For the Dremel master ( Metalchurch )

[tonefight]

The wife bought me a dremel for Christmas, its a cordless, 10.8v lithium ion battery. I didn't open it yet cause I'm kinda thinkin I might wanna exchange it for the corded version. I'm thinking the corded would have some more power and last longer.
The cordless may be nice but I'm worried about reliability and power.

[metalchurch]

Dremel Master? that's funny! Thanks for the compliment.

Yes, the corded version might have more power, so if she's cool with it, I'd exchange it for a corded versio for sure.
I had a cordless, but they dont have enough power for one, and also after a while the battery gets really weak and doesn't hold charge enough to do anything, unless you have it plugged in while using it, but it still doesn't help much.

I'm using the Dremel 300 series, which is I think is one of the higher end models. It was $65.00 I think, but I believe it's cheaper now, cause I was looking at them when I was at Wal-Mart the other day looking for router bits.
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages ... 300+Series
I've been abusing mine for a little over a year now with no issues. I could not even tell you how many hours are on it? Easily over 250-300 hours I'm sure of it.
You will be very happy with that one for sure.
Also if I remember correctly it does come with a bunch of attatchments in the box.
You might wanna pick up a router bit for it and some sanding drum attatchments.
You'll see them on the shelf above the dremels.

Cant wait to see what projects you have planned with yours.
Merry Christmas Tony!

[tonefight]

I probably won't get into much work like you're doing. Probably the most I'll use it for on the guitar is shaping a nut or acoustic saddle. I'll probably use the polishing wheels alot on the motorcycle, should get into the small areas good, that was my main reason for wanting one.
Was your cordless with the lithium Ion battery? I researched it a bit and it is supposed to be pretty good. I may just give it a shot outta curiosity not sure yet.

[MeYatch]

I have the cordless version. I bought it specifically to do some work in my car (I did want one anyway). It works really well for what I want to do with it. Of course I don't do major wood shaping work with it.

[tornandfrayed]

There is a nice little kit at Lowes that will do nice for getting you going...

Lowes Dremels

It is a nice little corded unit, 300 series, and there are some bits to get you going plus a nice case.

I also prefer the corded versions...

Enjoy!

[bsaller]

I work for LSF and do a lot of commercial hardware installs. You know, panic bars electric door strikes, position switches, etc.
I've been using a cordless Dremel for over 3 years now and it still works fine. What I did was get 2 extra batteries because you'll use'em up quick and they take 4 hrs to charge. For stuff like re-cutting pockets in metal doors and such I use a Dynafile and DeWalt die grinder.
Again for small wood projects it's nice not to have to drag out a cord or anything.
Just my 2 cents worth!

[tonefight]

Well I opened it up and figured I'd give it a shot. First project was to cut the weld on an amp stand I have. The top bar is too high for the amp I'm using and I wanted to lower it. Figured this would be a good test. It works really good, This would normally be a job for a regular grinder. It burnt up 3 discs and started going dead as I was finishing up. It didn't have a full charge though.

It has good power and is convinient not to have that cord there, I think with a second battery like bsaller said this one is the ticket.

[metalchurch]

Be careful when using those grinding discs because they have a tendency to break in half and fly past your face.
I have had many close calls, and I just had one explode on me last week actually.
Do I use safety glasses? No. But I should.
It's more "metal" not wearing them.

Soon I'll be known as "Pirate Joe" cause I'll have and eye patch..

[Colton]

It's more "metal" not wearing them.

Brutal.

[metalchurch]

thanks, I try.

[Ron]

Those thin discs are terrible. Sometimes you can find the thicker fiberglass discs, but they are expensive and usually hard to find.
I've stacked a couple of the thin "eye destroyers" up before and it helps a little bit. I've had shards from those little bastards stick in walls and ceilings before.

BE CAUTIOUS... AAARGH!

[metalchurch]

I have some of the fiberglas ones as well. They have multiple layers on them and they're much stronger, but if you arent careful they can still disentigrate on your beak if you arent careful..

[killedbydeath]

It all depends on what you're useing it for. I have many cordless tools (mostly ryobi} and I use them constantly. The only bad thing is batterys die. If I need something heavey duty, I use corded tools. eg.cutting 1 or 2 pieces of wood, cordless, cutting 1 or 2 hundred corded. If you're gonna use cordless, buy extra batterys

[songsmith]

I probably shouldn't post it, because I'm superstitious about the jinx, but my old Dremel's 15+ years old, and still works great. A friend told me when I got it that you have to let the speed do the work, not to let the motor bear down because it'll burn out the brushes. I've attempted to do that, and it seems like it worked out.
I've been cutting with metallic "nail cutter" discs from Harbor Freight... i can't say too much about them, you only get 2 or 3 in a pack, but they last way longer for me, and won't explode. I took a broken disc to the tip of the nose once, and let's just say it'll put tears in your eyes.
Joe, do yourself a big favor, and go ahead and wear the eye protection. My experience has been that karma is a bitch, and if you KNOW you're doing something bad, and even mention it, it's like daring something bad to happen. I have a nasty scar on my forehead, because I once said, "I just don't like seatbelts." I'm almost sure of it. --->JMS

[tonefight]

The cordless works good, I've used it for a couple metal projects so far. The battery did die on me but I was really in situations where a grinder might have been a little more applicable. A second battery would be great however. It is nice not to have a cord getting in the way.
The original thing I wanted one for was polishing metal and it works real good for that.