My Milwaukee version of the Dremel hand tool, which I first discussed here...
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/dremel-fan-34122
has a number of advantages over the available Dremels but one of them is not weight. It's too heavy and rotund to be held like a pencil so in many cases it's better to bring the work to the tool rather than vice versa. Laying the tool on the bench doesn't work well; its round shape means it wants to roll about.
I decided to make a base for it that would make it stable when laid on the bench. A steel cradle with an integral large hose clamp was screwed to a chunk of 2 x 4 and strapped onto the Milwaukee as shown. Now it sits stably at a convenient working height as shown here..
The tool is heavy enough that work requiring only light pressure (e.g. sanding small pieces) can be done without further ado. Heavier work requires an addition described below.
The fact that the Milwaukee has its rather heavy battery at the rear of the tool allows the assembly to be tipped up as shown here...
This makes it easy to work facing the business end of the tool in the chuck, an arrangement that's almost impossible if the tool were handheld. If the weight of the battery isn't enough in this position, or the horizontal mode mentioned above, applying a shot-filled bean bag, as discussed here...
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/bean-bag-shop-64835
will make things a great deal more stable.
For even greater stability and an almost limitless variety of working positions, attaching a Panavise with a universal base to a bench hook yields a system that is a joy to use...
In the spirit of full disclosure, the device that holds the tool to the 2 x 4 was not made by me; it's an ancient commercial device meant to hold an electric drill motor. My contribution was putting the elements together to solve a problem and make a useful tool even more useful. I think that imagining how to combine existing tools to make even more useful assemblages is a tool in its own right and so this belongs on the forum.
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