Milling a frame with a Dremel? Doable?


K

Ken Portner

Member
I'm talking about making room for a speaker by cutting away part of the chassis or hollowing out the fuel tank.

Anyone ever use a Dremel to do this? If so, can you explain how and what attachments/tools you used?

Thanks.
 
I have milled some soft metal and plastic with a dremel in the dremel drill press using an end mill bit It works pretty well
 
the best way is to get a good quality end mill bit, it only has to fit a 1/8" chuck. Lots of places will sell them. cheap ones won't last more than a few minutes, so don't skrimp!
 
That is exactly what I did to my Kato GP35 frame!! Cut it with a Dremel. Pretty easy! (see att. Pic)


Carmine, modeling the HO Scale Pacific Belt RR since 1975!
 
I used a Dremel and a cutoff wheel to remove a small section of the frame in an N-scale switcher to make room for a decoder. It worked well.

- Jeff
 
Well, it took a long time and a lot of metal shavings in my hair, the Dremel cut off wheel on my face, but it worked. And I'm a complete noob. So I can do it, anyone can.
 
I've used Dremel's high speed steel cutters in 1/8" and 7/32" diameters chucked in a Dremel flex shaft with good results. The cutters ain't cheap (but neither are quality end mills) and are usually easy to find at Home Depot, Menards or Loews. What ever you use, wear safety glasses at the least or better yet would be safety goggles. Metal chips come off of a high speed cutter with a lot of velocity and what you don't need or want are a bunch of metal chips in your eyes. Grip your frame tightly in one hand (a vise would be better) and the flex shaft/Dremel motor tool in the other hand. Hold it with authority by the way, and then go slow. Small bites. If your not careful, the bit can get away from you. If your careful, it'll cut through the metal like butter. Bear in mind the bit probably won't be worth much after your done...they dull pretty quick.
Good luck and I hope this helps if you haven't already done it. Just remmember to go slow and take your time.
 
siderod said:
I've used Dremel's high speed steel cutters in 1/8" and 7/32" diameters chucked in a Dremel flex shaft with good results. The cutters ain't cheap (but neither are quality end mills) and are usually easy to find at Home Depot, Menards or Loews. What ever you use, wear safety glasses at the least or better yet would be safety goggles. Metal chips come off of a high speed cutter with a lot of velocity and what you don't need or want are a bunch of metal chips in your eyes. Grip your frame tightly in one hand (a vise would be better) and the flex shaft/Dremel motor tool in the other hand. Hold it with authority by the way, and then go slow. Small bites. If your not careful, the bit can get away from you. If your careful, it'll cut through the metal like butter. Bear in mind the bit probably won't be worth much after your done...they dull pretty quick.
Good luck and I hope this helps if you haven't already done it. Just remmember to go slow and take your time.
Click to expand...

Is the high speed cutoff tool you're referring to a round cut-off disc? Do you happen to know the part number?

Also, what is the advantage of using th flex shaft? (what is the flex shaft for that matter?). Thanks.
 
Hi Ken -

The Dremel Flex Shaft extends the cutting tool 3 feet from the Dremel tool itself. The Flex Shaft culminates in a small handle that you can hold like a pencil for fine control of the cutting tool.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so go to the following page at Amazon and view the several photos of the item:

http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-225-01-Flex-Shaft-Attachment/dp/B0000302Y8

Among other things, the small handle lets you get the cutting tool into places that would be difficult to reach with the actual Dremel.

- Jeff
 
jdetray said:
Hi Ken -

The Dremel Flex Shaft extends the cutting tool 3 feet from the Dremel tool itself. The Flex Shaft culminates in a small handle that you can hold like a pencil for fine control of the cutting tool.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so go to the following page at Amazon and view the several photos of the item:

http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-225-01-Flex-Shaft-Attachment/dp/B0000302Y8

Among other things, the small handle lets you get the cutting tool into places that would be difficult to reach with the actual Dremel.

- Jeff
Click to expand...

Thanks for chiming in Jeff! Couldn't have said it better myself. Just logged in from being out of town and see you answered Ken's question. Thanks for jumping in!

Jack
 
Ken Portner said:
Is the high speed cutoff tool you're referring to a round cut-off disc? Do you happen to know the part number?

Also, what is the advantage of using th flex shaft? (what is the flex shaft for that matter?). Thanks.
Click to expand...


Jeff did a great job of explaining a flex shaft so I'll just address your first question. No, I'm not referring to a round cut-off disc. The high speed cutter is a bit made of tool steel that has spiral grooves cut into it and is sharpened on the tips. They all comes with 1/8" shanks and are available in various diameters and shapes. I mostly use #115, #194 and # 192. Take a look/see at the attached link for shapes, part numbers and typical prices.
http://www.mytoolstore.com/dremel/1hispeed.html
 
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