# Best Homemade Tools >  Dremel fan

## mklotz

Dremel now makes a tiny fan to blow dust away from the tool you are using...

http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-490-Dus...el+accessories

It comes permanently attached to one of their collet chucks which is fine if you use collets to hold tools. I prefer to use their 3jaw chucks since many of my tools have different size shafts and switching collets becomes tedious if using several different tools. So, I took a bit of nylon-like plastic from the "what is this stuff?" bin and machined something that looked like an eight-bladed fan with blockish blades. Using miniature carving chisels and, of course, a Dremel, I manufactured something that friction fits the base of the 3jaw chuck.

This photo shows the Dremel fan and 3jaw chuck along with the fan I made...



and this one shows the fan in place on my Milwaukee-Dremel...




Despite lacking the ducting of the Dremel fan, my bit of sculpture produces more airflow than the Dremel fan.

A bit about the Milwaukee-Dremel...



I was casting about for a more powerful rotary tool than the Dremels I have. Dremel's newer model, the 8220, looked attractive but, while scouring Amazon, I happened upon Milwaukee's latest offering.

It has exactly the same spindle thread as the Dremels and the nose thread (3/4-12) is the same so screw-on things like the router also fit. Best of all, it takes the Milwaukee M-12 batteries. This is the same battery as used in my drill so I already have two and the charger. Milwaukee sells the unit without the battery (what I bought) although it's available with battery if you don't have one. I've been very happy with the Milwaukee batteries so I was pleased to be able to use them with this tool.

The Milwaukee has more power and less spindle run-out than the Dremel 8220. It's one drawback is that it is noisy at the higher speeds.

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C-Bag (Jan 28, 2016),

Captn Roy (Jun 12, 2018),

Christophe Mineau (Jan 28, 2016),

Home-PC (Jul 24, 2020),

Jon (Jan 26, 2016),

kbalch (Jan 26, 2016),

oldcaptainrusty (Nov 24, 2017),

Paul Jones (Jan 26, 2016),

PJs (Jan 27, 2016),

rlm98253 (Nov 20, 2017),

tom petersoin (Mar 11, 2016),

toma (Feb 8, 2018)

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## Paul Jones

Marv,
Your fan is a great improvement and also thanks for the 3-jaw chuck tip. I bought one for the Dremel but it got diverted to another micro machining project and will have to get it back. Thanks for the product info for the Dremel-like tool from Milwaukee. 
Paul

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## mklotz

> Marv,
> Your fan is a great improvement and also thanks for the 3-jaw chuck tip. I bought one for the Dremel but it got diverted to another micro machining project and will have to get it back. Thanks for the product info for the Dremel-like tool from Milwaukee. 
> Paul




Those chucks make good pin vises, too...


The thread on the Dremel spindle is 40 tpi so it's easy to make one on the lathe. Bore out the tube so it can be used to hold long stuff. Add, as I did, a removable spinner and away you go.

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jjr2001 (Feb 12, 2018),

Paul Jones (Jan 26, 2016),

PJs (Jan 27, 2016),

ranald (Feb 9, 2018),

rlm98253 (Nov 20, 2017),

tom petersoin (Mar 11, 2016)

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## DIYer

Thanks mklotz! We've added your Rotary Tool Fan to our Rotary Tools category, as well as to your builder page: mklotz's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:












Rotary Tool Fan
 by mklotz

tags: fan, Dremel, rotary tool

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## Christophe Mineau

Hi Marv,
Very nice idea again ! I will try that, especially when rooting inlay pockets, this must be great.
(Have you ever tried to blow on your work, while you are wearing a mask ? I always do that  :Lol:  )
I'm also very interested with you three jaw chuck for the Dremel, didn't know this was available. I am always complaining with the poor centering of the tools using the Dremel original colet chuck system. I suppose this gets much improved with this kind of chuck ?
And your idea for making a pin vise of it seems also a good argument for purchasing it too. 
What brand is it ? I will have to find that in Europa...
Thanks !
Christophe

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Paul Jones (Jan 28, 2016)

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## mklotz

I'm not sure of the brand. I purchase them from Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-4486-Mu...s=dremel+chuck

but I don't know if Amazon has a French operation or will ship to France. 

Jet.com has them too...

https://jet.com/product/detail/31a12...mFYaAgN78P8HAQ

but again I don't know about availability in La Belle France.

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Christophe Mineau (Jan 28, 2016),

Paul Jones (Jan 29, 2016)

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## Christophe Mineau

Thanks ! I see it's the Dremel Brand for the first, I should manage to find it

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## DIYer

Thanks mklotz! We've added your Pin Vise to our Vises category, as well as to your builder page: mklotz's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:












Pin Vise
 by mklotz

tags: vise, chuck, Dremel

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## johnclark

Thanks for the great pin vice idea. Do you have any thoughts on how to true up the runout on the 3-jaw chuck. The one I have is almost unusable with a small drill bit. I cannot figure out how to dissemble the chuck. Thanks.

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## mklotz

> Thanks for the great pin vice idea. Do you have any thoughts on how to true up the runout on the 3-jaw chuck. The one I have is almost unusable with a small drill bit. I cannot figure out how to dissemble the chuck. Thanks.



Truing chucks generally doesn't work very well. Grinding is a possibility but requires preloading the jaws which is difficult. Moreover, when done the chuck is really only accurate on the size shaft corresponding to its opening when ground.

When machinists want low runout they use collets. If you have runout problems with collets the rotary tool bearings could be at fault or the collet was machined badly. If you have a lathe try making some accurate collets; it's fairly easy to do. If your runout problem is with drills, look into carbide circuit board drills; most have a 1/8" shaft. If you can get one accurate 1/8" collet, that might help with your problem.

I don't regard the Dremel as a high precision tool. Its value lies in its size and the range of available accessories. For really accurate work you need something like a Unimat or Sherline.

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ranald (Feb 9, 2018)

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## johnclark

Thanks for the great information and advice.

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tom petersoin (Mar 11, 2016)

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## Hemi

> Those chucks make good pin vises, too...
> 
> 
> 
> The thread on the Dremel spindle is 40 tpi so it's easy to make one on the lathe. Bore out the tube so it can be used to hold long stuff. Add, as I did, a removable spinner and away you go.



Marv,
I'd KILL to be able to make one of those!!!! My Unimats would be GREATER with such a tool to hold a Dremel Mini 3 jaw chuck, and with that thread you did, would ALSO hold the Dremel Collet nut and if center drilled would hold the collets too!!!!

I don't have the tooling to make such a thing, what ya charge me for just the shaft to hold the Dremel chuck, (tube, with the same threads), I can do all the rest, I just can't turn the threads on the outside, I don't have the proper tooling for my Unimats (either of them), to do so!

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## mklotz

> Marv,
> I'd KILL to be able to make one of those!!!! My Unimats would be GREATER with such a tool to hold a Dremel Mini 3 jaw chuck, and with that thread you did, would ALSO hold the Dremel Collet nut and if center drilled would hold the collets too!!!!
> 
> I don't have the tooling to make such a thing, what ya charge me for just the shaft to hold the Dremel chuck, (tube, with the same threads), I can do all the rest, I just can't turn the threads on the outside, I don't have the proper tooling for my Unimats (either of them), to do so!



Nothing personal, Hemi, but I gave up on making things for folks a long time ago, whether for money or not. 

Is there a model club in your area? (BTW, you should put your location in your profile so it shows below your avatar). Often club folks are willing to help out a fellow member.

The other alternative is one of the maker-spaces popping up all over the country. Again, depends on your location but many of them have thread-cutting lathes available for use.

If you have a Unimat you already have a chuck much better than the Dremel chuck. The one that came with my Unimat closes to zero and has negligible runout. As for collets, the WW spindle available for the Unimat, while pricey, will give you better accuracy and a wider choice of collet sizes than you could ever get with Dremel tool-holding collets.

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## Hemi

Well thats just it, the 3 jaw chucks I have, one does turn closed to zero, the other one, does not. one came with the SL1000, and the other came with the DB200............. BUT, the issue is in my case size..... The Dremel 3 jaw chuck as well as the Dremel collects would allow me to get closer at angles then the full-on tools to the machine would with the machine backed off a bit to allow angle space........... make sense?

I have yet to go around and fill in my profile an all.... thats what ya get rushing into what all seems interesting, and forget the little stuff LOL

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## Mi Tasol

Magic set of posts in so many ways.

The fan is a great idea and hopefully someone with far more practical offspring than mine will be able to get them to design a 3D printer version of the fan for general use. At my age I am not going to even attempt to learn 3D CAD because ten years ago 2D was beyond me.  :Frown:  There is a person who sells odds and sods in the local market who will 3d print anything for a modest price - he bought the printer before learning how to do the CAD work and got as lost as I did on that but he says that there are thousands of ready to make projects on line on places like Instructables (who provided the downloads for a couple of things for me). He did a quick look this morning for me and did not find a Dremel fan.

I had no idea the Milwaukee dremel existed even tho I have a lot of other Milwaukee tools. I agree their batteries are great, not like some other brands where they only last months at best and die if used when the temperature exceeds about 35-40C (and we get plenty of that). Taking a new Rockwell drill on the roof to repair storm damage on a 35C day and finding both the batteries totally dead and unrecoverable before the job is done was not amusing. My Milwaukee batteries have already lasted well over a year and are showing no signs of age (I probably just jinxed myself) tho admittedly they have not lain on a hot tin roof. Yesterday was 40+ and today is also forecast at 40C.

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## mklotz

> Magic set of posts in so many ways.
> 
> The fan is a great idea and hopefully someone with far more practical offspring than mine will be able to get them to design a 3D printer version of the fan for general use. At my age I am not going to even attempt to learn 3D CAD because ten years ago 2D was beyond me.  There is a person who sells odds and sods in the local market who will 3d print anything for a modest price - he bought the printer before learning how to do the CAD work and got as lost as I did on that but he says that there are thousands of ready to make projects on line on places like Instructables (who provided the downloads for a couple of things for me). He did a quick look this morning for me and did not find a Dremel fan.
> 
> I had no idea the Milwaukee dremel existed even tho I have a lot of other Milwaukee tools. I agree their batteries are great, not like some other brands where they only last months at best and die if used when the temperature exceeds about 35-40C (and we get plenty of that). Taking a new Rockwell drill on the roof to repair storm damage on a 35C day and finding both the batteries totally dead and unrecoverable before the job is done was not amusing. My Milwaukee batteries have already lasted well over a year and are showing no signs of age (I probably just jinxed myself) tho admittedly they have not lain on a hot tin roof. Yesterday was 40+ and today is also forecast at 40C.



For heaven's sake, you don't need CAD and a plastic sprayer to make one of those fans. Just take a plastic disk, make a hole in it to friction fit the chuck, lay out some blades by eye and start filing. The number of blades is unimportant and they needn't be identical. It's not a precision device.

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## Hemi

> Magic set of posts in so many ways.
> 
> The fan is a great idea and hopefully someone with far more practical offspring than mine will be able to get them to design a 3D printer version of the fan for general use. At my age I am not going to even attempt to learn 3D CAD because ten years ago 2D was beyond me.  There is a person who sells odds and sods in the local market who will 3d print anything for a modest price - he bought the printer before learning how to do the CAD work and got as lost as I did on that but he says that there are thousands of ready to make projects on line on places like Instructables (who provided the downloads for a couple of things for me). He did a quick look this morning for me and did not find a Dremel fan.
> 
> I had no idea the Milwaukee dremel existed even tho I have a lot of other Milwaukee tools. I agree their batteries are great, not like some other brands where they only last months at best and die if used when the temperature exceeds about 35-40C (and we get plenty of that). Taking a new Rockwell drill on the roof to repair storm damage on a 35C day and finding both the batteries totally dead and unrecoverable before the job is done was not amusing. My Milwaukee batteries have already lasted well over a year and are showing no signs of age (I probably just jinxed myself) tho admittedly they have not lain on a hot tin roof. Yesterday was 40+ and today is also forecast at 40C.



Sorry to say but "Dremel" isn't a Milwaukee tool..... Dremel is owned by Bosch tool......

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## awright

Gad, I hate to sound like a safety Nazi, but have you considered the possibility of spraying flesh and blood on your face and project with a powerful rotary tool having a high speed fan with exposed, sharp-cornered blades very close to the hand grip tapered toward the fan? I think the Dremel shroud is not so much for fan ducting as for a modicum of safety. Better to experience a friction burn than a bloody wound. Consider also the possibility that the initial contact with the fan would drag the hand into closer proximity to the blades as, does a circular saw, rather than thrusting it away. Of course, I realize that the saw typically has a much more aggressive hook angle than the fan, but I would not like to be the one to experiment. And the fan IS drawing from the rear and blowing out the front.

I like the fan concept, but perhaps a little more effort in fabrication would be worthwhile. Like starting fabrication by drilling a series of holes an appropriate angle just inside the periphery of the disk and Dremelling(?) them out to an aerodynamic shape, leaving a smooth shroud around the blade tips.

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