Dremel fan

[mklotz]

Dremel now makes a tiny fan to blow dust away from the tool you are using...

http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-490-Dus...el+accessories

It comes permanently attached to one of their collet chucks which is fine if you use collets to hold tools. I prefer to use their 3jaw chucks since many of my tools have different size shafts and switching collets becomes tedious if using several different tools. So, I took a bit of nylon-like plastic from the "what is this stuff?" bin and machined something that looked like an eight-bladed fan with blockish blades. Using miniature carving chisels and, of course, a Dremel, I manufactured something that friction fits the base of the 3jaw chuck.

This photo shows the Dremel fan and 3jaw chuck along with the fan I made...

and this one shows the fan in place on my Milwaukee-Dremel...

Despite lacking the ducting of the Dremel fan, my bit of sculpture produces more airflow than the Dremel fan.

A bit about the Milwaukee-Dremel...

I was casting about for a more powerful rotary tool than the Dremels I have. Dremel's newer model, the 8220, looked attractive but, while scouring Amazon, I happened upon Milwaukee's latest offering.

It has exactly the same spindle thread as the Dremels and the nose thread (3/4-12) is the same so screw-on things like the router also fit. Best of all, it takes the Milwaukee M-12 batteries. This is the same battery as used in my drill so I already have two and the charger. Milwaukee sells the unit without the battery (what I bought) although it's available with battery if you don't have one. I've been very happy with the Milwaukee batteries so I was pleased to be able to use them with this tool.

The Milwaukee has more power and less spindle run-out than the Dremel 8220. It's one drawback is that it is noisy at the higher speeds.