Dremel tool - Engraving

[HuskyHawk]

Has anybody tried this? I recently got a Dremel tool, which I wanted for some time. My first use case is to try engraving some metal. I have a 1/16" engraving bit, but practicing on a Altoids tin and I can't make letters consistently. Even on the lowest speed it moves when trying to draw horizontal lines or certain curves against the rotation.

I'll have other uses for the thing, but I'd like to be able to use it for this.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Has anybody tried this? I recently got a Dremel tool, which I wanted for some time. My first use case is to try engraving some metal. I have a 1/16" engraving bit, but practicing on a Altoids tin and I can't make letters consistently. Even on the lowest speed it moves when trying to draw horizontal lines or certain curves against the rotation.

I'll have other uses for the thing, but I'd like to be able to use it for this.

Short answer is it takes time, practice and patience. In the near term unless you are already artistically inclined with manual art tools you won't be good with one spinning 1500-20000 RPM.

I'd also think using a thin tin can may be harder to control than a sturdier block of metal.

 

[CL82]

Has anybody tried this? I recently got a Dremel tool, which I wanted for some time. My first use case is to try engraving some metal. I have a 1/16" engraving bit, but practicing on a Altoids tin and I can't make letters consistently. Even on the lowest speed it moves when trying to draw horizontal lines or certain curves against the rotation.

I'll have other uses for the thing, but I'd like to be able to use it for this.

I’ve never tried it for engraving, but those Dremels are so useful in ways you would never think of unless you’ve got one.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I’ve never tried it for engraving, but those Dremels are so useful in ways you would never think of unless you’ve got one.

I am lazy about predrilling holes for screws, and I can see it has a tool to start holes for screws. I'll be using that.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Short answer is it takes time, practice and patience. In the near term unless you are already artistically inclined with manual art tools you won't be good with one spinning 1500-20000 RPM.

I'd also think using a thin tin can may be harder to control than a sturdier block of metal.

I'd call my Dentist friend who has amazingly strong hands control from using a rotary drill on teeth....but I'm trying to etch crypto seed codes. I may just buy metal stamps

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'd call my Dentist friend who has amazingly strong hands control from using a rotary drill on teeth....but I'm trying to etch crypto seed codes. I may just buy metal stamps

Laser engraver.

 

[CL82]

I am lazy about predrilling holes for screws, and I can see it has a tool to start holes for screws. I'll be using that.

It’s just stuff. You’ll be messing around using liquid wrench on a rusted on nut and then say the heck with it and Dremel it off in two seconds. Same thing with the drain nut under a sink. Or setting a handle set in a door. It’s not indispensable, because there are other ways to attack the same problem, but it is just fast and easy.

 

[CL82]

Laser engraver.

A neighbor of mine thought it would be cool to have a 3-D printer, but at the time he felt they were too expensive so he made his own. Eventually he started making things for other people and realized it would be nice to engrave on the parts. So he made his own laser engraver.

I actually think both were offshoots of him sitting down watching a little league game at a field that didn’t have an electronic scoreboard. So he made a readily portable one that could be moved from field field. He also made digital ball and strike counters for the umps that wirelessly connected to the scoreboard. He borrowed my Dremel to do some of the finish work.

 

[HuskyHawk]

A neighbor of mine thought it would be cool to have a 3-D printer, but at the time he felt they were too expensive so he made his own. Eventually he started making things for other people and realized it would be nice to engrave on the parts. So he made his own laser engraver.

I actually think both were offshoots of him sitting down watching a little league game at a field that didn’t have an electronic scoreboard. So he made a readily portable one that could be moved from field field. He also made digital ball and strike counters for the umps that wirelessly connected to the scoreboard. He borrowed my Dremel to do some of the finish work.

Reminds me of one of my friends at UConn. EE major. He'd be in the labs, which most students couldn't finish in the allotted time. He'd finish early and show the grad student running the lab how it was done. He could simply fix everything that was broken and discarded. TVs, VCRs, Alarm Clocks...it was just impressive.

 

[CL82]

Reminds me of one of my friends at UConn. EE major. He'd be in the labs, which most students couldn't finish in the allotted time. He'd finish early and show the grad student running the lab how it was done. He could simply fix everything that was broken and discarded. TVs, VCRs, Alarm Clocks...it was just impressive.

Yep. My neighbor was also an engineer who designed weapons for the Army. He was an incredibly bright guy as well. He would pick up things other people were throwing away as well, fix them and often just give them away. Good guy, quirky, but, as you say, impressive.