Die grinder recommendations please

[Tieball]

I have Dremel tools I use a lot. One is a Dremel brand with electric power. The second is a Craftsman cordless....fits all Dremel bits and acts like a Dremel. I use the cordless a lot for when I want to move around more without a cord to tie me down or otherwise get in the way of movement....and it's quicker to grab the tool and get to work. Both are variable speed. I looked into a DeWalt Grinder before....I liked it a lot.....but really....I needed that level of power....almost never. I don't have massive sized trees. I've found that patience and precision removal with my Dremel tools works better for me. A slower guided removal has been better for my needs. I don't mind taking a break every now and then when carving....to see where I'm going. I do invest in quality bits...the bits that I need and actually use.

Funny.....when I looked at the grinder....the grinder was bigger than my trees. Sort of looked like a huge overkill for my carving needs. Bigger and more powerful is not always better. I stepped back and really analyzed my actual carving needs.

I also use hand carving tools...when needed.

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Are dremels safer than grinders? I mean, they also have a high RPM right?

 

[f1pt4]

Harry Harrington sells some cool looking wood chomping bits specifically for Dremels on his site. Anyone use them? He seems to have success with em.

I have a cordless 12VMax Dremel. Haven't done much carving with it, as the battery dies fairly quick. But, what minimal work I have done with it, it worked well.

 

[Dav4]

I've got a terrier bit from Dale Colchoy.... who got it from Europe, I'd bet. I use it a lot, but I tend to migrate to the Kutzall brand carbide burrs... love them.
https://kutzall.com/collections/burrs

 

[wireme]

Are dremels safer than grinders? I mean, they also have a high RPM right?

The consequences of a mishap are likely to be worse with a grinder. Grinders will have more torque and most likely a larger diameter bit so they do kick a lot harder if you poke at the wrong angle. They're more of a two handed tool though so I don't know if you're more likely flip it right out of hands onto a leg or something. I have personally come closer to skin with dremel one time.
A really good habit with both tools is to always, always check to see if the switch is on before plugging them in!
A die grinder with a big bit is definitely more dangerous to a tree that's for sure!

 

[Dav4]

Are dremels safer than grinders? I mean, they also have a high RPM right?

The consequences of a mishap are likely to be worse with a grinder. Grinders will have more torque and most likely a larger diameter bit so they do kick a lot harder if you poke at the wrong angle. They're more of a two handed tool though so I don't know if you're more likely flip it right out of hands onto a leg or something. I have personally come closer to skin with dremel one time.
A really good habit with both tools is to always, always check to see if the switch is on before plugging them in!
A die grinder with a big bit is definitely more dangerous to a tree that's for sure!

What wireme said. Die grinders are bigger and more powerful, and use larger bits with more mass... having a bit catch on a dremel is nothing compared to the same on a die grinder. You can man handle a dremel, but a die grinder can and will man handle you if you're not careful....

 

[Gustavo Martins]

ok. Thanks for the info to both of you. I find using power tools a little scary

As of today, I only plan to carve one, and will take a while before I can do that. So I suppose I may be better staying away from power tools anyways.

 

[Dav4]

ok. Thanks for the info to both of you. I find using power tools a little scary

As of today, I only plan to carve one, and will take a while before I can do that. So I suppose I may be better staying away from power tools anyways.

Hand tools are almost always better and tend to give a more natural look. There's a learning curve for using them, too, and it will take longer to do the work. Don't be afraid of power tools, though... respect them and learn to use them properly. I'd get a dremel with a few carbide burrs and play around with them... they can do things hand tools can't.

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Hand tools are almost always better and tend to give a more natural look. There's a learning curve for using them, too, and it will take longer to do the work. Don't be afraid of power tools, though... respect them and learn to use them properly. I'd get a dremel with a few carbide burrs and play around with them... they can do things hand tools can't.

I was looking on youtube to see if there was any video on someone hand carving bonsai but found none. It's all power tool carving kingdom

 

[Shima]

get a rheostat that allows you to control the RPM of the tool

Agreed! It opens up a wider range of cutting wheels, bits, etc. My personal fave is the Arbortech with a Samurai cutting wheel. I got the cutting wheel from, oh hell, drawing a blank, the motorcycle guy in the mid-west, oh yeah, Dale Cochoy. Here's the tool with the wheel it comes with. Nothing like the samurai which plows through hard wood like butter.
It's made in OZ.

 

[Dav4]

I was looking on youtube to see if there was any video on someone hand carving bonsai but found none. It's all power tool carving kingdom

http://www.sidiao.com/index_e.htm
Great source of info on both hand carving and using power tools.

 

[Random User]

Hand tools are almost always better and tend to give a more natural look. There's a learning curve for using them, too, and it will take longer to do the work. Don't be afraid of power tools, though... respect them and learn to use them properly. I'd get a dremel with a few carbide burrs and play around with them... they can do things hand tools can't.

This is just a "typical me" thing, but when I get that kind of power in my hands, I'm good until I build confidence in the tool and then tend to do something silly like take too big of a bite, or get distracted or thinking about something else, the next thing I know, the tool grabs and then suddenly I realize that I've nicked or removed the one bit of growth that I needed the most. So for me, seeing that I am "mostly" a deciduous guy anyway, I find the little bit of deadwood or carving that I need to do can be done with hand tools, and at times I will use the carbide burrs on a hand drill... at least it can't do as much damage as quickly.

The big grinder and a carbide burr bit is the ticket when I have to drill holes in terra cotta. I have to make some holes in a number of 50 cm terra cotta drip trays, so I just splash a bit of water in the bottom of the tray (to keep the TC cool) and have at it. You must use a dust mask and eye protection even though there is water in the pan, and hearing protection is a must as well... at times it can sound like your trying to pull three cats through the same keyhole by their tails, with bagpipe accompaniment... tends to piss the neighbours off a little too.

 

[Vance Wood]

I urge extreme caution. I have two Makita die grinders and rarely use them. I consider them to be whirling blades of death and use them only when absolutely necessary. For me, hand carving is far safer and produces a result that is much more natural.

That said, who could resist a good power tool? And for some applications there is just no other way to get the job done. Makita is the go-to brand for most folks doing this kind of carving work. I used to use it with various router bits until I discovered the Samurai brand. I'm totally sold on it, but it's specifically for removing vast quantities of wood. There are some other attachments that are good for debarking and the like. And a big caution - many of the blades that you buy for carving are not rated for the RPM that the die-grinder spins. I don't know exactly what that means, but I have bad visions of the bits exploding into a million high velocity bits of metal spinning off in random directions. So definitely get a rheostat that allows you to control the RPM of the tool. And please make sure to wear the proper safety equipment when you use them - particularly safety glasses.

The second power tool I use is a dremel. I'm much less nervous about these things. I use them specifically for detail work - getting bark out of little crevices, finishing some of the hand carving work I do, carving out/cleaning deep holes - that kind of stuff where it's just to dang hard to get my hand chisel (which is by far the most important carving tool you can get).

Hope that helps.

This is a very good point. You should use these big power tool only to reduce things down to a point where you can finish them off and detail them with hand techniques that look more natural. If you don't know what you are doing artistically, mechanically, and strategically with a power grinder you may wind up ruining a piece quicker than you can say oops.

 

[Woody Carverton]

I'm with the rest of the crowd, We bought 2 dewalts about 5 years ago and for the most part they just collect dust. In 70% of cases we hand carve as much as we can, 25% carving with a smaller power tool like a dremmel rotary tool, and maybe 5% with a die grinder, and even then for that 5% it is usually just to quickly remove a mass, then we go right back to the smaller rotary or hand tools.

 

[Vance Wood]

We see people like G. Potter do beautiful work with these kinds of tools and we think we can too. Surprise, surprise, surprise, who'da thunk it? If I had an airplane I could fly anywhere he said as he flew it into the side of a Mountain. oops

 

[Gustavo Martins]

cool. Thanks all for the feedback and link (@Dav4 )

 

[parhamr]

My local tool library has an old Craftsman die grinder. I'll be able to get my own detailed tools and borrow the big guns.

 

[Vance Wood]

I started to post something on this subject earlier as an edit to one of my posts but I got timed out and lost the text of it. It is absolutely necessary to know the material you intend to work with on both an individual and a species level. You have to know how the tree is going to grow because that's the way the tree was designed by nature or what ever. You have to know the particular tree and how it is growing and if you don't know you should take the time to discover its life lines. There are some tree you can cut into the trunk (If we are going to do the big guns) with out a lot of forethought and get away with it. There are other trees if you cut in the worng place or if you cut accros something in the wrong place you are liable to lose a branch not intended, or a segment of the trunk not intended or the entire tree absolutely not intended.

 

[sorce]

Are dremels safer than grinders? I mean, they also have a high RPM right?

Mine has a variable speed control.

_____

I'll agree with "safe"...

As in safer for trees....

But if we have to talk about human safety.......

Don't be a moron!

Follow the instructions!

Sorce

 

[Vance Wood]

Nothing I can think of is Moron proof, even a box of Kleenex