approximately how many stones were you able to drill before it dulled? I realize there is a hardness variable here, but ballpark?
1973656
I use the round tip bit for drilling holes in sea glass. I have drilled at least 60 pieces and still using. The pointed one I use for shells and driftwood. About 30 pieces and still sharp.
1811803
Aside from running this a few strokes on my Henckel steel before each use, I have only actually had to have it "sharpened" once in over 8 years of almost daily use. I had a friend of mine do it on his diamond/ceramic rod system and it came out great.
589347
I use a Dremel with grinding bit the size needed for the chain. At one point, perhaps 3 sharpenings, I have it done professionally to have it back to perfect. It's quick and I can do a reasonable job.
2216635
I'm with Ron (eaglesadvantage) on this. Steel on stone of any kind dulls it. If you want to work on semi-precious stones for jewelry, I would recommend a set of files that are diamond-encrusted (actually, they have diamond dust particles embedded on their surface). As you probably know, diamonds are the hardest and most durable cutting surface, so spend the extra money to buy a set for this use.
1069074
It comes with a sharpening stone. I have done approx. 400 sq.ft. So far and the blade shows no sign of having to be replaced yet.
799620
I've had mine for about a year so far, and had very minimal problems with it. Actually I'm pretty impressed with it after 50+ projects. However, I doubt that it has the motor strength to carve stone with it. Your best bet would be to speak with Dan at Oliver Machinery, he'll be able to tell you for sure. I'd agree with the statement that it is a hobby machine, not for production.
1005454
I tried using the standard stone (vs the Japanese water stone) once. I found I needed to take off more metal than the stone is designed for, chips in the edge of the mower blade required something coarser than the standard tormek stone. I liked the idea of not losing the temper at the edge of the blade but decided to go back to using a hand file. Also, I didn't want to slip and put a gouge in the stone or have to reface the surface with so much grinding.
1516705
I had some breakage drilling a small hole for a key chain, I needed 80 and 6 or 7 broke along the grain when I drilled them using a drill press. Hope this helps some even if it doesn't fully answer your question
680834
Ultra Fine did it for me. You can also strop after Ultra for an even finer edge! BTW go very easily w/ the Ultra Fine stones. It does not require many passes per side and with very light pressure.
242414
Sorry I didn't see this question prior to now. Yes, this stone can handle that with ease. Enjoy. Joe
555955
I use a 300 & 600 grit stone before I use this and am very pleased with the results. I hope that helps.
429236
A decent whetstone when used properly will always get the best results with any non serrated blade from Kitana to Higo no Kami. Its what the pros use as well. As far as grit goes that all depends on how dull the blade is. A variety of stones will cover your bases and last damn near forever.
1489317
I have no experience with working with rocks or garden stones, so my answer is based on what I know about the Dremel Stylus. This tool is certainly very amendable to a variety of craft projects, and I use it for polishing Premo or Sculpley clay. I have found during long bouts of sanding, smoothing and polishing, the Stylus overheats, and shuts off automatically to prevent the motor from burning out. So, if that's happening in my small scale usage, I think it will happen even more often for you and leave you feeling frustrated. If the return policy on the purchase allows you to return within 30 - 90 days and you're willing to give it a whirl, then buy it. It is very lightweight, affordable and versatile. I love mine and love finding new uses for it every day. I hope my response helps you. P.S. Contact Dremel's Customer Service and see what they have to say! Good luck to you!
464793
It's technique, you can sharpen pretty much anything with this up to a sword or machete; but the practical limit is 2x the stone length, which is 8 inches. Good general rule for all stone sharpeners.
2016571
Hello. I am really embarrassed. I didn't see anywhere that there was an unanswered question and here it is over 2 weeks later. Yes, still here. We're waiting on a die maker to finish making dies for our new upgraded stones. It still may be 4 or more weeks until we're restocked with the new cordierite 4-piece stones and hopefully no more than a week for the new 14.5" round stones (we're waiting on those for boxes). Sorry again for taking so long. I'll know in the future to go all the way in to this to look for unanswered questions. Joe
277582
The drill comes with a decent number of cut-off ceramic discs. Given time, you would be able to cut an arbitrary length slot in sheet 5/32 (4mm) steel. Equally, if you've decent (tiny!) twist drills, and they're flooded with coolant, I don't see why you can't poke a hole in anything apart from tool steel - given time.
2216828
This is a very good sharpening stone. You will need to focus on the angle of the edge and the course stone is just the start. Once you have worked the course you can step down to the medium stone and that will clean up your edge. It should start to feel a little sharper. Then you step down to the fine stone to hone your edge. A dull knife can take hours to sharpen it depends on if the edge was turned. When you sharpen you lay the knife on the stone at about a 15 degree angle and first push the knife away from you on one side and then you draw the knife towards you on the other side. Only work one direction on each side. Make sure you draw the whole edge down the stone. Take your time and use even pressure on the blade