Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
gizmodo.com: They normally sell for $100 and up, but Dremel has found a way to make its rotary multi-tools a lot cheaper for anyone who already has a workshop full of equipment. Instead of having its own motor inside, the company’s new VRT1 is powered by the suction from a vacuum.
8 comments:
Daniel S
said...
As stated in the article, I think this Dremel is great for small jobs and DIYers. One of the potential problems with this tool is the potential lack of consistency of power delivery from a shopvac. Not only do different shopvacs have different levels of suction that would cause the tool to spin at different speeds, but the level of suction from a shopvac can often vary while in use (I know this from personal experience). Once the shopvac actually starts vacuuming, the suction starts to decrease based on the amount of material it is trying to move, the type of material, and the size of the material. Assuming this Dremel tool makes fine dust, the vacuum should still operate normally, but it could decrease in the force of suction during use. Another issue with this product is that it looks like it uses a relatively small hose. Most larger shopvacs (like the ones most people have) come with larger hoses. One would also have to buy an adapter to use this tool. And one also has to buy or purchase a shopvac.
This is a pretty cool innovation in the realm od Dremmel, and is definitely geared towards the average person. The severe drop in price is great marketing and bump in availability for everyday consumers, and the drop of quality of torque shouldn’t affect common jobs for the everyday person. I think it is a great business decision for Dremmel because this tool must be less expensive to produce without its own motor, and by having a resource that people already have power it, they don’t have to worry as much about repairs to that part of the model. The accessories look minimal for this Dremmel model, which still allows for those crazy attachment packs to be sold at probably a greater price than the device itself. Also the general idea of having a vacuum cleaner power a rotary tool in the first place is brilliant and I would be super interested to see the actual functions of the device.
I have complete an absolute trust in the engineers over at Dremel. They have made great little pieces of machinery, but I do not understand how this could possibly work. I believe that it does, I just don’t get how. First of all, I would say the average vacuum has trouble picking up the weight of a 3” screw so I do not see how that suction power could possibly provide enough power to sand wood or even cut through drywall. Also, if the suction is pulling through the turbine and is also pulling dust particles, wouldn’t there be interference. Im all sort of confused as to how this will work. And Daniel makes a good point that the hose shown in this picture is a small hose that is not found on many shop vacs, especially none that I think could power this little tool (but I don’t think any vacuum could power this tool so what do I know).
I think the combination vacuum and cutting utensil is a fascinating and reminds me of the high tech dust collection units that professional shops use on our saws and other tools but for the common person. I’m not sure how practical the tool is and certainly would prefer to have a pneumatic tool that relied on the compressed air in the shop rather than a vacuum but I’m sure there are some scenarios this tool would be just perfect for. I will be sticking to my normal dremmel for now and for the foreseeable future but it is still good to see a relatively new company like this one experimenting and expanding their product lineup. I for one would love to see dremmel expand their expertise more towards the rest of the tool industry and to add another competitor into the mix. Until then however I wish them luck on this newest product.
`This is actually a great idea. It provides dust collection and power using the same energy as something that would only provide power.
I mean, we have a lot of pneumatic tools that operate with a central source of compressed air, why shouldn’t we have the same system with suction. At least with suction you might get the added benefit of dust collection with the tool.
I guess the only problem with this is that the power is pretty much limited. There can never be more suction than the difference between one atmosphere and vacuum. You can’t have less pressure than vacuum. You can have as much compression of gas as you want.
I want this dremel. With all the cords and battery charging docks that come with tools and cameras and other various technological items, its nice to always know you can use this tool. While I am the killer of vacuums, even though I clean them out after ever use, I manage to kill about one a year. Yet, somehow normally the hose survives and I could still use my dremel, even if I can not vacuum my rug. Some days it can be the small victories. I would be curious to see what the difference in power is between this and the plug in or battery operated ones. My perforce is the plug in dremels, but if i can pull the same power out of my vacuum cleaner, I’d be happy to be rid of another cord in my apartment. I’m sure the large hose would get in my way when I was using the dremel at some point, but I’d still like to have one.
So it is always nice to be able to go shopping, and but a new tool that would be cheaper for whatever kind of work you do. This dremel tool I feel is only as good as the vacuum. That’s the downside of it all. If you have a really bad suction, what part of the tool would be good for you? It would probably do pretty well for styrofoam. The tool in this case is only as good as the vacuum. Yes, the price is good enough for I guess home use, when space is limited unlike a shop. What would be interesting to see is if they come out with various other tools that will be able to be powered in similar ways such as this. Is this the start of a tool revolution? Then at the same time, is the limiting factor because it is being attached to a vacuum, the length of the hose? I know there are many shop vacuums that only have like a five foot hose, in which then you would have to start working on some adapters or hose extensions to be able to get the job done.
8 comments:
As stated in the article, I think this Dremel is great for small jobs and DIYers. One of the potential problems with this tool is the potential lack of consistency of power delivery from a shopvac. Not only do different shopvacs have different levels of suction that would cause the tool to spin at different speeds, but the level of suction from a shopvac can often vary while in use (I know this from personal experience). Once the shopvac actually starts vacuuming, the suction starts to decrease based on the amount of material it is trying to move, the type of material, and the size of the material. Assuming this Dremel tool makes fine dust, the vacuum should still operate normally, but it could decrease in the force of suction during use. Another issue with this product is that it looks like it uses a relatively small hose. Most larger shopvacs (like the ones most people have) come with larger hoses. One would also have to buy an adapter to use this tool. And one also has to buy or purchase a shopvac.
This is a pretty cool innovation in the realm od Dremmel, and is definitely geared towards the average person. The severe drop in price is great marketing and bump in availability for everyday consumers, and the drop of quality of torque shouldn’t affect common jobs for the everyday person. I think it is a great business decision for Dremmel because this tool must be less expensive to produce without its own motor, and by having a resource that people already have power it, they don’t have to worry as much about repairs to that part of the model. The accessories look minimal for this Dremmel model, which still allows for those crazy attachment packs to be sold at probably a greater price than the device itself. Also the general idea of having a vacuum cleaner power a rotary tool in the first place is brilliant and I would be super interested to see the actual functions of the device.
I have complete an absolute trust in the engineers over at Dremel. They have made great little pieces of machinery, but I do not understand how this could possibly work. I believe that it does, I just don’t get how. First of all, I would say the average vacuum has trouble picking up the weight of a 3” screw so I do not see how that suction power could possibly provide enough power to sand wood or even cut through drywall. Also, if the suction is pulling through the turbine and is also pulling dust particles, wouldn’t there be interference. Im all sort of confused as to how this will work. And Daniel makes a good point that the hose shown in this picture is a small hose that is not found on many shop vacs, especially none that I think could power this little tool (but I don’t think any vacuum could power this tool so what do I know).
I think the combination vacuum and cutting utensil is a fascinating and reminds me of the high tech dust collection units that professional shops use on our saws and other tools but for the common person. I’m not sure how practical the tool is and certainly would prefer to have a pneumatic tool that relied on the compressed air in the shop rather than a vacuum but I’m sure there are some scenarios this tool would be just perfect for. I will be sticking to my normal dremmel for now and for the foreseeable future but it is still good to see a relatively new company like this one experimenting and expanding their product lineup. I for one would love to see dremmel expand their expertise more towards the rest of the tool industry and to add another competitor into the mix. Until then however I wish them luck on this newest product.
`This is actually a great idea. It provides dust collection and power using the same energy as something that would only provide power.
I mean, we have a lot of pneumatic tools that operate with a central source of compressed air, why shouldn’t we have the same system with suction. At least with suction you might get the added benefit of dust collection with the tool.
I guess the only problem with this is that the power is pretty much limited. There can never be more suction than the difference between one atmosphere and vacuum. You can’t have less pressure than vacuum. You can have as much compression of gas as you want.
I want this dremel. With all the cords and battery charging docks that come with tools and cameras and other various technological items, its nice to always know you can use this tool. While I am the killer of vacuums, even though I clean them out after ever use, I manage to kill about one a year. Yet, somehow normally the hose survives and I could still use my dremel, even if I can not vacuum my rug. Some days it can be the small victories. I would be curious to see what the difference in power is between this and the plug in or battery operated ones. My perforce is the plug in dremels, but if i can pull the same power out of my vacuum cleaner, I’d be happy to be rid of another cord in my apartment. I’m sure the large hose would get in my way when I was using the dremel at some point, but I’d still like to have one.
So it is always nice to be able to go shopping, and but a new tool that would be cheaper for whatever kind of work you do. This dremel tool I feel is only as good as the vacuum. That’s the downside of it all. If you have a really bad suction, what part of the tool would be good for you? It would probably do pretty well for styrofoam. The tool in this case is only as good as the vacuum. Yes, the price is good enough for I guess home use, when space is limited unlike a shop. What would be interesting to see is if they come out with various other tools that will be able to be powered in similar ways such as this. Is this the start of a tool revolution? Then at the same time, is the limiting factor because it is being attached to a vacuum, the length of the hose? I know there are many shop vacuums that only have like a five foot hose, in which then you would have to start working on some adapters or hose extensions to be able to get the job done.
Post a Comment