like your favorite dentist’s drill. In fact, there are those who have used old dental drills! There is absolutely nothing to setting them up. If you can use an electric drill, you can use a Dremel. The basic unit is all you need for starters.Any of the numerous attachments, router guide, extended flex-cable, etc., can be added later as the need arises
Why do you want to use needles in a Dremel? If it is to facilitate attaching rubber legs, you simply PUSH the needle through the body. I have used extremely fine wire bits in my Dremel to drill holes through the bodies of some of my balsa bodies to facilitate getting rubber legs through the body. I suspect that this is what you have in mind, if so, get the appropriately sized wire bits; available at any good hardware store.There is an advantage to pre-drilling the holes for rubber legs in balsa. The rubber legs can rot in very little time if they are left in your vehicle during the summer. If this happens, it is a very simple matter to pull the old ones out and put new ones on in exactly the same place. (I have four before me as I type this that are “in-the-shop” for new legs. Now you know how I know about what leaving in a vehicle during the summer can do to them!)( Idon’t care how old you are or how much you know, sooner or later you are going to screw up when you should have know better! TRUST ME!)
Cheers,
frank
Thanks. I am looking at making smaller popping bugs and jelly beans for bluegill and other panfish. I dont think the car will be a problem because i am only a freshmen in highschool and taking drivers training in june. Anything left in the car could get me in a little trouble with my mom.
I would STRONGLY recommend that you only purchase a Dremel with a variable speed motor. My first experience with making Dremel bugs almost cost me my thumbnail because I accidently turned the Dremel on at 25,000 RPM and the needle immediately bent at right angles to the collet and smacked me on the thumbnail. I can still see the sparkles in my eyes when I remember that episode:( Anyway, get a variable speed Dremel and only use the very heavy duty upholstery needles as the lighter needles will bend or break. Also, you can purchase a chuck for it as an aftermarket item which makes it much more versatile.
Good luck and please do not hesitate to post photos of your creations.
Jim Smith
Jim Smith
Sage
I think these are the dremel bugs that Paul is talking about…
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/082205fotw.php
Brad
yea that is the article that i read. Are there good dremels available at home depo, lowes, or ace hardware. I found 2 that look good to me. One has 15000-35000 rpm and the other is about 20$ more and goes from 5000-35000 rpm. Which one would work better for making bodies?
CDPaul,
You can get variable speed rotary tools for much lessthan $40 at WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Frieght, even Target. Dremel is just one of thebrands, but it is the easiest to get accessories for.
You need a variable speed tool for making the dremel bugs. You can buy a set of different sized Collets any place where they sell the Dremel accessories. I got mine at WalMart.
The slower one you mentioned would be ideal, but check other brands, too if you are looking to save some money.
You’ll also need a way to mount the tool horizontally. Lots of ways to do that. I put mine in a drill press vise that I got at Harbor Frieght for $10, but if you are handy with tools you can cobble something together from scrap lumber and metal straps/conduit clamps.
Good luck!
Buddy
Have used Dremel system several years. I adapted a foot operated off/on switch that helps.
Have not seen/heard anything from or about Jim Hatch who authored the FAOL atricle.
Please update.
There is a black and decker one on wallmart.com 3 speeds and it is 24$. Is this a good deal
CDPaul,
No, you want a ‘variable speed’ tool.
My dremel (I paid $30 for it in a kit fifteen years ago) has a speed control knob on the side so you can change the speed to whatever works the best for your operation. I guess it’s has ‘infinitely variable’ speeds, not ‘set’ speeds.
This is important for the lathe operation. Different speeds will work best with different foams and different diameters. You want to be able to adjust it.
A foot operated switch, as Abutnaty points out, is helpful as well. Making one from a momemtary contact switch and an outlet is pretty easy. This lets you turn the tool on and off with your foot, making it easier to both mount the foam plugs and control the shaping process.
But you don’t ‘have’ to have that to start. Just the variable speed tool and a way to mount it. You’ll also need the set of different sized collets, a strong upholstery needle (another thing you can get at WalMart), and some emery boards.
Eventually, if you make alot of these, you’ll want the foot control and some means to collect the dust (I use a shop vac that also works with the foot control to catch all the foam dust-that stuff gets into everything).
This is loads of fun and quite adicting. The foam bugs fish well, are very durable, and the variety is endless.
Have fun,
Buddy.
That is a good deal… you can get one at Harbor Freight for less than half that…they have them on sale/coupon now and then…I can’t speak to the quality.
Also Amazon has a very easy to plug in foot pedal control for varying the speed at around $10.
Cdpaul, If you want a cheap rotary tool, START at Harbor freight. Really no need to go anywhere else unless you want a name brand tool.
This one is ONLY $4.95 with 30 piece accessories. Doesn’t get any cheaper that that.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94076
The red on here for $29, was only sale for $19 a few weeks ago.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=111
I have a Black & Decker Wizard and used it to crank out the bodies I posted here:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?31874-Sheet-foam-poppers
My Wizard came with two sizes of collets and the smallest holds a toothpick nicely. Poke a piece of foam on the toothpick, turn on the rotary tool, and use emery boards to shape, after doing a couple bodies a breaking several toothpicks you’ll get the hang of it and can turn a body in a minute or less.
would wallmart, lowes, home depot, or k mart have the wizard
I’ve seen the Wizard at Wal-Mart recently, if the Lowe’s or Home Depot don’t carry B&D products, they might have another brand cheaper them Dremel. Not saying Dremel is a bad product just one of the most expensive. If you just want to play around with turning foam, go for cheap, and upgrade later if you feel you need to. I would check all the discount/closeout stores (Odd Lots/Big Lots etc) as well if there are any in the area.
kaboom1:
Ahhh-so. You use the needle as a mandrel! I saw this article when it was first published, but had forgotten all about it! As I shape my bodies after the 'blank" is mounted on the hook I have no need for a turning mandrel. I cut balsa body blanks using brass tubing in my drill press, which has a 1/2 inch chuck. There is a little trick for making balsa bodies this way. You cut your block of balsa 1/8 inch longer than you want the bodies to be, and set your drill press to stop the tube 1/8 inch shy of going all the way through the balsa (Always cut “with the grain”; NOT across). When you raise the tube to cut the next body, the first remains in the block itself; not in the tube. After you have drilled as many as you can in the block, you take the block to a bandsaw and cut the bottom 1/8 inch off. The “drilled” body blanks will all fall out, neat as you please! I do not put holes down through the center of any of the bodies I make to accept hooks. I cut a slit in the bottom of every one for mounting to hooks. With a belt sander, a brief light touch of the body against the belt will produce a nice little flat spot along one side for cutting the hook slit into, and a very brief touch of the flat side to the bandsaw blade cuts the slit. BE EXTREMELY CAREFULL CUTTING THE SLIT. ELIMINATE ALL POSSIBLE DISTRACTIONS BEFORE DOING THIS! PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING! TAKE YOUR TIME; NOT YOUR FINGERS!
Frank
The thing I like most about using the Dremel as a miniture lathe is that is takes less than a minute to complete a popper body (minus any painting). That include “impaling” the body and shaping it. I can also get much more creative especially when you use small jeweler’s files instead of an Emory board to shape the body.
Jim Smith
On Jim Hatch, the water which Jim fished disappeared - drought. He gave up fishing and took up radio controlled airplanes. I did hear recently that the water is returning again and he might be able to fish again. I sure hope so!
I have a total of 3 rotary tools, I use my B&D cordless most. I bought a variable diameter chuck that will hold anything from a straight pin to about 1/8" tool. It make the tool much easier to use with variety of bits and body arbors. 1/16 in. L-hooks straighten do a great job holding foam cylinders to turn into popper bodies. I also used small pieces of sandpape until I saw a guy at a show using an emory board, 10 for $1.
You know folks, I must be the only one who does it the other way. I hold the foam on a pierceing tool (usually an embrodiery hook I have ground to a point) in one hand and the Dremmel with a grinding bit in the other. I find I get much more control that way and after a thousand bugs I learned a few important lessons.
The most important is DON’T WORK AT A SPEED HIGHER THAN YOU CAN HANDLE.
Most of my work now is done at 35,000 but that is only because I am used to the process. For smoothing I will generally use a slower speed.
Get a variable speed drill and start at about 10,000 then work your way up.
With twenty years behind me of teaching and turning dremel bugs, yes I’m the guy Jim mentions in the opening of his article and just for the record his statment wasnt entirely accurate. I am the guy who started the use of dremel tools for turning foam bodies. Not the guy who thought up the use of foam (flip flops) , but reather the person who first applied the dremel as a lathing tool for the quick shaping of the plugs. Any how what’s important I can offer is the easiest way to work the operation is to hook your rotary tool threw a foot control. Often used on a sewing machine, rod winding lath or any electric motor you wish to be able to very the speed from zero to full on while having both hand to work your purpose. There rely is no reason if your just starting out to get too carried away with your set up. To this day I still just hold the tool in one hand and emery board with the other for shaping. As for the dust, some heavy weed wacker line and a couple alligator clips fitted on the ends make a great neck strap to fasten a towel, apron like in front of you to catch the dust. I still don’t recommend the use of darning needles tho some use them if your just learning. Better and safer to use a small dremel ball point bit as its less likely to misshape or bend and cause some very unpleasant results. Simply impale the foam plug on the bit and start turning. What you need to know about shaping foam is that it doesn’t begin to respond to the sanding board until it gets hot, which happens very quickly at the speed that you will be turning it when the emery board is applied. Use a very light touch with the board, speed will do the cutting not pressure. Even with a very light approach the shaping will begin to occur surprisingly fast. Should you apply too much pressure it is likely the bit will simply glaze the center hole and the plug will stop turning with and pressure at all. Simply discard that plug and try again, its part of learning the technique and feel of just enough verses too much. There’s other tricks to be learned like, why two cloths pins but its late and I’m going to bed.