Getting the most from your Dremel

The Dremel is a wonderful, versatile tool in the hobbyist's workshop. While it's meant to be a hand-held tool, I often find it far more comfortable to bring the work to the tool rather than vice-versa.

To that end, I built this jig to hold the tool.

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The plastic grip that clamps the Dremel was removed from a Dremel router attachment*. Without modification, it was attached to a baseplate - thus it can be returned to the router jig when needed. The baseplate has a 1/2" square aluminum 'backbone' which can be conveniently gripped in the bench vise when the tool is used.

Attached to the end of backbone is a small adjustable table. In addition to sliding along the backbone, it can be adjusted in height and tilted to various angles. The table has a slot milled into it into which various sliding accessories can fit.

This (staged) shot shows how the jig mounts in a vise (small vise used for clarity - my bench vise was too messy for photography) and how the accessory table tilts. Also, one of the sliding accessories is shown positioned on the tilting table.

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Here are some of the accessories. Bottom left is a cutoff guide. For cutting small rod, tubing or screws, the workpiece is held against the aluminum fence and the adjustable depth stop with the bit to be cut off projecting to the left. The whole assembly is then slid along the table guide groove into a cutoff disk mounted in the Dremel. Makes very nice neat, well-contolled cuts.

Lower right is a sliding protractor table. The protractor arm is settable to a variety of angles and locks in place with a small brass pin. Angled cutoffs are possible with this although its primary use is, in concert with the table tilting, to produce compound angles on the 1/8" HSS specialty tool bits I grind for making obscure parts.

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The jig shown at the top is a sanding table. It attaches to the backbone as shown in the photo below,

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and a sanding drum projects up through the hole. When this is used, the backbone is held vertically in the vise and the plate through which the drum projects acts as a small table. By using very small sanding drums, this arrangement can do a lot of the work one might more conventionally use a filing machine to achieve.
Shown in front is a bushing which reduces the diameter of the hole when smaller sanding drums are used. (Too much clearance around the drum can cause tiny parts to go walk-about.)

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* Since I built this, Dremel has marketed an accessory that consists of a tool holder that fits into a universal ball joint base (similar to a Panavise base).
It may be easier to adapt this tool holder to the jig described above than use the holder from the router jig that I employed. Incidentally, this new accessory is quite useful in its own right, especially so for freehand activities like deburring.

Thanks mklotz! I've added your Dremel Jig to our Rotary Tools category, as well as to your builder page: mklotz's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/dremel-jig"><img src="http://www.homemadetools.net/uploads/128126/dremel-jig.jpeg" /></a></div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/dremel-jig">Dremel Jig</a> <span> by <a href="/builder/mklotz_3">mklotz</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/jig">jig</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/dremel">Dremel</a></div> </div> </div> </div>

Some readers probably think of the Dremel as a tool with too much slop in the frontend. You can fix that problem with some shrink tubing around the bearing race to make a tight fit as Frank Ford shows here: FRETS.COM

Attachment 4557
Attachment 4558

Very nice jig set, well thought !

I myself often use it on the lathe, using a jig to hold it on the tool post.
The workpiece is hold in the lathe chuck (not spinning), and use the cross slides to approach precisely the piece.
It covers most of my needs, but your jig is much more complete.

Also did the same kind of mod as reported by Mark above, but I used a piece of inner tube wrapped around the bearing.

Christophe

Really well thought out Marv! It's versatile, simple and easily adaptable to all sorts of tasks. Thanks for the Pan-Vice tip, will definitely take a look at that. One of the thing I seem to do a lot is cut of screws as I seem to never have the right length, no matter how many types and sizes I buy. :p This would be perfect for trimming to length!! The tilt table is a Gem. Thanks for sharing this clever setup!! :clapping: ~PJ

Marv,
I wish I had seen this design years ago because it is very useful for small part fabrications. Started with your design, I think it can be modified and expanded into many other capabilities using the affordable Dremel tool.

I am thinking about using your sliding protractor table design on my diamond wheel tool grinder (with a 20% discount and free shipping offer I bought an inexpensive Enco version of the Baldor 6" model 522). The only difference with your protractor would be to add some more pin locations for the typical lathe tool relief angles. The Enco tool grinder has adjustable side tables with 12 x 4 mm slots that would be perfect for the sliding protractor to grind compound angles in the lathe carbide tools.

Thank you for another one of your well thought out designs.

Regards, Paul

Yes, there are many ways to extend this design. There are plenty of opportunities to improve the existing design as well.

For cutting screws to size, I've always meant to build a small lantern chuck to hold the screws and fit it with a bar to ride in the table slot. Still haven't found a round tuit but someday...

Another thing to add is a rod that attaches to the backbone of the jig and is turned to fit into a Pana-Vise base if you have one of those very useful tools. Alternatively, you can hold the jig in the Pana-Vise but the rod arrangement makes for a more compact and stiff arrangement.

The little protractor table is very handy indeed. I have its big brother on my bench grinder. That one has holes every five degrees. I coordinate drilled all the holes (no use of a rotary table) and, when I put it together, was very pleased to have the pin fall into each and every hole smoothly.

I replaced the inadequate tool rests on the grinder with one long rest that spans the front of the grinder. The protractor table has a piece of angle screwed to its bottom that rides along this long rest. This keeps the table a fixed distance from the wheels yet allows easy side-to-side motion. The table is made of aluminum so that it serves as a giant heat sink for the object being ground.

Don't tell the safety Nazis but the long rest extends out far enough on both sides that I can grind (very lightly) on the sides of the wheels when I need a flat surface. I don't do this often and only with very small parts that don't cause a lot of wheel wear. Larger flat surfaces are done on a disk/belt sander.

As a retired joiner-cabinet maker I recently bought a dremel rotary drill to enable me to do small jobs in my little workshop, i have found it extremely useful and it has made me wonder why I never acquired one during my working days. I am now going to experiment and find different things I can make jigs for.

Nicely done!

Rick

I have a 395 Dremel. I replaced countless switches the little circuit board always seams to fail. Is there a fix for that ?

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Originally Posted by G.Paul

I have a 395 Dremel. I replaced countless switches the little circuit board always seams to fail. Is there a fix for that ?

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I have a Model 395. While the switch on mine works, it's not a good design from the aspect of usability. Integrating the on/off function with the speed control means one has to reset the speed every time the tool is turned on. Separate controls would make far more sense. I leave the speed control set to the value I use most often and control on/off with a separate switch like this one...

https://www.amazon.com/QVS-PA-1P-Sin...%2Bswitch&th=1

Since the tool is plugged into a powerstrip on the front of my bench, this switch is very conveniently placed for me.

You might want to consider a similar arrangement. The less the onboard switch is used, the longer it will last, which might account for why mine is still working.

Another possibility is to wire around the switch, effectively removing it from the circuit, leaving the tool in the "on at full speed" setting and using a router speed control to control on/off and speed.

Thanks for the reply Marv. I was thinking of using a household light dimmer switch but i have to get into it to by pass the original
switch mechanism

thanks dude

Marv - This is a terrific tool design for a modelmaker's workbench. The concept looks readily adaptable to other spindle/motor combinations of larger size and power and extended into other cutting jobs like the basic jewelser's lathe/graver turning if a variety of collet sizes is part of the spindle. To that end the builder would want to build the motor mount and the square main clamping bar with some adjustability into them whereby the bar could be adjusted to reach good parallelism to the spindle centerline axis. Ed Weldon Los Gatos, CA

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Originally Posted by Ed Weldon

Marv - This is a terrific tool design for a modelmaker's workbench. The concept looks readily adaptable to other spindle/motor combinations of larger size and power and extended into other cutting jobs like the basic jewelser's lathe/graver turning if a variety of collet sizes is part of the spindle. To that end the builder would want to build the motor mount and the square main clamping bar with some adjustability into them whereby the bar could be adjusted to reach good parallelism to the spindle centerline axis. Ed Weldon Los Gatos, CA

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Hi Ed,

Thanks for the kind words.

If you look around this site you'll be able to find numerous designs for making a mini-lathe using a Dremel as a power source. Having built-in speed control makes it a desirable driver.

Making the backbone bar parallel to the spindle axis is certainly desirable but, if the tool is hand-held and guided as is the case with graver turning, minor misalignments don't seem to be an issue; the bar provides no help in aligning or guiding the cutting tool, it simply supports the tool rest.

Although it's not a Unimat, it's still a most helpful instrument for miniature work. In fact, I'm a bit surprised that Dremel doesn't market something similar. Many of their accessories (drill press, shaper, etc.) hold the tool fixed and bring the work to the tool. A tool-fixed stand to which various work-holding attachments are mounted seems an obvious extension of the concept.

I'd LOVE to have a plan for that jig Marv made up for the Dremel to be a "motor" for multiple tasks!!!! Thats down right AWESOME!!!!

I do a lot of model work in my shop, and have SEVERAL Dremels, all ranging from the 395 model all the way up top the BIG Dremel Advantage (like a Roto-Zip), Which that Dremel Advantage rests at the end of a light chain, affixed to the ceiling of my shop with a Flex-Shaft attachment, turned on to the #1 setting (slowest) -as it has a 2nd speed setting and is much faster.... then plugged into a Sewing Machine foot pedal to control the speed hands free.... -This is my main used machine! I then have a 2nd Dremel 300 hanging center way of my Machining bench that holds 2 Edelstaal Unimats on it for various tasks and can reach either machine with the much shorter, lighter Dremel Flex-Shaft attachment, ALSO plugged into a sewing machine foot pedal for the same reasons the other one hanging from the ceiling is! This one however can be moved length-wise of that bench as well as up and down. The big Dremel Advantage I have, can only be moved up and down and very light side-to side due to where its hanging and why....

I CAN however get pics if you all would like.....

Wiljoy - Go on the internet and search for "fonly lathe". Invented in the UK it's a DIY gadget based around small tools like the Dremel and the ability to do tiny lathe work in metal with "gravers", a technique that dates back centuries in the world of watchmaking and is akin to wood lathe turning. With your cabinet making skills the wood construction of the device should make it an easy project if in retirement you still have access to the right wood working tools.
Here's another tip: A cheap Chinese dial caliper can be the basis of a precision locating tool for hole positions if you use a small (like 3mm dia in your dremel) CNC spotting drill to make the starting point for a drill (properly sharpened) in a separate drill press . You need to make a fixture that holds your workpiece on the "half" of the caliper that moves under the tool. But the cutting forces of the spotting drill are small and one directional so a lot of robustness in the initial operation is not needed. Chinese made spotting tools are pretty cheap on the internet (eBay).

Great job! I own a wide range of dremel tools and have found them worth their weight in gold at times on big and little jobs. Nice work on the jigs.

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Originally Posted by Blackbeard

Great job! I own a wide range of dremel tools and have found them worth their weight in gold at times on big and little jobs. Nice work on the jigs.

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Thanks for the kind words. Here's another Dremel accessory you might find useful...

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/dremel-fan-34122

Thanks, that is a great add and one I can certainly use!