are these things made with lead?

[Techno]

Hi Paper.

It's a damn useful 'tool'.....I use mine an awful lot of the time.

OK...So it sounds as though you're using what I refer to as the Carborundum discs.
Those shouldn't give you any problems, apart from their occasional tendency to snap/shatter......but only if you use them 'carelessly'.
That's pretty rare, though.

I've never had one shatter and hit me in the face, which would be the main thing to worry about with those discs.
I'd only worry about a 'shard' catching you in the eye.....So, safety goggles if you want to be as safe as poss, perhaps.

I don't use goggles myself, as my eyes are 'protected' by my glasses...and they in turn are covered by my Optivisor.

John Cook's tip about a face mask when 'Demmeling' certain materials is a good idea.

Cheers - Phil

[fsn]

I'm with Paper*. I use the Dremel for bottom flattening, and for removing unsightly lines, and for drilling into tiny, tiny aircraft and ... lots of other things.

I have two Dremels. One for sanding, one for drilling. Love 'em.

I wear eye protection, but not a mask.



* Sorry Paper, probably makes it a minority opinion.

[Techno]

I've got two of the drills, as well, Nobby. 

The MkII is pretty old, and is really there as just a back up, as it's difficult to change the chucks (?) on that one. (OK...I took it to bits, once, to clean it out thoroughly.....and I couldn't get one of the parts back in properly. )

I burnt the motor out on the oldest (No. 3) Dremmel when I used a 'carb' disc to cut through an old rusted padlock, on one of the sheds....It did its job before it 'died', though. 

Cheers - Phil

[fsn]

I use the things that look like sandpaper Hola Hoops.

I know all the technical terms, me.

[Paper]

I'm using sandpaper disks they are a bit like the cutting disks but they generally have some sort of mount. The cheap ones I got are sticky backed sandpaper disks that mount onto a rubber disk. So you know a disk rather then a sanding drum (that's the hula hoop ones I think.

The nicer sanding disks are foam rubber bases and the sand paper mounts with Velcro.

I need to get a power drill for slower Precision jobs as even a varaiable speed router goes pretty fast.

[Orcs]

I would advise eye protection.  I was cutting a small section out of my skirting board and one of them shattered bouncing off my goggles.

I still agree with FK that a file is more sensible, I know FSN uses a dremel for flattening the bases, but you are not allowed to use FSN (or Nobby) in the same sentence as the word "sensible".

For your future reference other words not allowed in the same sentence as FSN or Nobby are :- Normal, Sane, or Tidy.

[John Cook]

I just cut the bottom flash off with a Stanley knife. Takes two seconds a figure.

Some weird practises out there.

You still need to file it flat and if you've got a hundred or more figures to do it just saves time and effort.  However, I don't think using a Dremel or similar is mandatory. 

[John Cook]

Good point about eye protection.  It didn't occur to me as I wear specs.

[fsn]

I know FSN uses a dremel for flattening the bases, but you are not allowed to use FSN (or Nobby) in the same sentence as the word "sensible".

For your future reference other words not allowed in the same sentence as FSN or Nobby are :- Normal, Sane, or Tidy.

Yup. That's fair.

[Techno]

but you are not allowed to use FSN (or Nobby) in the same sentence as the word "sensible".
For your future reference other words not allowed in the same sentence as FSN or Nobby are :- Normal, Sane, or Tidy.

I'm surprised that you didn't make a similar comment about me and safety, Mark.

Best not to advertise the way I slow my Dremmel down.....It works, but it would probably be frowned upon by Heath & Safety.

Cheers - Phil

[FierceKitty]

I ... agree with FK ...

Always a wise course of action.

[Westmarcher]

I just cut the bottom flash off with a Stanley knife. Takes two seconds a figure.

Me, too ... except a simple craft knife suffices. Also use that for smoothing mould lines and removing flash.

Good point about eye protection.  It didn't occur to me as I wear specs.

Yep. It's easy to be lazy. Whilst power washing the patio the other day, a small stone flew up and hit my left lens. Initially annoyed with the scratch on the lens but better that than my eye. Safety googles still in the shed, of course. 

Best not to advertise the way I slow my Dremmel down.....It works, but it would probably be frowned upon by Heath & Safety.

Hmm. Can't quite put my finger on it ....    ..... wait ..... do you?

[Techno]

Hmm. Can't quite put my finger on it ....    ..... wait ..... do you?

No, Davy....I don't use a finger as a brake. 

It's a cheap piece of electrical 'equipment' that has a more 'normal' use.

It'll cope with anything up to 300w.....So I think it should be OK.

Cheers - Phil

[Orcs]

No, Davy....I don't use a finger as a brake. 

It's a cheap piece of electrical 'equipment' that has a more 'normal' use.

It'll cope with anything up to 300w.....So I think it should be OK.

Cheers - Phil

MMM I am intrigued, I have been thinking about ways of slowing my mini drill down more than the variable switch allows 

[fsn]

The spycams I have Chez Techno have caught this photo of Techno slowing the Dremmel.