Making Dremel EZ Lock accessories

[mklotz]

The Dremel EZ Lock Mandrel (lower right in first photo) makes interchanging tools on Dremel motor tools, or any other tools that can accept a 1/8" shaft, such as a Foredom, particularly easy. Push down, twist and the sanding disk, buffing wheel or other tool fitted with the female part (see example next to mandrel) that mates to the mandrel locks in place instantly; no messing with collet chucks, keyless chucks, or chuck keys.

The buffing wheel shown in the photo does a superb job removing flash rust from tools and leaving a very finely brushed finish so I use a lot of them. However they wear out fast and it really pains my stingy nature to discard that EZ Lock fitting when they do. I decided to try making an EZ Lock sanding disk from this one.



I rough cut a disk from thin plywood and fitted an M2 screw in the middle to act as a guide when the disk is glued to the female fitting. I chose to use JB Weld for the glue since the available area on the fitting is small so I want a tenacious glue. The part of the screw that goes into the fitting for centering was liberally smeared with grease so the glue wouldn't weld it in place.

When the glue dried, the plywood disk was attached to the mandrel and spun against a sanding block to remove all traces of my errant sawing. Then it was traced onto a piece of self-adhesive sandpaper disk as used on larger disk sanders. This was cut out and stuck to the plywood yielding a new, somewhat larger than Dremel size, easily-interchanged sanding device with replaceable sandpaper.





Next time you're about to discard one of those fittings think about what unique, specialized attachment you could make to add to your Dremel arsenal.

[DIYer]

Thanks mklotz! We've added your Dremel EZ Lock Sanding Disc to our Rotary Tools category,
as well as to your builder page: mklotz's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Dremel EZ Lock Sanding Disc by mklotz

tags: Dremel, disc sander

[thevillageinn]

I do wonder about all the clever little tools which would be on display if you ever opened the garage mahal up for tours...

[mklotz]

I do wonder about all the clever little tools which would be on display if you ever opened the garage mahal up for tours...

A tour of Garaj Mahal would have to be one person at a time. My shop shares a two car garage with two full-sized cars. Fortunately, the house was built in the 50s so the garages were sized for the boat-sized vehicles of the time.

Most of my tools that I find a bit clever are already documented here. What aren't documented are some of the clever storage systems needed to fit three cubic meters of tools into two cubic meters of space (i.e., the classic blivet). Most of those are so dependent on the particular geometry of the Garaj that they would be useless to anyone else so I haven't bothered to document them here.

[thevillageinn]

I never have much interest in showing off my shop either....not just because the walkway which encompasses 3 sides of my main bench isn't wide enough for 2 people to pass each other.

Thanks for all you've shared though!

[jdurand]

I never have much interest in showing off my shop either....not just because the walkway which encompasses 3 sides of my main bench isn't wide enough for 2 people to pass each other.

Thanks for all you've shared though!

No pictures of my current shop, the camera refuses to take pictures of something looking like that.

However, the new shop is coming along, it's the big room furthest away. AND IT'S HEATED! I REALLY look forward to not freezing appendages off handling metal in winter.