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the accessory does a fine job when you do find the right situation, however. this tool is almost too small. i have found very few uses where a simple cut-off wheel would not do just as well.
This is fine if you're cutting something roughly, and you don't care within an 1/8 of an inch where the blade touches your work, but otherwise it's maddening. Make SURE you wear goggles, now, dust and bits are going to fly.Second: I don't know the solution to this second problem. Ultimately I decided I had gotten far more than my money's worth out of the tool anyway, and bought a new one. I use my mini-rip saw all the time; it's absolutely essential to my art work. I still use it every day. It's a detail saw with a dream-kerf of about a millimeter. I guess I'm just going to have to be careful to change the blade sooner this time.
Instead what I did was attach it into one Dremel and use my other one, with a diamond cut-off wheel inserted, and lop the whole front of that silly cage off. I would have returned it to Dremel, but since I had cut off the safety as I described, there was no chance. The spindle-lock for the tool gave out before the screw moved, and I ended up bending the shaft of the saw trying. If you do this, be mindful of where it is sealed to keep in the lubricating oil, and leave the back face of the safety on to help you keep the blade straight up and down. When I finally realized I should have changed it a while ago, I found that the screw holding it in had fused to the blade and I couldn't get it off.
But I can't recommend it without a few comments.First: that safety housing around it is so bulky that you cannot really see where the blade is going to go, exactly. I used my mini-saw so much, for so long, cutting through tempered hard-board that the blade got quite overheated and warped. this little guy is super handy. When I first bought it I tried it for a few cuts then put it aside to return. Once you do this little surgery, of course, you're out of warrantee, but then, WOW.
the old top was glued solid to the formica backsplash which we managed to save. The integral safety shield is a good idea but it gets in the way of seeing the path of the blade. It also means that whatever you are cutting must not have any protrusions that might obstruct the path of the saw/shield.It did do a good job when we replaced our kitchen counter.
Also, the blade guard is annoying because you can't get flush up to your edge (leaves about 1/8" or so of wood still along the joint). It might work ok for balsa wood, but for anything else it is too weak a blade (carbide tipped would be better). It's also annoying how you have to change out the head unit of your dremel, making it time consuming to switch back to normal collet and bits. I bought this to trim some 1/4" plywood from underneath a cabinet (couldn't get a chisel in there) and it worked just OK. To cut about a 1 foot section took about 10 minutes with a ton of burning and smoking of the blade and grinding to a halt (absolutely no torque) when met with a bit of resistance.
Also wish there was a way to manually move the blade protector out of the way while cutting. Fine for cutting thin wood or plastic. I wish it cut deeper - say up to 1/2 inch.
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