cutting with dremel

[Chattxj]

I about to trim up my stock bumper. Can a dremel tool handle this?

[Jeepsloth]

Sure, it might take some time though.

[Chattxj]

thats what i was thinking. I think a buddy of mine might have a sawzall

[rocklandxjer]

your going to use a TON of dremel wheels. they tend to wear out pretty quick. either use a sawzall or a 4" grinder

[rehab]

you could spend the 50 bucks on dremel blades or buy a 4in cut of wheel for under or the same price... just my 0.02

[planefixer]

Dirt cheap and works great.Much better control than a Sawzall.Get some thin, cut-off discs for it and you'll be set.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=31309

[rocklandxjer]

o jeez!! i thought for some reason that you had said cutting your fenders.

Hell, your stock bumper? that would eat at least 100 cutoff wheels on a dremel. it ate about a quarter of one of my 4" grinder cut off wheels (it was a brittle wheel, but still...)

[Ramsey]

Dirt cheap and works great.Much better control than a Sawzall.Get some thin, cut-off discs for it and you'll be set.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=31309
my better grinder died yesterday and i needed one then so i went and picked up the 4.5 one at HF for 19$. works fine, i think i'll get my 19$ out of it.

[87manche]

my $19 HF grinder has built a bumper and done an axle swap. The geartrain is noisy as hell but it works fine.
I was amazed that they included new brushes for the motor, like I was going to bother.

[Matthew Currie]

That sounds like a really frustrating job! Those Dremel wheels are so small and fragile I usually lose one or two just approaching the work before I even get to cut anything. Great for little, inaccessible spots, slicing off a recalcitrant bolt, or slotting a mangled screw head. But for anything big, almost anything would be better, I think.

For a bumper, I'd use a proper angle grinder, even a dirt-cheap one of the sort you can find at cheapo marts and Big Lots. As others have pointed out, you're likely to break enough little Dremel disks to equal the cost of a cheap grinder. If you have a Tractor Supply store nearby, check their discount bins. They sometimes sell stacks of cutoff wheels very cheaply.

[FitchVA]

i advocate using a dremel to cut the fenders all day long. but i would NOT suggest using it to trim the bumper. as thin as it is, it's still too thick for the dremel. i used my father's dewalt angle grinder to make fast work of it.

[anodyne33]

even a dirt-cheap one of the sort you can find at cheapo marts and Big Lots.

FWIW I just picked up a $13 Big Lots angle grinder and it works like a charm.

[Chattxj]

looks like im off to the big lots and then to the tractor supply just down the road. thanks for the replies.

[8Mud]

looks like im off to the big lots and then to the tractor supply just down the road. thanks for the replies.

If your new to angle grinders, don't forget a face shield and/or safety glasses. Learn to stand or kneel to the shroud side of the grinder. Treat that sucker with respect, even the small ones can cause big grief.
If the disc gets clamped in the work, it can shatter and the pieces can really do some damage.
Last month I drove the nieghbor to the emergency room to get a 2 inch wedge of grinder disc removed from his cheek (maybe an inch below his eye). That chunk of blade was really stuck in there.
I watched the neighbor using his grinder before and tried to explain to him it wasn't an axe and you had the keep the disc square in the cut. Forcing it just ate up blades and didn't really help it to cut any quicker and trying to cut a curve was, in most instances, a waste of time.
Getting the right blade for the cut is also important, the very thin blades cut better, but wear quicker and shatter easier. Cutting blades and grinding blades are not interchangable.

[Chattxj]

Ya if i end up buying an angle grinder im gonna practice on some small stuff first. Thanks for the tips.

[kst8engineer]

I've seen the pics of FitchVA's bumper trimming job, but what about the rest of you that have done it? Post'em up! I'm trying to figure out exactly how I want to trim mine.

Thanks

[Stumpalump]

A Dremel is widly acepted as a worthless gadjet. They have a tip for tile grout removal and it is awsome at that. For the price of the wheels you will go thru you can get the cheapest jig saw you can find and put a metal cutting blade on it and it will work wonders. I have a 4 1/2" cutoff wheel for my grinder I would use for a bumper. The grinder is the most used tool in my shop! I have a die grinder with cutoff wheels and a sawsaw and oxy acetalene torch ect ect but to do my fender trimming with the cheopo jig saw with a metal blade, it works the best. The blades break easy but they come in multi pacs. Pawn shops are loaded with grinders and jig saws just offer half the asking price. If you wind up with a grinder and I hope you do, allways wear eye/ear protection and gloves. These thing go to the bone in an instant. Pick up a twisted wire wheel for it and a flapper sand disk along with a thin wheel for cutoff and thick wheels for grinding. Some shops use three grinders with a different wheel on each one.

[Matthew Currie]

A Dremel is widly acepted as a worthless gadjet. They have a tip for tile grout removal and it is awsome at that. For the price of the wheels you will go thru you can get the cheapest jig saw you can find and put a metal cutting blade on it and it will work wonders. I have a 4 1/2" cutoff wheel for my grinder I would use for a bumper. The grinder is the most used tool in my shop! I have a die grinder with cutoff wheels and a sawsaw and oxy acetalene torch ect ect but to do my fender trimming with the cheopo jig saw with a metal blade, it works the best. The blades break easy but they come in multi pacs. Pawn shops are loaded with grinders and jig saws just offer half the asking price. If you wind up with a grinder and I hope you do, allways wear eye/ear protection and gloves. These thing go to the bone in an instant. Pick up a twisted wire wheel for it and a flapper sand disk along with a thin wheel for cutoff and thick wheels for grinding. Some shops use three grinders with a different wheel on each one.

While I agree for this particular job, and would definitely recommend a cheap angle grinder with a cutoff wheel, I must put in my word for the lowly little Dremel, which, despite its fragile cutoff wheels, has saved my bacon countless times in situations where nothing else would fit. There are times when the clean removal of some rusted or jammed part is worth the price of a couple of little wheels, and also times when the ability to cut a neat slot in a mangled screw head is the last and only resort.

But for anything larger, get an angle grinder, a tool you'll never ever be sorry you own!

And absolutely, eye protection especially with a cutoff wheel. You're in the house of flying daggers here.

[GSequoia]

I also advocate hearing protection when grinding, those puppies get LOUD. But then that's me, working on the Jeep means gloves, glasses, and hearing protection whenever doing noisy stuff ;)


Oh - and Dremil's rock ;) That's what put the hole in my roof for the sunroof :D