All the gear but no idea!

[Melanie De Castro Pugh]

Father Christmas was astonishingly kind to me this year, absolutely no bubble bath but a Dremel 4000 4/65 with flexishaft, a Dremel workstation 220 to mount it all on, a flat vice to go on the base and an ultrasonic from Lidl. I am a very lucky girl! However.... I'm not entirely sure how to get the best out of my new toys.

I got red, white and blue Dialux blocks from my son too, how best to use them? I have felt polishing wheels and points, but would I use them in sequence or just pick one?

Diamond burrs look very sparkly and pointy in their box of 30, but again I'm not entirely sure what they do!

Then there's the ones that have little fluted balls on the end, red resin cutting wheels, an orangey cylinder (for grinding?) and a green disc on a mandrel (there seem to be a lot of shapes available in this stuff).

I have tried various tools on the flexshaft but have no idea what I'm doing, really. I did get a 1mm cup burr from Cookies, but need a smaller collet before I can use it (on its way).

I'd like to be able to cut strips of metal for rings and bangles, it has an attachment for cutting straight lines but again, I'm a bit clueless :-(

I have been having huge fun today drilling teeny holes in fired copper clay ready to make earrings though, using it as a pillar drill.

As for the ultrasonic, is that the final, FINAL stage of manufacture?

Apologies for such a rambling polemic, but I bet I'm not the only one out there with a box of exciting but mysterious doozits, widgets and thingummybobs for their Dremel (other rotary tools are available :-) )


Melanie

http://www.spinysharklythings.com

[Dennis]

Melanie, a while back I posted a thread called 'A Gadget Too Many', which might help you. It will be under tutorials, or this link might be sufficient:http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/hot-metal-gold-silver-metal-working/3680-gadget-too-many-part-two-three.html

Dennis.

By the way, the ultrasonic is for cleaning waxy compounds off at the very end, and it helps to use detergent, or dedicated solutions.

[Dennis]

Actually it's under gold, silver and metal working and part three is here:http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/hot-metal-gold-silver-metal-working/3701-gadget-too-many-part-three-three.html.

[Goldsmith]

Melanie,
I sincerely hope that you have some basic hand tools, for cutting strips of metal for rings and bangles all you need is a pair of dividers for marking the lines, a piercing saw frame and blades for cutting the strips, a bench peg to support the metal while cutting and then some files to clean the metal after sawing.
Diamond burs are good for texturing as well as grinding hard substances like stones and metal. The ultrasonic is mainly for removing hard to get at polishing compounds left on the articles after polishing, use a mixture of warm water and washing liquid in the machine for a start. I am not sure if a Lidl ultrasonic will accept the stronger spirit and ammonia based cleaning agents.
Good luck
James

[LydiaNiz]

agree on the cutting, it's a lot quicker (and safer I think) using a saw.
I love my dremel (I just use a basic one) and the best thing I ever bought for it was a multi chuck (cheap on ebay - so I don't need to switch back and forth when changing tools.) x

[Melanie De Castro Pugh]

Thanks James, I do have a good collection of hand tools as well :-) After a few weeks of playing with all my new toys I'm working out when to go electric and when to go acoustic, as it were! The time savings on filing and polishing are giving me so much more time to make more things, so I'm pretty content with all my kit. Now, about that rolling mill I couldn't possibly live without...


Melanie

http://www.spinysharklythings.com

[Patstone]

Hi Mel, I am glad someone else has problems trying to sort out what does what. I bought a Foredom motor last year and apart from polishing, I have no idea what all the widgets are for. Someone mentioned that the best thing to do was to throw them away as they werent much good for anything,but why would they put them in the box if you couldnt use them for anything useful. I bought a small circular saw shaft thingy cos I thought I would be able to cut things with it - wrong, it wont cut anything apart from pencil sized wood. I have lots of things with balls on the end, but what they do I havent a clue. To be honest, I think it was a waste of money, cos everything I have been able to do with it so far, I can do by hand quicker and better. Hey ho, just use it for polishing then. That does it better than I could, but my problem is lack of patience. Pat

[Dennis]

Hi Pat,

I spent literally hours photographing my fairly comprehensive collection of gadgets and adding a description (see my reply and link above), so I would be disappointed if it got a thumbs down from you. That said, professional jewellers will reach for files, buff sticks and then the polishing lathe. I am more confident using my handpiece and rotary gadgets. Dennis.

[Melanie De Castro Pugh]

Dennis's guide is fab, Pat. I turned the three episodes into an illustrated Word document and can email it to you if you message me with your address. I think I've used all the accessories except for the cutting bits, and that's only cos they are for wood!
One problem I do have is finding a bit that bridges the gap between diamond burrs and polishing rubbers. The surface is a bit too rough! Any ideas?


Melanie

http://www.spinysharklythings.com

[Dennis]

Hi melanie,
Diamond burrs have limited use, such as making flush the end of a wire, rivet or screw, or in place of steel burrs of the same shape if you want to have full control. Steel burrs can suddenly run away and cause nasty score marks. However diamonds don't cut metal very well and have no place in the finishing regime, which is more to do with grades of emery paper, Micromesh sheets, Scotchbrite mops and radial disks. Dennis.

[Melanie De Castro Pugh]

Thank you, Dennis, I've mostly been using the diamond burrs as motorised files, for example cutting down to a score line or shaping the top edge of a bezel when it needs to follow the contours of a stone. Then I use a sanding pad, a nice foam nail file, rubber polishing tips and finally a felt mop with rouge if I want a high shine. I was just wondering if there was an accessory that would take the place of the sanding pad. Or what grit the pale green bits in various shapes (silicon carbide?) would be equivalent to. I also have an orange stone on a mandrel, which I think is aluminium oxide. This feels much coarser than the green ones.


Melanie

http://www.spinysharklythings.com

[Patstone]

Hello Dennis, I didnt give you a thumbs down, because I didnt see the tutorials. Sorry I must have missed it, the only ones I saw were a lot of bits in a box, I think there were three different boxes, but it was just showing them, not with a description of what they all did. This is more than wonderful, I will copy it so I have a reference, if thats ok with you. Many thanks for that, and once again sorry I missed it the first time, I must look at the forum every day, I am retired as you know so I have no excuse, but I seem to be really busy all the time, goodness only knows what I did when I was working full time as well. Pat

[Dennis]

The trouble I find with bezels, is that they need to be quite thick to withstand filing with rotary tools, so I use fine silver at least 0.5 mm thick. Then the silent and heatless stones (Grinding & Separating Lower Left) do it for me. Sometimes you can also finish with the ready mounted sandpaper roll, coarse, seen in 'Abrasive Disks and Rolls (lower left), but you are left with bent over edges that you have to scrape off with a blade, a scraper or a deburring tool.

As for the stones you describe, they might belong to a category best used for wood an acrylic.

Coincidentally If it will let me, i am hoping to post a ring with a variable height bezel in Show and Tell Today. Dennis.

[Dennis]

The trouble I find with bezels, is that they need to be quite thick to withstand filing with rotary tools, so I use fine silver at least 0.5 mm thick. Then the silent and heatless stones (Grinding & Separating Lower Left) do it for me. Sometimes you can also finish with the ready mounted sandpaper roll, coarse, seen in 'Abrasive Disks and Rolls (lower left), but you are left with bent over edges that you have to scrape off with a blade, a scraper or a deburring tool.

As for the stones you describe, they might belong to a category best used for wood an acrylic.

Coincidentally If it will let me, i am hoping to post a ring with a variable height bezel in Show and Tell Today. Dennis.

[Patstone]

I will keep an eye open for that, for me its still a huge learning curve, and I learn a lot from the tools you guys use. Thanks once more, regards, Pat