So I need a dremel and the choices vary hugely. help?

[ChelseaWhiteArt]

Thank you guys for all the advice, I definitely have a better idea of what I should be looking for once I go shopping, and a better idea of what my budget for it should look like.

I know Dremel is a name brand, I had a second hand Dremel when I was a teenager (I made wooden pendants and basically just fooled around with it) so I often refer to any rotary tool as a dremel out of habit. I don’t know what ever happened to it, probably lost during a period where I moved around a lot but it was a quality tool, I think I’ll be going with that brand or one of the near equal brand names suggested here.

Trethowan, I’m growing quite fond of the qualities shown in the vid for the Yukon, but when I look it up I see a great deal of online stores selling this tool with the kit for under $40.00 which makes me nervous of online scams. It just doesn’t look like something you can pick up that cheaply. What are your thoughts on that? How much did you pay for yours. (you don’t have to say if you feel that should remain private, I sometimes like to keep my spending history pretty hush hush as well.)

When I have used my power drill (not particularly often) with baked sculpey I have never run into melting, but in a few instances I have experienced that foul, unhealthy smoke of burning polymer, since then I’ve learned not to power through it, I give the cured clay moments to cool down before continuing to drill holes or sand it so that it does not over heat and burn.

Thank you every one for all the links, they have been super helpful. I’ll post updates when I decide what to invest in and make my purchase, heck I may write a review for whatever I decide to use, it may be helpful to anyone else who has decided to pick up a rotary tool of their own.

[richila]

I have this one
http://www.harborfreight.com/80-piece-rotary-tool-kit-97626.html
From Harbor Freight and have used it to mod 1/12 scale resin-removed human ears and made sink holes for magnets. It has 2 speeds and is perfect for doll modding purposes.

[Trethowan]

Thank you guys for all the advice, I definitely have a better idea of what I should be looking for once I go shopping, and a better idea of what my budget for it should look like.

Trethowan, I’m growing quite fond of the qualities shown in the vid for the Yukon, but when I look it up I see a great deal of online stores selling this tool with the kit for under $40.00 which makes me nervous of online scams. It just doesn’t look like something you can pick up that cheaply. What are your thoughts on that? How much did you pay for yours. (you don’t have to say if you feel that should remain private, I sometimes like to keep my spending history pretty hush hush as well.)

.

My dad bought it for my husband for Christmas. Dad bought it from Sportsmansguide.com.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/Main.aspx

I think the price was around $60 bucks but this was a few years ago. I did some searching and it seems they don't carry it anymore. Maybe it was discontinued? Yukon Tool appears to be one of those annoying companies without much web presence. I've seen some of their stuff on Amazon but otherwise they're proving to be hard to find. I'm annoyed by that, when it comes time for me to buy replacement parts who am I supposed to call? Meh. Maybe this is why Dremel is such a well-known name.