MIMF

Has anyone tried this?

I have the stewmac base, and circle attachment, and I'm thinking of replacing it with the Veritas one.
IMO, Lee Valley makes much nicer stuff than Stewmac.

Also, any recommendations for a great rotary device?

My dremel scares me with sparks, and a quickly overheating motor.
Of course, I'm spoiled at work with my nsk micromotor.


http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 08&p=73720

Matthew, the Proxxon rotary tool is nice but runs a bit slow at 20,000 for inlay work. A nice air powered pencil like this Sioux pneumatic pencil grinder http://www.amazon.com/Sioux-5978A-Pneum ... ie+grinder would be my next choice. For the moment I'm using a Harbor freight knockoff which is pretty dismal and blows oil all over the work.
I've used old dremels from the 50s and 60s and they are rock solid tools. I think you need to buy 10 of the newer ones to find the one good one.

That base looks like a solid piece of engineering.
The one thing I really dislike about the stewmac base, is the difficulty of depth adjustments.

I bought the Micro Fence plunge base (microfence.com) . It is very very well made, and has lots of really nice features (lights, air hose connector). A bit pricey, but worth it considering all the features and the quality of the design and construction.

http://www.bishopcochran.com/

Check out Bishop Cochran's plunge bases, very high quality. In my book well worth the purchase price. I have owned a base for a Porter cable 310 router base for 8 years or so, a real asset to my arsenal. The only down side for me is that Porter cable discontinued the 310 laminate trimmer. Fortunately, I have two, one is old and well used but I was able to get a new one before they where gone.

For light duty tools like dremels and laminate trimmers you can plunge into the work using a standard base when making light cuts. With one side of the base resting on the work, the bit and other side above it, start the motor, grip the tool firmly, and rotate the bit into the work. Practice on scrap to get a feel for it.

I love the new base, and for folks that were looking at $300-$400 for a Microfence base or the wobbly SM base, a great price for a basic plunger.

Not to dissuade you from the Vertitas route, but a pneumatic mini-die grinder gets up to 55K or so RPM for the cheap Encos and takes standard 1/8" end mills; even a smaller portable compressor will run one, and bases are available for both fixed and plunge (I made my own fixed base out of Lexan and cheap hardware, but Blues Creek has a decent base that runs about $45. Not sure I see the need for plunge for inlay work - depths are .045-.055, and that's pretty benign stuff for a sharp end mill at 55-70k rpm. I run down to .018" diameter bits in mine and as long as the cutting depth is kept to no more than three times diameter (same rule for most standard length end mills), unlikely to break a bit before it wears out and no real grab.

Biggest issue I have with these fixed and plunge bases for Dremels is the top-heavy feel. I dumped my Dremels long ago and went to Foredom, but even they are more awkward than going to air-powered stuff. If looking for compromise, then Foredom in a base designed to take the handpick...but investment is going to be as much or more than air, and even a small compressor is a pretty handy thing to have.

Todd,

Thanks for the tip. Never thought of it.

One of my friends gave me a foredom SR (most of one anyways).
I just need to buy a pedal for it.

-Matt