Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2009 19:04:04 -0500
Reply-To: Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
Subject: Re: Dremel, was Re: Best Way To Remove
In-Reply-To: <49da7c62.14045a0a.774c.ffffbeb6@mx.google.com>
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If getting the decal off is a hassle, go to the nearest 3M auto parts
store that sells body repair supplies and get a 3M Roloc
Pinstripe removal tool. It's a 1/4" shank that chucks up in your
electric drill and you'll get a choice of a 4" diameter model or a
6". The removal tool is a set of floppy plastic discs that get
pretty stiff when they spin at full drill speed. They basically
burnish off trhe decal/ pinstriping/ bumper stickers/ window
decals. Alsdo great for removing contact cement from surfaces. Just
keep the unit moving so one section doesn;t get too warm. This is
one of the greatest tools I've ever used. Last one iI bought was
around $14. Replacement plastic discs are less than that if you
already have the Roloc chuck from another project. Srry, but I do
not have a part number within reach.
DM&FS
At 04:03 PM 4/6/2009, David Beierl wrote:
>At 01:44 AM 4/6/2009, neil N wrote:
>>Loren. If you've got a Dremel, I wonder if there's an attachment
>>similar to the "rubber disk" that would work?
>
>Disclosure: I absolutely love the Dremel tool. I have two, and when
>most of my tools got shipped off to Maine and I was flirting with
>mental hospitals I made sure that they both stayed. So don't think
>I'm sneering at it down below, just being realistic. It's made for
>very small work, and it's an expensive tool to run if you don't think
>in quarter-inches. And the manufacturer has a tendency to bite off
>more than the tool can realistically chew. In particular it and its
>attachments are not rigid enough for some things they want it to
>do. That said...
>
>
>Something the size of a Westfalia decal would be an enormous job for
>a Dremel, and it wouldn't do it well because it spins too fast. For
>that sort of thing a half inch by quarter inch would be more in scale
>to the tool.
>
>For appearance work of any size at all, Dremel burs, stones, sanding
>drums, polishing wheels etc are all so small that it's very difficult
>to produce a fair surface without waves and dips -- even polishing,
>which after centuries of uncertainty has been proved to be
>essentially very delicate grinding. With the speed and small
>area/radius contact patch all these will dig like crazy given the
>slightest excuse. Their sharpening attachment might be ok for
>lawnmower blades -- in a pinch. But it's really too small for that
>except in a pinch and I certainly wouldn't use it for anything else I
>cared about because there's no way to get a fair edge. NOTE: I've
>never used their chain-saw attachment, but it probably works just
>fine, since the stone doesn't traverse the edge but merely profiles
>it to its own shape.
>
>Some of my thoughts about Dremel stuff, on the scale that I use them,
>i.e. not tiny delicate modelmaking but general household/shop/automotive.:
>
>For relative economy in use -- sanding disks, sanding drums, thin
>non-reinforced cutting wheels, diamond points if not from Dremel. If
>used very lightly and kept moving, the cutting wheels can be used on
>edge (strictly against instructions) for surface removal.
>
>For flagrant expense in use -- small grinding points/stones, saws
>except maybe in balsa, steel burs, probably others.
>
>For no reason to exist -- "heavy duty" nonreinforced cutoff
>wheels. They're not much stronger than the thin ones, i.e. not at
>all; and cut half as fast and much hotter because the kerf is twice
>as wide. When they do burst the fragments are heavier.
>
>For utter scariness -- saws and planer attachment. Router attachment
>is as scary as any router, i.e. about half as scary as saws and
>planer. Circle cutter different kind of scary, you think the tool
>will come apart from vibration.
>
>For (comparatively) large work -- planer attachment. Hard to make a
>straight line, but will take an eighth-inch off the bottom of a door
>amazingly quickly. Sabre-saw ("jig-saw") attachment. Sanding
>drums. Router attachment.
>
>For Vanagons -- Above everything, cutoff wheels, both
>kinds. Right-angle attachment and/or flex shaft to get the cutoff
>wheel to where you need it securely/safely. Large carbide burs/bits
>and diamond points. Haven't tried it, but the sabre-saw attachment
>might be wonderful for small sheetmetal cuts and such.
>
>For safety -- thin non-reinforced cutoff wheels. If they grab in the
>cut they just shatter, and the pieces are too light to bother you or
>go far. Right-angle attachment. Flex shaft.
>
>For irritation -- thin non-reinforced cutoff wheels. Set the tool
>down and turn around, turn back and the disk will be busted.
>
>For piece of crap -- plunge router attachment. Not nearly stiff enough.
>
>For marginal -- "imitation Roto-Zip" attachment. Tool isn't stiff
>enough so the bit wanders and vibrates. Lots Worse if you use it
>with the circle-cutter jig. Router attachment, marginal stiffness --
>but it's darn useful for putting quick 1/8" roundovers on edges of
>plywood and such, and way easier to handle than even a small
>router. Ditto for router table. Steel bits only, no bearing on pilot.
>
>For futility -- using Roto-Zip drill bits that cost a quarter of the
>Dremel ones. They don't cut, just burn. Must be opposite-hand
>rotation or black magic -- they don't look a lot different. But
>anyway, if you need to do Roto-Zip work more than one or two holes a
>year get a Roto-Zip.
>
>Need to have -- variable speed tool, carbide burs, diamond points
>(note that diamond dissolves in hot steel), thin non-reinforced
>cutoff wheels, reinforced cutoff wheels, sanding drums, stones and
>dressing stick for truing before first use and subsequently. You can
>tell when a stone is getting close to true because the tool will
>speed up! Truing can be frustrating because of resonances between
>tool and stone and dressing stick, tool not stiff enough
>really. Brass and steel brushes, note they're limited to half-speed
>(15,000 rpm). Cratex-type rubber abrasive points and wheels,
>half-speed or less. Polishing wheel and points, rouge.
>
>Really really want to have -- right-angle attachment -- sounds like
>it's tearing itself apart but it isn't, and gives much better/safer
>angle for many things. Flex-shaft.
>
>Really nice -- sabre-saw attachment -- capable and easy to handle,
>uses standard blades; 1/16" tile degrouting bit in flex-shaft (solid
>carbide, costs twelve bucks, don't drop the shaft or the bit will
>snap :-( ). Probably good in their degrouting attachment, too.
>
>David
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