Dremel (rotary tool) for righthanders?

...or move to the Southern hemisphere so it will turn the other way.

Maybe because 90% of humans are right handed (dexterous) and most of the remainder are left handed (sinister).

Somewhere there's probably a reason why drills and threads are mainly right handed, my WAG is that came about because it's usually easier to apply a clockwise twisting force with your right hand than it is to apply a counterclockwise one (at least for me it is.) *

So, if most drill bits have to rotate clockwise viewed from their tail ends, it makes sense to make the Dremel spin that way.

I've never seen a reversable Dremel, but it wouldn't take rocket science to add a DPDT switch reversing switch in the two motor brush leads so it spins either way.

Rigged like that you could spin cutting disks, diamond burrs and stones the "other way", but if it's toothed burrs you're using, they gotta go clockwise.

HTH,

Jeff

• So how come screw top containers don't use left hand threads? It's usually harder to open them than to close them, and I'm pretty sure being right handed that I could twist 'em clockwise harder than counterclockwise. The only left handed opening threaded cap I've encountered is the one on the storage can for my Curta Calculator, and I'm pretty sure that was done deliberately to prevent inadvertently turning the crank clockwise when closing it. [Or maybe some diemaker in Lichenstein screwed up and they didn't realize it until they'd made

10,000 cans. :) ]

Unless the collet screw comes out?

Oh well.

I think it's because the Dremel uses tools originally developed for stationary machines. And the reason the chips fly at you is because you are using the wrong side of the cutter. What you should do is hold the part in your left hand, but have it inverted so that the cutting action takes place on the bottom of the part and the chips fly away from you. ERS

We do a lot of work with die-grinders at work. We frequently don't get to choose how we hold the grinders because space within the dies is very limited. I'd recommend changing the way you hold the grinder or setup the work. It seems like a pain, but with a bit of practice, you can get very proficient in virtually any position.

Regards,

Robin

I can grip something harder palm down then palm up:

1. Grab lid w/right hand palm down 2. Grab jar base w/left hand palm up. (easier grab, since there's more to grab. 3. Hold it about a foot from the chest 4. Grip and draw it into your chest. *pop*

That keeps the wrist stiff.

er

1. Whack lid straight down on counter top.
2. Twist off lid.

1. Smash glass container with hammer.
2. Pick out all pieces of glass, small and large.
3. Scoop remainder of contents into plastic bowl.
4. Throw glass scraps and lid into trash. Ken.

So you have a Curta Calculator? :-O

Small world I have a pair of them myself, a Type 1 and a Type 2. Really loved the look on a guys face a couple of years ago when I told him I use the Type 2 to check the math on my taxes. Told him I just didn't trust the computer. Almost put them on ebay but thought about it and decided that since they don't make them any more I might want to keep it. They are a marvel of engineering, I'd love to own one of the cutaway demo units that show all the parts in motion when you crank them, but until I strike gold or oil that isn't going to happen.

Everyone is born right handed, only the gifted overcome it.

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 06:25:15 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Max Mahanke" quickly quoth:

Hey, John, try operating a circular saw left-handed. (Wear a mask and goggles, though.)

Left On, Brother! But I read an article last year that indicates our gifted breed making up nearly 1/3 of the population nowadays. All other stats have been shown as 10%. I wish I'd bookmarked it.

The SWAG is with you, Jeff.

Just curious: has anyone else here developed the dexterity of their feet? I constantly amaze friends by nonchalantly doing something with my feet. It's as if they never thought of using their toes as fingers and thumbs.

- - Let Exxon send their own troops -

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"Eric R Snow" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Wow, Eric. You must have some of them Superman genes that gives you X-ray vision that lets you to see through the part to gauge how much you are cutting off. Nope, I have it wrong. You are right after all. The idea is to hold the work over your head, Then the chips fly away from you and you can see the cut as it progresses. Maybe one should stand on their head??? The reason for the rotation direction as said elsewhere, is that not only drills, but burrs, reamers and other cutting tools are designed for that direction. Futhermore, arbors for cut-off discs, grinding stones, abrasive discs, etc. would all come undone with counter-clockwise rotation. So it's not just the motor, but much of the tooling that has to be made left-handed. The direction choice probably originated with ancient lathes. You use the right hand to control the tool and turn the lathe with the left hand, pulling the wheel toward's you. The idea is that the work should force the tool against the ways rather than turning away from you and thereby forcing the tool away from the ways and greatly increasing the likelyhood of chatter. Now once you have the lathe set up that way, with the headstock on the left, you could still opt to make right-hand or left-hand threads (as do the Germans). With a right-hand thread, the work is pushed into the chuck (towards the headstock). With a left-hand thread, the work is pulled out of the chuck. So the right-hand thread is inherently a safer and more rigid set up. Once you have a dominance of right-hand threads on things, the clockwise rotation is set. This may be yet another just-so story, but it makes sense to me.

As for the "dust in your face" problem. I've got three flex shaft machines. I've been using them for years. I've never had a problem with dust in my face from the rotation direction. On those very rare occassions where it was potentially problematic, I've used my face shield. Perhaps the poster's problem is not with his tool, but with his glasses. Your nose just shouldn't be that close to the work.

Boris

Greetings Boris, Yes I do have x-ray visioin. How'd you know? Actually, my post above was tongue-in-cheek. I should have said so. It's hard to get across tone of voice in text. ERS

Yup, that's the reason already given.

That is a misquote.

Your experience doesn't fit everyone else.

I like getting close to the work, but in fact I have no trouble whatsoever with using protective gear.

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2006 08:38:12 PST)

Yup, all the time. And I'm mostly ambidextrous.

Have you ever tried spreading peanut butter onto a slice of bread with your other hand? You'll realize how coordinated your non-dominant hand is (or how uncoordinated your dominant hand is). That's assuming you hold the bread in your hand.

Have fun.

Hi,

I once had my dremel in parts, After reassembling it I tried to use a cut-off disk, but its mounting screw kept coming loose. I had the dremel running backwards.

Thanks Roger

John Doe wrote:

Every year we send out holiday cards from our little company which have paintings of winter scenes on them created by mnembers of an american mouth and foot painting artists association in Atlanta:

If you didn't know who the artists were, just by looking at them you'd never suspect that they weren't painted "by hand".

Jeff

Yeah, I still have my Type 1, but I sold the (larger) Type 2 when we sort of got tired of sports car rallying some years ago.

I may well have built the world's first motor driven Curta. And if memory serves me I built a copy of it for some fat cat in Connecticut who just HAD to have one too. Those days were prior to the ubiquitous solid state portable calcuator takeover.

Circa 1961 I built a DC motor driven worm gear reduced "cranking box" for the Curta which coupled to its operating shaft through a hole bored in the Curta's bottom plate. A one direction roller clutch in the drive allowed also using the Curta's crank in it's usual fashion without having to take it off the cranker box. I still have that rig kicking around somewhere in my basement.

We used it for rallying. I coupled a geared down microswitch to the car's odometer cable so it closed once every hundredth of a mile of travel and triggered the motor drive into cranking one turn of the Curta's shaft. A little relay, microswitch and transistor in the drive unit insured it would only make one turn each time the odometer switch closed. It had to wait for the odometer switch to open and close again to trigger another turn.

Setting a "minutes per mile" factor for the average speed of the rally leg we were on into the Curta made the Curta's "product" output number tell me how much time it "should" have taken to get to that point on the road. Comparing that number with a stopwatch let me know whether to tell SWMBO (Who was the quite aggresive driver of our team.) whether to speed up or slow down.

I've often thought that if some folks put as much time and energy into their "real" jobs as they do for thier "hobby" ones, they'd be captains of industry before they were 30.

I kept some photos of those halcion days. Forgive me if I've posted this link here before, but the years are taking their toll on my short term memory...

Thanks for the mammaries...

Jeff