Dremel is soon replacing their 3000-series rotary tool with a new model. If you were looking to buy one, now might be a good time to do it.
Dremel launched their 3000 series rotary tool kits nearly 13 years ago. It’s perhaps unsurprising that they’re finally updating it.
The Dremel 3000 rotary tool is being replacing by the new 3100 rotary tool, shown here.
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The 3100 series tool also features a 1.2A motor and 5K to 35K variable speed range. It is priced lower.
We’ll talk more about the 3100 series tool in a later post.
Personally, I find the 3000 series tool more appealing, both compared to the 3100 – which I have not tried yet – and its higher-powered siblings.
The 3000 rotary tool and its various tool kits are being phased out “over coming months.”
The 3000 series 25pc set (shown at the top of the post) is priced at $64 via Amazon right now. The 3100 series 16pc set (shown above) is $60. Personally, I’d rather have the 3000 series tool and its broader range of starter accessories for the $5 difference.
I have had great experiences with Dremel rotary tools over the years. The 3000 series tool has been my favorite.
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I’m sure the 3100 series tool will perform just fine. Right now you have choices. At some point in the future, the 3000 series tools will sell out and disappear.
There will be another Amazon Prime Day in July 2024, and Dremel usually participates in these sales events. I’m not sure what the implication is here, but I thought it should be mentioned in case it affect’s anyone’s planning.
James
My dremel recently died and I’m looking to replace it. Would a pneumatic pencil grinder be better? It looks like it would accept dremel accessories and I’ve yet to wear an air tool out.
MM
I have a pencil grinder, it’s much higher speed and lower torque compared to a typical Dremel. For some jobs that’s great, for others its not so great, I think it really depends on what you want to do with it. I also have 1/4in die grinders, both cordless and pneumatic, and I find myself using those much more often than a Dremel or the pencil grinder. If you’re mainly using tiny little burrs then I think you’d probably like the pencil grinder. But if you’re doing more sanding, polishing, drilling, using cutoff discs or using larger diameter bits (anything bigger than about 1/4 dia) then I think you will want either a rotary tool or a die grinder instead.
James
Thanks! I had hopped pencil grinders were basically pneumatic dremels, but it sounds like that is not the case.
I thought I’d miss the dremel, but my standard die grinder seems to do 85% or more of what the dremel did.
Bonus points for the bits lasting a lot longer in the die grinder.
Stuart
Depends on how much you used it.
For folks that burn out rotary tools often, the next step up are flex-shaft tools, such as by Foredom, or the Dremel Fortiflex.
fred
You are so right. Like with almost every tool – the best choice for you depends on what tasks you put it to and how often and long you use it. I hardly use my Dremels – but use 2 Foredom motors and handpieces a lot for power carving (Duck Decoys etc.). But my use is mostly at a bench.
In our metal fabrication shop – we had/used numerous Cleco/Dotco pneumatic die grinders. Neither Dremels nor Foredoms would have worked well there
BigTimeTommy
Seems like a downgrade, at least it will be less expensive I guess. When I bought a rotary tool I ended up getting the Black and Decker RTX, which ended up being much better than I expected and anyway better value than the Dremel.
Steve
I feel the same way. The B&D is really powerful but still small enough to do detailed work. Combined with the EZ lock discs, I think it’s better than what Dremel has been putting out.
Ken
When my Dremel quit working several years ago, I went looking for a new one. I ended up with a German-made Proxxon unit instead. The Proxxon was more expensive at around $100 but I didn’t think about it too much. The Proxxon immediately seemed like a clear upgrade to me – quieter with almost no vibration – but maybe I just didn’t own a high-end enough Dremel model.
Since then I’ve realized that most of the tasks that I thought I needed a Dremel for are better completed with a die grinder. I didn’t know about die grinders back then because they aren’t really marketed toward homeowner/hobbyist types and are rarely sold at home centers.
DRT42
Yes. I had two Dremel 3000s, and both failed. Never mind the failures, the Dremels use 4-jaw chucks that don’t always center correctly. In addition to vibration, I would look at the cutter and see metal (in this case, aluminum) buildup on one side of the bit, never the other, because it wasn’t spinning true. Only one side of the bit was doing anything ! The Proxxon chucks are 3-jaw that center much better. Zero failures with Proxxon. But I know some folks love their Dremels, so hey, pick up a couple while you can.
MM
Are you talking about the *collets* that Dremel et. al. use? Or did you manage to find an actual 4-jaw *chuck* for a Dremel somewhere? I’ve seen small chucks for rotary tools but they’ve always been 3-jaw.
DRT42
Collet. Sorry, I should have been more specific, because of course a collet and a chuck are two different things. The collets on the Dremels which I have owned were made with two cuts at 90 degrees to each other, which make four fingers to hold the bit.
JR Ramos
I’ve thought about getting a Proxxon – they have some nice looking units. Do you find their steel collets to slip at all on bits with larger diameters like larger cutoff wheels? Dremel always used aluminum because it has superior grip on hardened and/or polished shafts. Been awhile since I bought any new ones but they’ve always done a great job with the collets. More often now what we see is that in a metric world with many bits made overseas, they often miss that 3.2mm spec just enough to cause issues (or even more often it’s just crappy bit shafts as well as poor mounting/centering/balancing of the points on the shaft). So we get 1/8″, 3mm, and 3/32″ as the most common shaft sizes and the collets need to match well. Aluminum has some give if you overtighten…brass less so, and almost all of the brass cross-slot Dremel style aftermarket collets that I have bought and seen have been done poorly. I started using the little keyless chucks on all of my rotary tools and never looked back. I’ve got the good quality ones that were made in Germany (silver chuck body) before they moved them to China and they are excellent. I wonder if the Proxxon keyless chuck is worth a hoot.
Dremel quality sure isn’t what it used to be…first the tools and now even the previously high quality bits are suffering too. But they kept the prices at a premium…
DRT42
I have not had any problem with the Proxxon collets slipping, and I frequently use large (about 1-1/2″) cut-off wheels. If anything, the Proxxon collets grip too tightly. By that, I mean I usually have to loosen the nut, then “poke” the bit hard against the edge of my workbench to get the collet to disengage. To me, it’s not a big deal, but I can see how it might annoy some people.
Yes, with collets you have to match the collet to the shaft bit, and some of the Proxxon collets and included accessories are metric. My Proxxon has a set of five (I think it’s five, maybe six ?) collets, some are metric, but the largest one is 1/8″. They are all steel. I have had similar experiences to yours – some bits are metric, others 1/8″, others are some mystery dimension – these days, I toss the mystery ones.
I have zero experience with the keyless chucks from either Proxxon or Dremel, but they do seem interesting. Do they plug into a collet ? Or mount some other way ?
FWIW, I also use carbide burrs frequently to elongate bolt holes, etc. I found some good ones on eBay, made in Ohio. Haven’t worn any out yet, unlike the cheaper imported ones.
MM
I have used 3-jaw chucks on “Minicraft” branded tools in the past–basically the same thing as a Dremel but powered by 12V DC, and on various flex-shafts. In those cases the chuck replaces the collet nut, it just threads onto the shaft of the tool in place of the nut. They are handy in that one chuck can hold any size bit, but the chuck is also bigger than the collet nut so it can get in the way sometimes. I also found that the chuck increased vibration at high RPM, my guess is that the 3 jaws don’t always sit exactly 120 degrees apart so that creates a slight imbalance.
JR Ramos
Let me try to reply again…wouldn’t take my comment when I tried. I think I may pick up a Proxxon unit and give it a try.
The keyless chucks just thread on the shaft – collet is totally removed and the end of the shaft forces the chuck jaws to rise/tighten. They really work well (even on the cheapies which lack good manufacturing/concentricity allowing some vibration, they still grip well). Hopefully the Proxxon model is the same high quality as the old Dremel German-made ones.
Dremel used aluminum on purpose since it is very grippy on polished steel shafts compared to brass or steel. Done well (i.e. fit tolerance and reasonably accurate slot placement) there’s never a problem and it’s a good standard design. Devil being in the details of manufacturing and mated parts, which these days seems to be more of a struggle despite the machinery available.
I found some good single aluma-cut burrs on Amazon…imports but they’re decent (not perfect but at least the shanks aren’t cheese and don’t readily pretzel if you jam or bump). I’ve never been able to find them in 1/8″ shanks from US makers but would buy a set if they had them (I think there are double-cut available from US makers in limited patterns, but not the aluma-cut). Esslinger and Otto Frei sometimes have good sales on quality burrs, too, although most of theirs are geared toward detail work rather than utility.
JoeM
You can get Brass Collets for Proxxon… Yes, they’re from AliExpress, but Brass bites much harder than Steel. Plus, a set of Brass Collets gets much finer than any of the Dremel varieties, and also slightly larger, being Metric.
And, Proxxon HQ is located in Luxembourg. Same place as Jewellers and Watchmakers have been going to have their tools made for the past 300-400 years. (Would’ve been Clock Makers that far back, but no less important a place.)
Peter
I saw that Proxxon started to make a lot of things overseas now too.
Do you have a model number of your tool?
Thank you.
Peter
Thought I just emailed them and they responded right away that they still make it in Luxemburg.
Guess I know now what I get for myself today.
MM
If you are looking for higher end rotary tools you might also check out Suhner, Dumore, Marathon, and NSK.
Peter
Cool, I will them out.
Do you know off hand if any are made in the US?
Thank you.
MM
@Peter
I know Dumore is made in the USA. I don’t know about Marathon. Suhner is German and NSK is Japanese.
Peter
Thank you.