Dremel was the original rotary tool, and when it came out in the market in 1932 it was quite revolutionary. Mr. A.J. Dremel was apparently quite the prolific inventor and it was easy to see all the applications that a tool like this could be and so began the marketing of the bits and accessories.
Over the years others have come along to make their version of this popular rotary tool in an effort to provide customers with a convenient way easing into a specific line of tools. Milwaukee brought out their 12 volt like of power tools a number of years ago and since that time they have been adding tools and accessories to the line that all operate with the same 12 volt capacity batteries. Such is the case with this rotary tool version.
The tool itself is similar to many other rotary tools. One of the few added features of the Milwaukee version is display of battery charge left in the cell. While there are many battery operated rotary tools, few will let you know how much life is left in the battery before it needs recharging. That is one nice feature of the Milwaukee tool ...
The switch on the tool I have is a friction slide on/off and it is conveniently located right next to the speed dial that you can adjust to reduce or speed up the how fast the motor spins. The low speed is very low 5.000 RPM and the high speed is cranks out an amazing 32,000 RPM. All of these 12 volt Milwaukee tools take about 30 minutes to charge so down time, if you only have one battery is acceptable for most.
The only think I wish the tool had, it would be a pulse or touch switch rather than than the off/on slider. I have found over the years of using rotary tools that many of the applications I use it for, I am looking for burts or energy and seldom use the tool in a continuous running mode, but even if I did, creating a pulse switch with a locking mechanism should not be too onerous for a company like Milwaukee.
The bare tool comes with the rotary tool, a few cutting discs, a mounting arbor and a little tightening wrench. Thankfully, all the bits and accessories that I have ever had anything to do with for all these rotary tools, are all standard.
Although all of the little rotary tools appear to be quite safe to us, and in fact they are, wearing GOOD eye protection is imperative. These little tools can spin a very high rate of speed and are designed to cut, polish and sand, and in all cases that means debris coming off the accessory wheels, along with bits and pieces of the grinding discs themselves. As handy as these tools are, it is pretty simple to have some particles fly off during use and strike the operator. Wearing good eye protection - always - in woodworking is important and these little tools are no exception.
Copyright - Colin Knecht
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