Does anyone find a Dremel tool to be helpful in CBG building? I have not built a CBG yet, and frankly, I am not very tool savoy.
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Does anyone find a Dremel tool to be helpful in CBG building? I have not built a CBG yet, and frankly, I am not very tool savoy.
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
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I have one with a router base. I like it for small router jobs, carving out thick walled boxes for electronics sometimes. Mostly I use it for the circle cutting attachment. It makes a clean and accurate cut for dog dish resonators.
The router type attachment is a good add on. Dremel makes one, but cheaper ones are out there. I am not endorsing this ebayer but for under two bucks try a search for something strangely described like this; "Drill Dedicated Locator Carving,Grindering Polishing located Horn For Dremel". It holds your dremel or harbor freight equivelent upright and square for light routing (or "grindering"!). Just unthread the cap and thread this in place.
Yes, I love my dremel! Esp pickup and speaker holes, but I've even used it for rough carving and routing. It's nice when you don't have a shop and build in an apartment.
One of the most important things with a Dremel,is to not overuse it,fine for detail work,especially concave or internal curves/shapes,but for external work generally hand tools are as quick,and more controlled,i have a couple of 1500 watt rotary tools,i generally use on metal alone,when i put a woodworking bit in them,it is bloody dangerous,and care is needed,people like Randy Bretz,need and use the Dremel as intended,but as they are a light duty tool,brushes and tooling etc can cost an arm and a leg if overused
They are useful for routing out f holes, but I don't use mine for much else. All the other stuff that people talk about is quicker, easier and much more accurate to do by hand. Why would you use a Dremel to notch a box or saw off a bolt, when the job can be done with a saw and file in the same time and much more accurately?
Power tools have their place, but well maintained simple hand tools are what you need. Good tools will give years of service and the skills acquired in using them last a lifetime. Make a sturdy workbench and fit it with a decent vice (vise). A drill press (pillar drill) is very useful but by no means essential. And buy good cast iron clamps....lots of them!
I have owned dremel tools for years... but don't use it much for CBG building... Table Saw? Drill Press? Absolutely!
Cordless Drill? Definitely!
Now, I really love my band saw!
I use a variety of hand and power tools...
I wouldn't build without it.
Using the diamond wheel cutter, notching a box is easy. Use a 1/2 sanding drum to round the bottom of the notch where the neck enters.
Cutting the details of an "F" hole is a pain by hand. With the Dremel and some burs I got off Amazon, I drill the round ends of the F hole then use the burs to carve the pattern. Works great.
I used it today to de-bur some tuners. Doing that with a needle file is tedious.
Cutting off the heads of bolts for bridge or nut is easy with the abrasive wheels.
Etc, etc, etc........
The more you build and the more elaborate you build, the more you will appreciate a precision cutting instrument like the Dremel.
I have one, I have used it for making CBGs, but I no longer do. Hand tools rule!
I do however love my router. Get one of those instead!
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