Rotary Tool? thoughts by users...

[21pro]

considering my options for rotary tools...

anyone with experience with
RotoZip
Dremel
Dewalt Rotary Saw
Craftsman variety

or any others? how many amps do I need? my angle grinders are 10 and 15 amps (alot of power, but heavy)

seems that my jigsaw, angle grinder, drill and a couple hand tools can do everything these rotary tools can do but with more power...

what I want to use a rotary tool for?... drywalling, tiling, cutting baseboards for flooring, etc... no crafty hobby use for me.

 

[HAMSTER INSPECTOR]

It would all depend on what you do with it.

I am a DO-I-YOURSELFER but I do not need to use the too all the time. I use it about once a month. I have a Dremel, but I bought the 300 piece accessory kit from Canadian Tire to compliment my tool. If I do not already have the Dremel and needa rotary tool, I would wait for the Canadian Tire rotary tool to go on special at about $10. I have seen it at that price a few weeks ago, and the cpeical seems to com back around overy 3 or 4 months.
Personaly, this is how I used it in the last year. I recently cut a steel cable to hold my car tent down, I used it to cut off a bolt, I used it to carve my house number into the recycle box. So, if you use it like I do and not for work, wait for the Canadian Tire rotary tool to come on special, I only have the Dremel because it was a gift. You can not beat $10 for a rotary tool, and $10 for a 300 piece rotary tool accessory kit at Canaian tire, but you will have to wait for it to go on speical.

 

[herames]

princess auto has one...but it depends on your usage...you could go over kill and buy a Fordom tool from LeeValley tools...thats the cats ass. My personal pick is the Sears one...probably made by Dremel for Sears.

edit: (quote)what I want to use a rotary tool for?... drywalling, tiling, cutting baseboards for flooring, etc... no crafty hobby use for me. (quote)

get the Fein too with the oscillating head...
http://www.fein.de/fein-multimaster/ca/en/main/ fun for a girl and a boy...you SO would play with it too...don't think there is a Dildo attachement !?

 

[TRX]

my rotary tool saves me a lot of time for fixing my car. eg: rusted nut that hard to loosen up and hard to reach, I just cut the nut sideways to split with rotary tools with flexible extension adaptor.

I have Mastercraft from Canadian tire. $30+ when on sale with accessories.

the $10 rotary tool @ CT when on sale as mention by fellow terbite above has only 1 RPM fixed speed
while the Mastercraft had adjustable 5 speed

 

[Master Baiter]

I've used the Dremel for cutting tiles etc and works well. I ended up picking up the Dewalt for heavy duty work ie drywall etc. IMHO, the Dremel isn't cut out for heavy day to day use, more for finesse work.

 

[tboy]

MY first rotary tool was the original Dremel and this was about 30+ yrs ago, it gave up the ghost finally last year so I bought a CTC model. That lasted about a month. I bought another dremel and use it constantly and it's still going strong.

All these types of tools are for finesse work, they're not cut out (pun intended lol) to cut through 2 x 4's or steel I beams.

The ctc multi tip kits are a great deal. I picked up a huge set for $9.99 there but believe me, they're shit. For eg: the tip for attaching grinding stones or cut off wheels, out of the 4 that came with the kit, 3 stripped with hand tightening. I have an original dremel from 30+ yrs ago and it is fine.

As the saying goes: you get what you pay for because you will pay the same for ONE dremel grinding stone as you do for the entire 101 piece CTC kit and it shows. Dremel or Foredom are THE best rotary tools. If you want one to last decades, buy the best. If you just use it once every few months, then it doesn't matter.

(btw, many if not most of the craftsman models are dremels in disguise).

 

[onehunglow]

Have two Roto Zips. One i bought and the other came as a gift a week later. Love them but after using them i really would have preferred something smaller like a Dremel tool.

Ask yourself what you want to use them for and then ask yourself what you might be able to use them for. You will find many more jobs for these tools than you think. Either way both are a great tool to have.

 

[joseppi]

I bought the cheap master craft Dremel tool at Canadian Tire. It is on sale often for $20. It is easily as good as any of the brand names machines. Cant go wrong for $20.

 

[Doctor Zoidburg]

Did you know that in Quebec you can get COQ ROTI everywhere?

 

[tboy]

I bought the cheap master craft Dremel tool at Canadian Tire. It is on sale often for $20. It is easily as good as any of the brand names machines. Cant go wrong for $20.

WRONG

 

[lomotil]

Did you know that in Quebec you can get COQ ROTI everywhere?

Coq roti pour les pequists seulement, n'est-ce pas? Premier ministre du Quebec, Monsieur S. Harper aime poulet? Rona vend le Dremel?

 

[Deviant]

The $20. Jobmate I had didnt last very long, I currently use a dremel .

 

[The Bandit]

the $10 rotary tool @ CT when on sale as mention by fellow terbite above has only 1 RPM fixed speed
while the Mastercraft had adjustable 5 speed

I got an electrical box with a plug and a dimmer switch, and made it adjustable speed.

 

[tboy]

Rub jumps back in and still hasn't changed.....DOH. I uhderstand completely the original question you arrogant SOB.

The op specifically said "tiling". I use my dremel almost constantly on tiling to cut around fixture openings, for making nice clean holes for mounting towel bars etc, and for creating oddball shaped tiles when required. The solid carbide dremel bit cuts through ceramic tiles like a hot knife through butter.

With the rotary saw and router base attachment a dremel is perfect for cutting out electrical box openings.

So, I stand by my reccommendation: buy the original Dremel and you'll probably get 30 yrs out of it.

 

[tboy]

Well, good luck to you rub because I DO use the right tool for the job and the right tool is the one that does the job perfectly, quickly, and easily.

If you're using a rotary tool for cutting baseboard YOU are using the wrong tool for the job. The CORRECT tool for undercutting door jambs etc would be a flush cut saw. Bosch, Fein and others make them. But you CAN use a biscuit joiner to undercut jambs and that too works great.
BTW: Dewalt doesn't make a rotary saw.....

Now maybe YOU should go back and read the original post: the OP specifically mentioned weight being a factor and the light weight alternative IS a dremel.

As the original post specifically mentioned rotary tools, and as defined by the site: http://rotary-tools.org/, my advice is still applicable.

 

[Hangman]

I bought the 300 piece accessory kit from Canadian Tire to complement my tool.

I just like this sentence from Hamster Inspector very much.

Please return to whatever y'all are arguing about...

 

[21pro]

well.

results.

rotozip- not powerful enough to do heavy nail cutting (removing roofing nails on inside of sheathing (attic) so that I can work between rafters without splitting my head...) got the makita 4" angle grinder - disc lasts 100x's longer than a rotozip or dremel disc anyways...

for drywal rotozip works, but got to use my sub's dewalt rotary tool... it's the same amps but seriously EATS through 5/8" drywall and blue and green board and plywood as well. He also said that using the Makita laminate trimming rotary tool is the best....

so anyways, i returned my rotozip and my search continues.

I did, however buy the Dremel Multi-Max.

 

[hardlicks]

21pro try Fein Multimaster. EATS through drywall,tile grout,does an absolutely fantastic job of trimming door casings around flooring. Check it out on Youtube.

Pros: very powerful - NOT a toy
like cutting through butter

Cons: Expensive (you get what you pay for)
German engineering (vibration technology)
Blades are expensive - but - made to last

I have had mine for 1 year. NO regrets.

hardlicks

 

[tboy]

Yeah, fein, lol, if only......(and yeah, they are not cheap......)