Dremel Anywhere
Written: Jul 25 '02 (Updated Jul 26 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cordless with reasonable power and run time, decent kit parts
Cons: Only two speeds, a little hard to hold in my large hand
The Bottom Line: If you want the flexibility of a Dremel tool with the added flexibility of cordless operation, this could be your choice.
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| gamblin_man's Full Review: Dremel Cordless MultiPro Tool Kit 7700 |
This is a tool that I bought for my wife in self-defense. My corded Dremel MultiPro kept wandering into the house. I got tired of chasing it down and when Lowe's had a sale on the Dremel 7.2V Cordless MultiPro Kit #7700 I brought one home.
This was one of my best buys. Not only did I get to keep my corded Dremel in the shop, I get to use "hers" when I need one in the house.
About the Dremel tools
I got my first Dremel back in the late 1960's. When it finally wore out about three years ago, I bought a new version of the same tool. I think my new one is as good as or better than their '60s version. So whether to get a Dremel or one of the "Johhny-come-lately" competitors was not an issue.
All the Dremel tools are essentially a motor with a collet on the end to hold various shafted tools. It has the speed to drive high speed cutters, grinders, sanders, carving tools and even router bits. Most of these tools come with a 1/8" shank. Dremel has been packaging kits of their motor and selected bits for many years.
This tool is specifically designed for smaller tasks. Cutting a 2X4 could be done, I guess, but I wouldn't want to be the one to do it. Cutting a 1/4" dowel or a brass or steel rod, however, is where this tool shines. They are used equally by hobbiests that do fine scale modeling, jewelers, wood and other softer material carvers, and the do-it-yourself public.
Some of the things I have done with a Dremel tool and its accessories include polishing smaller metal objects, grinding the nicks out of knife and tool blades, doing a lot of the work in building jewelry boxes, engraving identification on tools, etching designs in glass, and I am starting to use it in power carving.
The Dremel Cordless MultiPro
My wife's main use for "her" Dremel is to sand callouses off her feet and other pedicure tasks. Compare this tool's price to those sold for pedicures and then compare its versatility. You will be amazed. She also uses it in her craft hobby to sand, carve, gouge and the other tasks where it works so well.
Compared to my corded MultiPro, it has less power, a lower top speed and a higher bottom speed, and only two speeds. The two speeds Dremel selected give this tool quite a bit of versatility, however. It also doesn't run as long, of course. I haven't done a definitive test but I would guess in full speed, medium load use, it would last around fifteen minutes. In normal use, it hasn't yet run down before we were finished using it for a job. The three hour charger gets the battery back up to speed quickly.
The kit
The Dremel Cordless MultiPro comes in a nice, sturdy, fitted plastic case. It has the 1/8" collet (other sizes available), a three hour charger, the 7.2 volt battery pack (additional packs available), Projects for the Imagination booklet, and 50 assorted bits and accessories.
I might as well get my rant out of the way here.
The way Dremel and others count their accessories, the 50 number is accurate. If you count the different tasks they will perform, there are only fifteen. The rest of the count is in multiple sanding sleeves, disks, and drums, arbors for the actual accessory that does the work, multiple polishing bonnets, and ... you get the idea. This is unethical and a disservice to the consumer. I have heard that this allows comparison between tools, but it doesn't. One tool may have 49 sanding drum sleeves and one sanding drum (1 useful accessory) and another could easily have 15 different functions with multiple identical pieces to make a total of 50. Which one do you think the average consumer would think was the best deal?
Rant over and review continues.
The 7700 MultiPro
The heart of this kit is the motor with collet attached. It is enclosed in an easy to grasp plastic case. The battery plugs into the back and the collet is on the other end. When gripped in the fist it has a well-balanced feel. When using the pencil grip for detail work, it is a little back heavy. It weighs nine ounces with the battery installed. No load speeds of 15,000 rpm or 7,500 rpm are selected with a switch mounted amidships (near the center of its length) that has a center off position. This switch is easy to manipulate with the holding thumb in the fist grip, but nearly impossible to do one handed when using the pencil grip. The business end comes with a 1/8" collet standard (1/32" - 1/8" capacity collets available as extras). It has a shaft lock so that you can loosen and tighten the collet without tools. The warranty is two years.
Charger
The charger is compact. It has two prongs to plug into a standard duplex outlet. It recharges a run down battery in three hours. The battery has two tabs that you depress to remove it. They press easily and the battery pops out a little to unlock it. It can only be inserted one way so there is no danger of getting the polarities backward. Spare batteries are available.
Accessories
The fifty included accessories (15 by my count) include a 1/8" drill bit, a high speed cutter. a bristle brush, a 1/2" and 1/4" drum sander with extra sanding drums (both coarse and fine), two types of polishing wheels, a bunch of cutoff wheels, a grinding wheel, and three assorted grinding stones. There are enough other accessories that will work with this tool to easily quadruple the price. This Dremel will not take accessories that fit over the base of the tool such as the router base or flexible shaft, but will handle most of the accessories designed to fit into collets. There is room in the case for additional accessories.
The bottom line
I don't have much bad to say about this tool. It has more limitations than the corded version, but the benefit is portability.If you already have a corded Dremel then getting the cordless to move your existing cutting, grinding and sanding operations away from the electrical outlets makes this a good choice. If this will be your first Dremel, consider the tradeoffs before deciding.
One great thing about Dremel is that accessories and parts are readily available in home centers, big-box stores and on-line.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
gamblin_man
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Member: Larry
Location: Pacific Northwest
Reviews written: 428
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Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional
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