Slow down Dremel

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 09:08:29 -0800 in rec.crafts.metalworking, "Stumpy" wrote,

My favorite:

A lamp dimmer mounted in a double size box along with a outlet receptacle is a handy thing to have around. The lamp dimmer is good for 600 watts or over 4 amps. The cost is low if you buy the parts at some place like the habitat for humanity store.

I use one when I am soldering to keep the soldering iron warm but less than full heat when I am interrupted.

Dan

Yeah, that's much more heavy duty. I would have had it already too. Didn't think of H.F. Foot pedal will be nice though.

My flex shaft rotary tools came with a speed control pedal. I got the two I have from Harbor Freight and use Foredom hand pieces on them. (I prefer the collets over the little drill chucks.) Unfortunately, I no longer see them for sale at HF. Anybody else notice that the, "has everything cheap store" doesn't have everything anymore, and the selection keeps getting narrower and narrower. Anyway, they are very similar to this:

and they work fine for what they are.

I keep one of my rotary flex shaft tools hanging above my work bench and plugged in with the pedal on the floor all the time. I keep several hand pieces in a peg board bin right next to it so I can cut, grind, slice, drill, or sand very quickly as needed. If its something you use often it is handy, but when I don't use it for a while the pedal gets kicked around quite a bit.

The supplied Dremel collet only goes down to ~7/64". I think you need a chuck to go smaller than that.

or

Some foot switch speed controls are just 120VAC variable speed switches from AC powered drills.

I bought several that were made like this (although I forget the brand name) and they're completely suitable for Dremel or Foredom/etc usage.. also work perfectly well with small precision drill presses, Dumore etc, which utilize

120VAC universal motors.

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I've bought a few old Singer sewing machine pedals at garage sales, usually still attached to the sewing machine for about 5 to 10 bucks. Work great with the Dremel and the Foredom. Some require a bit of screwing about to get the wires to feed where you want them, while others have a "plug" affair that adapts quickly and easily.

Some are with a metal case, some are with a phenolic (which for some reason I prefer). They seem to have been made for pretty much daily use (at least). My Foredom is kinda "put it where you want it" and screw around to get it hung in a useful position, and mostly used "away" from the bench. The "main" Dremel is mounted overhead on a sort of drawer slide with a hook for the Dremel motor and a wedge affair to hang the flex shaft/hand-piece. In use, pull it 18 inches forward toward the front of the bench and lift the hand-piece and flex shaft free to hang down, and then reverse to get it out of the way when finished. Works a treat for me.

I have not tried it yet, mostly due to lack of room, but a friend has

5 Dremel's (without flex shafts) hanging on hooks just below the bench, and all are plugged into the same power bar which is fed from the single foot-pedal. Each Dremel has a different "bit" chucked up, and to use you select the one you want and turn the switch to high and away you go. Don't forget to turn it to OFF when done, although where they hang when not in use is away from where it could get in trouble if you did forget. Works well for him. I might give it a try someday.

Take care.

Brian Lawson

Brian Lawson.

I would have made one from a sewing machine if I could have found one. The Moto Tool one is pretty good though. Nice and smooth, much quieter because it slows it down even with pedal fully depressed(which may not be a good thing if you need full speed). No more jet engine and wifey yelling at me during her shows. They raised the price for the next customer 1/2 hour after I ordered it. Wonder what that is about.

Moto Tool is rated for 1.5 amps so you shouldn't run more than 1 at a time. Maybe you could catch it on fire if you left a couple "on" at the device and then stomped on the accelerator.

[ ... ]

Hmmm ... reading this made me think of a a variation on the idea.

1) A turret with six of them hanging around it. 2) Power from the foot speed control going to a pair of brushes coming from the center of the turret, with six pairs of arcs of copper alternating with Delrin, Plexiglass or some other machinable plastic, turned so the copper and the plastic make a continuous circle for the brushes to slide upon. The arcs of copper are connected to an outlet to plug the Dremel into. 3) Keep all the switches on (or if variable speed, set to full speed). 4) Only whichever one is closest to you will run when you press the speed control pedal. 5) If you want an extra-safe situation, only put in five Dremels, and when the empty slot is towards you, none of them will run if you step on the pedal.

Consider this now officially placed in the public domain, and thus unpatentable. (unless someone already makes it, of course. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

And when you pull too hard on the handpiece the turret rotates and the shaft with the broken, unbalanced cutoff wheel you didn't bother to change leaps into action. jsw

Down at the maquiladora, Jose still has 9 good fingers.