Is a rotary tool (eg Dremel) a useful or even mandatory tool in conjunction with a 3D printer? What tool do you mostly use in your 3D printed projects? I know this is very dependent on each one’s specific interest but I would like to know nonetheless.
Personally, in short, no. At least not mandatory. Useful gets even more subjective. In the 3 years of printing for myself and others, I’ve relied on the rotary tool for one unique project where I was gluing pieces together. I used the rotary tool to weld/infill the seams with pieces of PLA filament.
Most important and most used tool besides a caliper , wire cutter and a piece of paper: Stanley knife (in Germany called “Cutter”). I have a rotary tool but I’ve never used it in connection with my 3D printer until now.
#2 Xacto knife is my most used deburr tool.
Not much since you rarely want to cut 3D printed part because if you want a cut then you should do it in designing phase in the first place, but that doesn’t mean rotary tools is useless, in some case it would be handy to have.
Tools I use in 3D printed part? Cordless drill, box cutter, deburring tool, flat cutter, file, sand paper, hand tap, soldering iron+brass insert.
A thin spatula to remove prints from the bed. A pair of tweezers. A swiveling debur tool. All handy tools which I use alot.
Rotary tool tends to be too fast for normal work on printed parts. Grinding/cutting/buffing, even on the lowest speed of my tool, tends to melt the plastic.
A small file set, assorted emery boards and a flat pieces of wood with varying sandpaper glued on. The only mechanical thing I use is my elbow…!
Nah, like Carlton said, rotary tools just melt my plastic. And my collet isn’t the right size to chuck up filament, so I can’t weld with it, either.
I use lotsa hobby knives. A friend bought a cheap hobby woodworking kit with a ton of knives and chisels. A drill and a hacksaw might help for heavier modifications.
Oh, and a flush cutter (not diagonal pliers) is awesome for trimming little picks, blobs, and strings.
I do wish I had a tiny plane for trimming my first-layer lip.
@Alex_Wiebe
It depends on how skillfully one can wield a rotary tool as well.
There are many things that can be accomplished with a rotary tool.
I say that as a jeweler, so I am pretty handy with such things.
I’m a machinist too, so I could see where a rotary tool in place of the extruder might be a good thing in some instances as well.
The point being, good effect with any tool depends on practice and tool quality and characteristics.
I’ve found mine to be useful on occasion but I think it’s pretty far down the priority list.
Ok, I believe I have my answer for the rotary tool, so unless one is into crafts it is only a tool that’s going to be used on occasion. Thanks all for your answers.
+1 on the Deburring tool @korpx . So much better than a sharp knife for removing brims,