# Dremel questions



## kuroikenshi (Sep 22, 2009)

After looking at a lot of Project Log's here at TPU and at overclocking.net. I have the urge to start making some modifications to my cases at home. 

My co-worker just told me after I asked him that he has a full dremel set at home which he doesn't use. 

I haven't seen it but should there be things that I look out for when picking out a dremel? Will any dremel as long as it has the right attachment allow me to cut through case material?

I have urge to mod and I need a fix!


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## Assassin48 (Sep 22, 2009)

As long as its not cordless you should be good


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## MT Alex (Sep 22, 2009)

Sounds like a good deal.  Don't waste your time or money fiddling with the expensive carbite tipped cutters.  If your going to be cutting all you will need are the reinforced cut off disks, and maybe some grinding stones or sanding drum wheels to smooth the inside of your cut where needed.  Not sure if they have something similar to Costco or Sam's Club in Japan, but you can usually get an enourmous rotary tool accessory pack at either.  Although they have alot of attachments you don't need, you usually get the whole shooting match for less than the cost of just a few good attachments.  I have, however, found that the actual "Dremel" brand reinforced cut off disks last much longer than the cheap ones.  Good luck, and wear glasses and a mask.


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## MRCL (Sep 22, 2009)

Reinforced discs yes. Important. BUT also get a pair of safety goggles. Trust me, if I wouldn't have had them, I'd be blind three times by now. Those discs can brake, and they have a tendency to come flying and aiming at your eyes.

The extension cord is very useful indeed! Don't attempt to cut thru mm thick SECC steel with discs, you can watch them decrease. Tin snips are the answer here. Dremels are precision tools.


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## MoonPig (Sep 22, 2009)

Yea, tin snips + Dremel = unstoppable!!! 

One thing i learnt is to go round with a 1mm groove before you start going through. Also helps with getting perfect TinSnips cuts


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## kuroikenshi (Sep 22, 2009)

Thanks for the info guy's! My co-worker told me that his was cordless... so now I should go out to the other hardware stores and look for a corded one. Now I have a plan for this weekend!


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## lemonadesoda (Sep 22, 2009)

As MRCL said, they may be small tools, but they are very dangerous then the cutting blade breaks... and they often do.

You can work with a BIG POWER TOOL like a chainsaw or a bandsaw or a power drill without eye protection but NEVER NEVER NEVER use a dremel without goggles. And make sure no one else is in the room while you are working it.

A dremel is relatively low power, low torque, but the speeds are dangerously high. When something comes off a dremel is it small, sharp and moving/spinning at very high speed.


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## AsRock (Sep 22, 2009)

lemonadesoda said:


> As MRCL said, they may be small tools, but they are very dangerous then the cutting blade breaks... and they often do.
> 
> You can work with a BIG POWER TOOL like a chainsaw or a bandsaw or a power drill without eye protection but NEVER NEVER NEVER use a dremel without goggles. And make sure no one else is in the room while you are working it.
> 
> A dremel is relatively low power, low torque, but the speeds are dangerously high. When something comes off a dremel is it small, sharp and moving/spinning at very high speed.



Yeah lol.. one of those disks break will break and even more till you get used to it.


Don't get a cordless one as some one said above and make sure it has adjustable speed.  Like mine goes from 1-10 which means you can do even more things with it like buffing.

Their great little tools if you have the imagination for one as they can be good around the house too.


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## kuroikenshi (Sep 23, 2009)

My co-worker brought in his today and I let it charge for a few hours before I used it. Messing with it I see how brittle some of these disks are! 

With that, I take it I would just get one of the reinforced cutting disks, and slowly cut into my cases side panel with what ever design I wanted? Also I saw someone at overclock.net I believe cut some space open in his motherboard tray so that he could get some better cable management out of it. Would a dremel be enough for that in most cases?

I would imagine that I would need to get a drill set as well if I wanted to cut screw holes for maybe a side window kit correct? Man oh man, I'm getting excited just thinking about the possibilities!


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## hat (Sep 23, 2009)

MRCL said:


> Reinforced discs yes. Important. BUT also get a pair of safety goggles. Trust me, if I wouldn't have had them, I'd be blind three times by now. Those discs can brake, and they have a tendency to come flying and aiming at your eyes.



Not to mention all the dust (very fine metal particles) produced in the process...


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## MRCL (Sep 23, 2009)

kuroikenshi said:


> With that, I take it I would just get one of the reinforced cutting disks, and slowly cut into my cases side panel with what ever design I wanted?



No. Always get a few discs. In fact, get too many discs. I once needed THREE discs for cutting a line of 10cm.



kuroikenshi said:


> Also I saw someone at overclock.net I believe cut some space open in his motherboard tray so that he could get some better cable management out of it. Would a dremel be enough for that in most cases?



Dremel is optimal for such stuff. Depending how thick the panel is, its fairly easy.



kuroikenshi said:


> I would imagine that I would need to get a drill set as well if I wanted to cut screw holes for maybe a side window kit correct? Man oh man, I'm getting excited just thinking about the possibilities!



Mmmh I have experienced the Dremel drills to be a tad bit weak. So I used a proper drilling machine and the task that took the Dremel minutes was done in seconds.


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## W1zzard (Sep 23, 2009)

oh and "dremel" in our context can be any rotary tool similar to a dremel.. with dremel you pay for the brand name as well. those little cutting discs can take a good amount of force along their "edge" but almost no torsion force, so make sure to hold it straight, and get a lot of them.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Sep 23, 2009)

Over in the  bad boys of case modding club house, we had a great discussion about cut off wheels and such.  I think MKmods even posted a good deal for 100 fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels for $10.

EDIT:  HERE:  http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=56727&page=31


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## AsRock (Sep 23, 2009)

W1zzard said:


> oh and "dremel" in our context can be any rotary tool similar to a dremel.. with dremel you pay for the brand name as well. those little cutting discs can take a good amount of force along their "edge" but almost no torsion force, so make sure to hold it straight, and get a lot of them.



Lots ... What i like doing is only taking the disks down about 1/2 used which are good for smaller jobs were the holes you want are smaller.

They are like $5 a packet here and if i remember right there is 20 of them unless you buy the re-enforced ones which you get some thing like 3-5 for the same price.

But with a dremel you can tell the quality.  Hate to buy a cheap one even more so if it's on a battery.


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## kuroikenshi (Sep 23, 2009)

Well yesterday after work I picked up the family and made our way to the home center. Asked the boy to pick out a color for the future painting of an old case we have. While he did that I picked up a small dremel set. Things are pretty expensive over here especially with the crappy yen to dollar rate but I hope the one that I got will do the job.

It has different settings so now I just need to pick up some good cut bit's and I will be on my way to trying out some thing's! Once again, thanks to everyone for all the great valuable information that you gave me.

I forgot to mention that I also picked up some tin snip's as well! 

That and I started to started sand down one of my side panels in my case last night at about 8:30 pm on the balcony. I am sure the people riding the train which have a good view of our place saw a pretty weird site of a big Mexican guy with bleached hair with a mask working the hell out of something.


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## kuroikenshi (Sep 25, 2009)

Well I bought a cheapo dremel from one of the home centers around here and welp, its cheap. 

I think I am going to spend the money to get a decent one and I am wondering what you all think of this.

Black and Decker RTX-6 Dremel


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