Dremel or angle grinder?

[Paul]

I need to cut a gel-coated stone resin tray. The tray is about 10mm thick and - for all intents - stone. The notch will be about 5mm deep and 5cm long. I need to do this so that the tray isn't resting directly on the cold water feed to the shower (which I have dropped as low as I can).

The alternative is to raise the whole tray up by 5mm, which knocks everything else out of whack.

Some research suggests that my power drill might not be best for this. Would a dremel be up to it, or do I need an angle grinder?

[pcolbeck]

Either should work as they process would essentially be the same. More important would be the type of disc you used on either. You will need a diamond ceramic cutting disk of some type. Some of these need to be used wet and some can be used dry.
I guess it comes down to which you fancy a dremmel or a 4 inch angle grinder, which would be more use on other projects? An angle grinder would be cheaper but a suitable disk probably more expansive (biiger),

[Chris N]

I'm cheap, so I'd try with an abrasive hacksaw blade or hand tile saw first.
https://www.permagrit.com/hs12/ or https://www.screwfix.com/p/vitrex-tile-saw/8884d

[rafletcher]

I'm cheap, so I'd try with an abrasive hacksaw blade or hand tile saw first.
https://www.permagrit.com/hs12/ or https://www.screwfix.com/p/vitrex-tile-saw/8884d

Seconded

[T42]

I guess it comes down to which you fancy a dremmel or a 4 inch angle grinder, which would be more use on other projects? An angle grinder would be cheaper but a suitable disk probably more expansive (biiger),

Our local DIY palace is flogging small angle grinders for 12 euros - probably good for a couple of jobs.  They also have discs at 1.60 euros.

[mrcharly-YHT]

What chris said.

You are cutting stone in resin, not stone. You really don't want to cut away too much (you didn't say how wide the notch needed to be). I would try doing it with a file first.

[Paul]

I’m a big fan of the cheap solution. I’ve got a tile saw but it hadn’t occurred to me. I’ll be surprised if doesn’t take me a Shawshank*, however: it might just be stone in resin, but it’s very substantial.

In any event, I have several tiles in situ to cut, so some sort of spinning blade is still needed.

(*a variable unit of time equivalent to however long it takes to do a job with a suboptimal tool)

[Chris N]

Angle grinder then. 

[CarlF]

Fein Multimaster (or one of the cheaper equivalents that are available now that Fein’s patents have run out, but the Fein is top quality). Absolutely made for the too big for a Dremel / too delicate for an angle grinder jobs, and the remodelling/refurbishing jobs where you need to chop something out neatly without demolishing things.

[pcolbeck]

Mrs Pcolbeck still shudders when reminded of the day we moved into this house 18 years ago and I found out at about 6:00pm that the toilet was broken and concreted into the floor (it's a bungalow with concrete floors). I shot off at top speed to the only place available to buy a new loo on a Saturday evening returning with their cheapest loo and the biggest Makita angle grinder they sold. Cue google eyed audience of Mrs Pcolbeck and my mum as angle grinder was applied to porcelain. New loo installed by 10:00pm including a 30 mile round trip to B&Q.
I still have that angle grinder, Makita stuff is ace.

[Wombat]

Fein Multimaster (or one of the cheaper equivalents that are available now that Fein’s patents have run out, but the Fein is top quality). Absolutely made for the too big for a Dremel / too delicate for an angle grinder jobs, and the remodelling/refurbishing jobs where you need to chop something out neatly without demolishing things.

Yes, definitely.  Far, far less violent and scary than an angle grinder, and a Very Useful Tool, for the future.  I bought my Fein Multimaster just before the cheaper clones came out, and while it was indeed expensive, ten years later I am bloody glad I bought it.  They tend to answer lots of those "how the hell am I going to cut/grind/sand that?" questions.  Useful abilities, such as being able to cut through a door architrave which has a kitchen unit hard up alongside it.  You can go straight in from the front.  I have wood and metal saw blades, tungsten carbide saw and grinding blades, and loads of sanding things, as one of its functions is as a delta sander.  Cutting tiles in situ, or cutting out grout, or removing tile residue from a wall surface are also in its remit. I recently used it to widen the letter box opening in a UPVC door with aluminium internal reinforcement.

[Brucey]

I recently bought a replacement Bosch angle grinder (the last one only lasted 30 years what a swizz) and the basic green one cost me ~£33 locally in some random sale.  It has a plain bushing at one end of the wheel shaft ( the old blue one had a roller bearing there) but it should last about a decade I reckon. It will accept slightly larger wheels than it says it will, and has a ~7/8" centre and a M14 thread.

Wheels vary enormously in price depending on where you buy them; best to shop around.

BTW angle grinder is not a scary tool if you know how to use it.

cheers

[T42]

Angle grinder then. 

Better get a Dremel as well, just to be sure. Or a Proxxon, which uses rational units.

[pcolbeck]

I recently bought a replacement Bosch angle grinder (the last one only lasted 30 years what a swizz) and the basic green one cost me ~£33 locally in some random sale.  It has a plain bushing at one end of the wheel shaft ( the old blue one had a roller bearing there) but it should last about a decade I reckon. It will accept slightly larger wheels than it says it will, and has a ~7/8" centre and a M14 thread.

Blue Bosch = Proffesional
Green Bosh = DIY

That's why your green one has a plain bushing rather than a roller bearing. They don't expect it to actually get that much use ion its lifetime. I read that the expected life of a DIY electric drill is 15 minutes. Sounds ridiculously short but when you think of what most people buy them for, putting up a shelf once a year probably uses up maybe 10 seconds of that 15 minutes it starts to make sense.

[Brucey]

yup, I have sprung for blue bosch tools in the past because they are better built; it varies with the tools but gearboxes and motors can be different; for example blue drills have continuously rated motors and green ones don't. Blue drills have better gearboxes but in some cases these are shared with some green models too. Both green and blue angle grinders use continuously rated motors so the main difference in this case is indeed the roller bearing in the gearbox and sometimes the way the guard is mounted.

I do a lot of welding and grinding and usually have three angle grinders on the go so that I can swap between grinding, cutting, and wirebrushing (twisted knot cup brush) at will. I also have an M14 drill chuck and this will accept twist drills, grindstones, and burr grinder bits etc so the angle grinders often get used for that kind of job too.

 I use these tools for many hours at a time and I find that I wear out brushes regardless and gearboxes too if I don't maintain them; I lubricate the gearboxes with SFG and this gets around the gearbox better than the usual grease they use; with the standard grease it can get hurled to the side of the housing, leaving the gear and the bearings to run basically dry. With the SFG inside them, the gearboxes run a lot more quietly  and wear less.  The tailshaft bearing can also fail and I replace that with a full-complement directional bearing; this way there is no cage to break up.

 The failed grinder needs a rewind; after 20-30 years the shellac on the windings seems to break down.  If anyone knows of a good, reasonably priced rewinder, do say; I have several other Bosch tools that need it and can't be replaced for thirty-odd quid.

cheers

[Paul]

Thanks all for the replies. I got a Dremel in the end. It went through the shower tray beautifully (I only needed to make a shallow notch about 4mm deep and 4cm long).

It’s a nice tool and I can see it getting some use.

[andytheflyer]

Thanks all for the replies. I got a Dremel in the end. It went through the shower tray beautifully (I only needed to make a shallow notch about 4mm deep and 4cm long).

It’s a nice tool and I can see it getting some use.

I build radio control model aeroplanes.  I'm on my second cordless Dremel after about 15 years, and I reckon that they are invaluable for small diy jobs. I use mine almost every day for aeromodelling, or drilling small holes up to 3mm, say for pilot holes in wood to take screws, and with the cutting discs for cutting hard metals.  They are not cheap, but they last well, and are repairable - I've just had to order a new speed control dial for mine as it's got iffy.  You'll not regret buying a Dremel when used for the right jobs.

[Paul]

I had to cut some tiles down to approx 10x15mm. It took seconds with the Dremel.
Later the same evening I was replacing the cables and outers on the Longstaff. I hate cutting outers. I was halfway through cutting the first with my junior hacksaw (because that’s how I always do it), when the penny dropped.
The Dremel made the job so easy and the ends are so tidy!

[andytheflyer]

Later the same evening I was replacing the cables and outers on the Longstaff. I hate cutting outers. I was halfway through cutting the first with my junior hacksaw (because that’s how I always do it), when the penny dropped.
The Dremel made the job so easy and the ends are so tidy!

There are a couple of grades of the cut-off wheel that I know of: a 'normal' one and a 'heavy duty' one, which is a bit thicker.  The normal ones cut well, and with a narrow kerf, but tend to be fragile.  If you cut a bit on the angle they shatter easily.  The heavy duty ones are more robust, but have a wider kerf. Horses for courses. 

I use my cordless Dremel almost every day for small cutting and drilling jobs.  It's probably the most-used tool I own.

[Brucey]

I had to cut some tiles down to approx 10x15mm. It took seconds with the Dremel.
Later the same evening I was replacing the cables and outers on the Longstaff. I hate cutting outers. I was halfway through cutting the first with my junior hacksaw (because that’s how I always do it), when the penny dropped.
The Dremel made the job so easy and the ends are so tidy!

angle grinder with ultrathin cutting disc does at least as good a job, but much faster.  You need to use a pointed stick to deburr the plastic liner in most cases, when they are cut like this.

BTW a Brucey top tip; short lengths of (parallel/slow helix strand SIS type) housing that have big curves in them are best prepped whilst they are curved to approximately the final shape. The reason for this is that otherwise the end of the housing may not be perfectly square, if (say) the housing is cut whilst straight and then curved.

cheers