What do you use a burnt out Dremel for?

[tramcar trev]

I put this in here because those of us who are into kit bashing or self actualisation thru scratch building will have a burnt out Dremel.
After much thought I found a use for mine. Cut the spindle off and use it in conjuction with the 3 jaw chuck ( which incidentally will not fit any other rotary tool) as an adapter to hold fine drills. I use this in the chuck on my micro milling machine to hold drills down to .25mm...... Fine drills hand held in a rotary tool are sheer folly..... Its a .4mm drill in the pic though the .24mm could not be seen to well

 

[trammayo]

So - it's really a case of "don't chuck it away" It appeals to my 'recycle' mentality! Good one

 

[JRinTawa]

Funnily enough I have a burnt out dremel siting awaiting me ringing up to see if it's young enough to be repaired. I expect the answer will be know so now I know what to do with it if it's non repairable. Thanks for the idea

 

[alec dawe]

I bought a dremel look alike on offer at our local Lydl about 5 years ago, and it seems to till be going strong. It's a little crude compared with the genuine article, but works ok for what I want.
That said, divine retribution will probably mean that next time I plug it in there'll be a flash as it burns out!

 

[daveyb]

good idea,,, like it..

 

[Nodrog1826]

I was expecting to see some interesting uses for the body/case of the drill as a load or a piece of scenery.

Have burned out a few drills in my time, certain parts can allways be recycled.
Case in point i re used a set of carbon brushes from an old car wiper motor to replace those in an very old Sewing machine.

 

[alec dawe]

Was it a Singer?

Sorry, I'll get me coat.

 

[Nodrog1826]

No need to get your coat, it was, an old treddle one with the bolt on motor, its still going.

 

[tramcar trev]

They dont seem to last long the genuine dremels that is.... I bought a Ryobi Li-Ion cordless one and though it lacks the torque of the mains powered one its easier to use and no cords dragging around after it....

If you could be bothered I'm sure you could pull the bearings off the spindle (and find a use for them) and then you could use the armature as a "load".... and you could repaint the casing and use it as a "sculpture" in the layout.....

 

[pugwash]

No need to get your coat, it was, an old treddle one with the bolt on motor, its still going.

Wot no engine?

 

[jgallaway81]

I have an older corded dremel which I thought had bit the dust a few months ago. As it was a decent bit of cash when I bought it, so I was kinda torqued... no pun intended. But at the same time, there was a new model out so I was like "well, gives me a reason to spend the cash on a new unit". Well, on a whim, I decided to spend the couple dollars on a new set of brushes. Even if they didn't work, I made sure the brushes would work in a new one, so I could save them if mine was dead.

Wouldn't you know, when I pulled the old brushes out, one of the springs was deformed, so the brush wasn't tight against the commutator. Replaced the brushes and the thing has been in service since... darn. I was looking forward to that new version!