Dremel has a new 1-1/2″ “MaxLife” diamond wheel (EZ545HP) that fits their EZ-Lock rotary tool mandrels.
Here’s what they say about it:
Dremel’s line of Max Life high-performance rotary tool accessories provide long-lasting performance and impressive durability. Built to give you longer lasting, stronger performing, versatile accessories.
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Dremel also says that it is engineered to last 3X longer, compared to their existing diamond wheel. The new Dremel 1-1/2″ diamond wheel is priced at $30, and the compared-to wheel is $28. If the claims hold, this new MaxLife cut-off wheel might be a significant upgrade.
This cut-off wheel is described as being “ideal for cutting in hard and abrasive materials, like marble, concrete, brick, porcelain, ceramics, hard epoxy, and soft or hardwood.” You’ll need different wheels for cutting ferrous metals or plastic materials.
Although Dremel references the new MaxLife accessory’s performance 3 times in one paragraph, they don’t actually say how or why this new diamond wheel is better, and I found that to be frustrating. So, I asked for more info.
Here’s what Dremel had to say:
The EZ545HP differs from the existing EZ545 as the diamond placement was optimized and selectively placed around the rim of the wheel in order to reduce heat build-up on the cutting edge.
An improved grade of diamond is being used on the EZ545HP when compared to the existing EZ545. These design improvements allow for the observed increase in life.
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I asked for clarification about the “improved grade of diamond,” to which they added:
Through extensive benchmark testing of the EZ545 and prototype evaluations of the EZ545HP, we identified the optimal placement of diamond to maximize the cutting life of the accessory.”
Dremel was rather unspecific about how the diamond they use is an “improved grade.” I suppose that the new wheel runs stays cooler during cutting, and this greatly contributes to its extended longevity.
The EZ545HP also does not have holes in the face, a cooling feature present in the 545 and EZ545 diamond wheels.
Note: The MaxLife EZ545HP and EZ545 are both 1-1/2″ wheels, and the 545 is a 7/8″ wheel with standard screw-mandrel interface.
To me, Dremel’s new MaxLife cut-off wheel looks like a diamond grit version of their CBN rotary tool cut-off wheel, which came out nearly 8 years ago.
Dremel’s website contradicts their product listing and conventional wisdom, describing the diamond cut-off wheel as being:
Ideal for cutting a variety of materials including floor or wall tile, metal pipes, sheet metal or plastic.
Then again, the wheel itself does say multipurpose on it.
If you need a diamond rotary tool cut-off wheel for cutting abrasive materials, such as tile and other such materials, this one is just $2 more than the EZ545, and is said to be “engineered to last 3X longer.”
$2 isn’t much for the longevity improvement Dremel claims.
Price: $30
According to the Amazon listing, the cut-off wheel is made in China.
Key Specs
- 1-1/2″ diameter
- 0.023″ kerf
- Max RPM: 35,000
- EZ-Lock arbor required, not included
See Also:
High Magnification Images of “Economy” Quality Diamond Abrasives
High Magnification Images of Quality Diamond Particles
Jared
I should probably give Dremel-brand accessories a shot. I always look at price for these tiny objects and think “Pfft! No way.” Instead I just buy the cheap multi-packs from other brands – but I don’t have a baseline to compare them to.
MM
It’s been my experience that Dremel branded rotary tool bits are generally far superior to the cheap brands. I have not used any of their EZ-Lock tooling but I have used a wide variety of 1/8 shank bits, sanding drums, and abrasive cutoff wheels with the small center hole for many years and they’re much better than the cheap import stuff. You can get better carbide burrs from various industrial tooling companies but it’s hard to complain about the ones from dremel.
fred
Foredom also make high quality miniature burs and bits:
https://www.foredom.net/product-category/burs-bits-cutters-buffs/
The cheapies sold on Amazon – are just that – or even worse (I had a small wheel disintegrate on first use).
riskin
agreed. broke 3 or 4 cheapos when a extractor bit broke off in a allen bolt .
loaded in the dremel brand wheel and cut a slot through the whole mess with no issues
Jared
$30 for a single 1.5″ disc just seems outlandish, but I’m open to giving one a try.
JoeM
If I may? I’ve been using Dremel Rotary tools since I was 9.
Don’t stop thinking the way you do about the prices. The pricing model of Dremel products is to make their money back on consumables like this, so you are, indeed, correct about the prices being high.
That said… Regardless of the location of the factory that makes them, they are definitely Bosch engineered. It’s worth getting One of these types of high end bits, for those times, such as when riskin encountered issues, that the cheap ones just failed to do the job.
Between Foredom (mentioned by fred and, like himself, are the preeminant name in quality and variety of expertese.) and various Veritas, or “Cheapo” brands one gets from industrial house brands, you can span the spectrum of accessories for any rotary tool you own. Just remember that the cheapos are the ones you want for quick and/or non-critical jobs where the cost of replacing the bits are as trivial as it gets. Foredom, Dremel, and Veritas, in that order, are better kept for those situations where you absolutely know you need a precise, and accurate job done. Where mistakes are not an option. riskin’s bolt, for example. He needed that bolt extracted to continue whatever he was doing. He should’ve skipped straight to a Dremel cutter to save time, but he can’t be faulted for not wanting to waste or risk that Dremel wheel… they are definitely expensive. He had to at least try with the cheap ones, and at least those won’t hurt the wallet so much to replace. But ultimately, you just need to keep thinking in that way you already are. Once you own a Foredom, Dremel, or Proxxon rotary tool, the Foredom and Dremel accessories and consumables become incredibly valuable. The less valuable stuff, you’ll still need to save your budget.
fred
The first Dremel Moto-Tool came out in 1935. It was made in Wisconsin. I acquired my first one (model 280) sometime in the late 1960’s – soon after it was introduced. I still have it – but now mostly use Foredom handpiece/flex shaft/motor combinations.
JR Ramos
The quality of some Dremel-branded bits has declined in recent years but generally they’re very good and run true…if you get a dud they’ll take care of you with replacements. One standout is their little keyless multi-chuck…still made in Germany unless that recently changed, and it’s the one to get if you want one of those – all the china ones are junk or nearly-junk.
Check out some of the jewelers’ brands for stones and burrs, too. Grobet, Busch, handful of others – excellent. Pferd has a line of them, too, although I believe those are all rebadges of high quality bits. For fiberglass cutting wheels seek out the few USA-made ones…usually can get those cheaper or at the same price as the china wheels but they are far superior still (on par or better than the Dremel-branded ones but not as expensive). The diamond cutters in this post…eh…quite handy at times and if not misused they do a great job and last a long time. At the price they’re asking, I don’t think I’ll give this new one a try. The old bronze colored ones were great and I scooped up a handful of those for about $4 each.
Champs
Slightly off topic, but does that little bow tie shape for the mandrel have some other names and/or applications? I noticed that Milwaukee uses it in accessory cases like their multi tool blade set.
Also, they thought of that shape for the case internally but not an outward one that fits neatly in a Packout…
JoeM
EZLock last I checked. They’re for the Dremel EZLock Mandrel. It’s a quick-switch mandrel for changing disc-like accessories. They also have an EZDrum for the… 1/4″? Sanding Drum tubes? And the EZ Twist Wrench, which is a nose piece to attach to the attachment collar on the Rotary Tool itself. It has an embedded metal collar inside that has two straight edges for grabbing the nut or required chuck, giving you faster access to tightening it to the tool. It then screws back onto the collar and acts as a standard nose piece for detailed grip.
They built the (Gladly) now-defunct Model 4200 with something called the EZ Chuck system, where the nose piece itself just got replaced by a new single-piece nose, and a spring-activated Collet system that activated using tabs on the sides of the tool. The 4200 was supposed to “Solve everyone’s problem with losing wrenches” but… springs wore out fast, collets were expensive, and extremely limited in sizes, and you needed a special attachment, to use attachments like the flex shaft. That attachment undid everything about a “wrench-free” rotary tool, and it just so happened there were 3 initial batches of the tool that just burned out on first use. So, the tool has been discontinued, I personally would’ve preferred they never went there at all, and now we have the 4300. The tool they should’ve released.
But, yeah, Dremel has a bunch of quick-change solutions for everyone to mix and match as needed. I find them extremely handy when I need them, but I still keep a Chuck and a Collet Nut for each Dremel Tool I own, for the long term stuff.
Koko The Talking Ape
The Max Life looks like it has coarser diamond particles than the original. Maybe that’s why it runs cooler? And also why they say you can use it for wood and plastic?
MT_Noob
I’ve never tried these diamond ones, I am assuming the diameter of the disk doesn’t change? The diamond just get worn down or fall off? What is the thickness of the kerf? I’m trying to justify whether to keep buying the normal cut off disks vs 30 dollars for a diamond version. I don’t go through that many disks that quickly so until I run out of my current supply I’ll probably hold off on the diamond one. I’m sure it is a fine product for certain situations, but for my very occasional use I can’t quite justify it. But on the other hand… how would I know unless I bought one and gave it a try.
JoeM
I would agree that the new model is the Grinding Wheel to the old version’s Cutting Wheel. It is definitely one of their dedicated edge-only accessories. Hence the cooling, and hence the heavier grit of the diamond particles. They are significantly larger than the grit of the original, or the EZ first edition.
And, yes… That is a high price, even for Dremel. But considering how delicate this thing likely is, it’s not for people to just force through stuff. This is definitely designed to make use of the upper levels of tool speed Dremel is capable of, so you only have to lightly touch the surface to remove a very large amount of material at once. I would imagine it cuts a sheet of metal faster than the old one ever could, at any speed. But I also believe this one would be utterly wasted for the Proxxon users out there. Their rotary tools don’t go fast enough for this one to work, even though it does take a Dremel specific mandrel. So, those sensitive to the highest pitched motor sounds of Dremel are a little SOL on this one. the Foredom users could probably make ice sculptures with this for all I know. I know Foredom goes much higher than 35K RPM, but… Foredom has more torque at that speed.
Not sure if I need one of these, but I’ll certainly welcome it into my kit if given the chance. Worth the purchase, and I need more EZ cutting wheels anyways.
Chris
For the price dremel charges for their accessories, they better be labeled with “Snap-On”
JoeM
They are. Dremel is the “Snap On” of the Rotary industry. Or perhaps the “MAC” of the Rotary Tool manufacturers.
Rather, Dremel and Foredom are the tops of the industry for making accessories. The same way Snap-on, MAC, and perhaps Gearwrench, are the top of the industries for wrenches and automotive hand tools.
You just have to understand the business model. Their machines are relatively well priced for their function. But their higher-use, or specialized, accessories and attachments are jacked up in price to make a profit. Foredom, especially, charge a major premium for their specialized sets. They come with their own specialized cases to hold them, but still. When push comes to shove, if anything is specialized by one of these two companies, it’s sold at an extremely high premium. Much like what Snap-On and MAC do for their typical fully equipped cabinets and such.
JML
I gave up on the EZ-Lock system after finding it caused far too much vibration and wobbling with anything I attached.
Brian
I agree 100%
I have used two. I returned the first one I bought because I thought it was defective. The one the second one did pretty much the same thing… heavy vibration, annoying noise, and fear that it’s going to come flying off at any moment.
Andrew
Ryobi has recently came out with their own version of the quick lock mandrel, it is WAY MORE stable and runs true because it uses a screw thread instead of Dremel with the spring tension,a tad bit slower, but I’d rather have the precision and BIG bonus, the Dremel ez lock wheels fit the Ryobi mandrel, but not vice versa. But who cares about fitting Ryobi wheels on Dremel ez lock, that’s why we’re having this conversation. But 100% confirmed you can use Dremel ez lock cutoffs on the Ryobi quick lock,bow tie mandrel.