The Milwaukee M12 brushless rotary tool that everyone has been waiting for, model 2525, has finally hit the market.
Milwaukee launched their original M12 cordless rotary tool (2460) nearly 13 years ago, and users have been requesting a brushless upgrade for the last couple of years.
The new M12 brushless rotary tool is said to deliver best-in-class application speed, with 30% faster RPMs under load.
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It has an integrated collet wrench, for quick accessory changes.
It’s also advertised as being compatible with threaded rotary tool attachments, which suggests it will work with existing accessories from Dremel and other brands.
The M12 brushless rotary tool features variable speed controls with 12 settings from 5,000 to 27,500 RPM.
The tool comes with a 1/8″ collet and is also compatible with 1/32″, 1/16″, and 3/32″ collets, which are not included.
Price: $129 for tool-only, $199 for the 1-battery kit
Discussion
A relatively compact rotary tool with brushless motor and is powered by Milwaukee’s M12 cordless power tool batteries? Yes, please!
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I have a couple of rotary tool attachments and jigs that are plenty versatile as-is, but cordless power and high performance really unlock their potential.
I am really looking forward to reviewing this one in 2024.
Milwaukee had plenty of years to do their homework, and so far it seems that they got things right.
There’s one thing I’m very curious about – the speed selector switch.
You press a (+) button to increase the speed, and (-) button to decrease the speed.
There are 6 LEDs that display the current speed setting. Every other speed (odd) displays as solid, and the others (even) blink before turning solid. In this way, you have 6 LEDs indicating 12 speed settings.
The tool remembers the last-set speed setting every time it’s turned on.
Is anyone else excited about the new M12 cordless rotary tool?
Randy
is it quieter?
Phil
Yes, quieter, with minimal vibration and runout. A vast improvement over the previous model which makes this one an excellent professional tool.
Longhornsfan1
Yes, just bought one yesterday. This one is definitely quieter than the previous model.
Doresoom
Thank goodness it remembers its speed settings when turned back on. I had an 8050 Dremel Micro, and it did not remember its speed settings. Coupled with the fact that it stalled all the time and each time had to be reset to the desired speed was beyond frustrating to use.
xu lu
Speed control is a giant fail. Dial is better. What they did was remove the HVAC settings dials/buttons and put them on the touch screen of the car infotainment. Somethings cant be improved even if cheaper to manufacture. This one is pure dumb.
Robert
Agree on car controls often taking a step back. It seems they change in order to for the marketers to be able scream “New!” Even more than the cost of parts angle. And it’s putting all the eggs in one basket. We’ve had to replace the massive entertainment/navigation/controls counsel twice in a little over a year. And this is on one of Consumer Reports most reliable brands. Car is almost not usable without the thing. Depends how widespread the glitch is. Short sighted design.
Bonnie
Unfortunately that’s not new to touchscreens. My old 2003 Civic had the blinker power/controls running through the radio for some godforsaken reason.
Steve
I almost never change the speed, unless it’s something very specific. I guess it depends on the user.
BrianA
Completely agree the dial wheel is the best option plus the dial has more speeds. I adjust the classic all the time in use. More speed and less settings, WTF is Milwaukee thinking…
Dave
I’m the reverse, I hate dials that can easily be changed when manipulating the tool – especially on their multi-tool. I think this is an improvement as you’re generally not changing the speed often for a specific job.
James
This. I’m always accidentally changing the speed on my Bosch OMT. Love that it can be changed easily but would trade it for something that doesn’t change on its own all day.
I feel like one would get use to the push button on this machine pretty quick, and, I don’t see too many applications where speed has to be constantly ramped up or down but I may be wrong on that one.
JR Ramos
The dial on the original Milwaukee tool does not have that problem. It’s recessed well enough and the detents are stiff enough that it just doesn’t get bumped or moved unless you intentionally rotate it. It was a good design. Typical speed variations at times but you see that on electrics as well unless they add the smarts, which this new model does have and is a good feature.
Andrew Young
There’s a big advantage of buttons over a physical dial in this particular application: Dust ingress.
BigTimeTommy
Dial is easily the best. Someone said the dial is too easy to change by accident. If that’s the case the tool is carelessly designed and the dial is in the wrong spot.
James
For my OMT, the dial seems to be well located but it gets messed with when I’m working in tight quarters or at odd angles. Sometimes it’s the workpiece or a wall or a machine or something, and sometimes it’s my forearm or knee or leg.
It is really nice though to ramp up or down quickly for different materials or applications.
Always compromise…
Cortex
If they did this right, it could be a great tool. I’ve owned a few small cordless rotary tools in the past (including the brushed version of this), and I’ve always been disappointed. I usually end up dragging out an extension cord and plugging in my older Dremel instead.
Hopefully they have improved upon the collet. For me, the old version of this just would never hold onto a bit unless I cranked down on the collet absurdly tight. I am glad to see it now supports multiple bit sizes. With the brushed version, half my Dremel bits were unusable. (Ideally, it would also support the use of flexible shafts. There are many applications where a thin flexible shaft can reach, that the bulk of the motor won’t allow.)
Another must have for me is dynamic speed control. When I set a speed, I want the tool to dynamically adjust power to maintain this speed. I really dislike rotary tools where the speed drops by half at even the smallest loads.
Nathan
This ramps up speed as load increases so the dynamic speed control you long for is present. Another thing i found is you can adjust the speed before you turn it on. I do like that it doesn’t bog down, definitely more powerful and less vibration.
Saulac
I have the M12 die grinder that I like. Already got a 1/8 (?) collet for it but has not actually tried it. Do I need to tell the wife that I need this?
Benjamen
I wonder why this isn’t Fuel, it certainly is priced like it. Maybe they will come out with a more powerful Fuel version?
I like the integrated collet wrench, but I’m not sure about the speed selector.
Hopefully the brushless motor means it will be quieter, the brushed model is ridiculously loud depending on the speed setting. It’s louder that the bargain basement store brand model it replaced.
Steve
Fuel IS brushless. There are other minor differences but that’s the biggest. Maybe it’s just not labeled in the photo.
John
All Fuels are brushless.
Not all Milwaukee brushless are Fuel.
S
What other brushless tools aren’t fuel?
MoogleMan3
The M12 pin nailer, M18 drills and impacts. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head.
BigTimeTommy
Fuel is the “better/more powerful” branding for Milwaukee brushless.
MoogleMan3
I’ve been wondering the same thing about the M12 pinner, yet the upcoming M12 brad nailer will be fuel.
MM
This looks like a nice upgrade to the existing M12 rotary tool, but I don’t have much interest in basic rotary tools anymore. Die grinders and flex-shafts are much more capable for most applications, I very often use “dremel bits” in my M12 die grinders. Also, a bandfile or an OMT can do many of the jobs one might use a rotary tool for but more efficiently. And for those applications where you really need fine control a high-speed pneumatic “pencil” style grinder is superior, offering much higher speed than a dremel while being much lighter and easier to hold. If this had come out when I was first getting into working with tools I might have been interested, but now I have a better tool for nearly any job I would use this for. And the reason I say “might” have been interested is the price: from a hobbyist or newbie perspective something like a Ryobi is a lot more attractive. I think I’ve seen the Ryobi 12V cordless rotary tool kit for something like $75 or maybe $79.99, and that included battery, charger, bits and attachments too. Is it the same quality as Milwaukee? No. But I imagine it would be just fine for hobby use, which is really what I feel this kind of tool is for.
Jason
Got the Ryobi 18v brushless one with built in flexi shaft. Works great unstoppable power, great battery life, only issue so far is I burned through the side of the flex shaft. My fault for turning it too tight then running it like that for at least half an hour straight.
Ecto1321
Agreed. When I was first getting into power tools, I used my Dremel all the time, but it wasn’t long before I realized it was sort of a jack of all trades, master of none. There’s very few jobs where I wouldn’t prefer my oscillating multi tool, a proper saw, or a die grinder.
Saulac
I appreciate the universal threaded attachment and wish that the die grinder has any of this. Too bad the “head” of the die grinder is not even round making any DIY attachments very difficult.
Koko The Talking Ape
I wonder how they settled on six LEDs to indicate the 12 speeds. The blinking seems like a particularly poor decision, because it only blinks for a while when you change the setting, so in use, you can’t look at the thing to see what speed its going.
On the other hand, the multi-position switch/indicator on many corded rotary tools seems prone to failure.
Just adding one more LED would make it easier to read. LEDs 1-6 alone for the lower gears, and the additional LED to indicate the next bank of speeds, a little like front and back derailleurs on a bike.
Of course, they could also display the 12 speeds using 4 LEDs (if read as a binary number) or just 1 for that matter (just make it flash twelve times). That would be a PITA to use, but 6 LEDs is also a PITA, I’d imagine.
Or they could use four LEDS, 1-4 solid for the lowest four speeds, 1-4 slow (but persistent) flashing for the next four, and 1-4 fast flashing for the highest four. Etc. That would be much easier to read than this momentary flashing, I’d guess.
James
Haha or an LED screen showing the numerical speed….I agree it’s a little odd but brains catch on quick to these things. A couple taps of the button one way or the other and you can find your speed.
Koko The Talking Ape
Actually I just find my speed by moving up and down, like you describe. But sometimes you might actually need to know what speed your wheel is spinning, and these six blinking lights seem like a bad solution. Why have it at all? An LCD screen (less power draw than LEDs, I think), maybe backlit, would do it right.
Doresoom
Cost is why. A few surface mount LEDs are cheaper than an LCD.
Koko The Talking Ape
Of course its cost, but here, saving a few pennies means one part of the tool’s function is clearly compromised . If they are thinking like that, why have any LEDs at all? You can usually use these things without knowing the exact speed setting. Or, as I said, just use 4 LEDs.
BigTimeTommy
Probably just the cheapest way to do it.
Koko The Talking Ape
Well, 4 LEDs would be even cheaper, and 1 or none would be cheapest of all. And 7 wouldn’t be much more expensive and would be easier to read. Why do it badly to save a few pennies?
Garry Slyfield
We have one of the Milwaukee rotary units. We found cutting some plastic containers required slower speeds to prevent jumping up and out of cuts on finesse jobs. Usually higher speeds work but sometimes a little slower speed is required . Problem is the price.
Rx9
Impressive thus far. I own a corded rotary tool with digital speed control and have had no issues. Rotary tools, like OMTs, are one of those tools that you think you may not really need at first, but you keep finding uses for after you get them.
Ken Fetting
Could someone please explain the differences between this M12 Rotary Tool and the M12 Die Grinder? I understand that the default collet sizes are 1/8″ on the rotary and 1/4″ for the die grinder but they both look compact enough to perform the same functions(?). I also see that Milwaukee has a 1/8″ collet adapter for the die grinder. All this makes me think the die grinder is the more versatile choice.
Stuart
It’s kind of like the difference between a hammer drill and rotary hammer.
Die grinders hog away material. Rotary tools are more for precision work.
There’s definitely overlap.
MM
The die grinder is a native 1/4″ collet, and smaller collets are available to hold smaller bits. The rotary tool maxes out at 1/8 inch capacity.
The rotary tool is slightly faster, it makes 27,500 rpm whereas the die grinders max speed is 25,000.
The die grinders should have more torque
The die grinders have variable speed triggers, like the throttle on air tools, while the rotary tool has an on-off switch.
The rotary tool has a narrower “neck” and can be held like a pencil or used with certain attachments like the drywall cutout tool in the pictures.
In my opinion there is significant overlap for most users. The main differences are if you want to hold it like a pencil to do fine delicate work then you will need the rotary tool. On the other hand, the die grinders have better speed control, more power, and can hold 1/4″ shank bits in addition to all the bits the rotary tool can use.
JR Ramos
I was excited when I first heard this mentioned but after seeing the tool features I’ll probably pass on it…would like to see it in hand, though, and perhaps some good torque/watt comparison tests. Additional power and steady speed maintenance would be very welcomed although the old tool isn’t bad at all (used correctly of course).
They are so stingy with included accessories these days. For the price they ask, they should equip these with a keyless chuck and include a few collets for those that like the wrench. It would be great if they’d at least include 1/8″, 3/32″, and 3mm (so many of the import accessories just seem unable to hit that 3.2mm dimension….thus the keyless chucks are awesome if you get a good one).
The old tool was well made and I prefer that dial control – also prefer the on/off switch just where it was. The nose-wrench seems like a smart feature but from here it looks like the stick out has been reduced, which can be an advantage sometimes, but that slight extra reach is really appreciated with cutoff wheels (even with a 1-1/2″ wheel it’s hard to slide in where you need to be sometimes…good case for a 3″ wheel on a die grinder).
The led light…have to see that first. Would be nice with smaller diameter grinding and engraving bits but I’m thinking it may induce a shadow with cutoff wheels that might be irritating where ambient light is actually more useful.
In one photo they’re using the adjustable grout/cutoff base…is Milwaukee introducing a model of their own? That’s been a handy accessory for me but the original Dremel and knockoffs aren’t made especially well (damage from the set screw especially). If Milwaukee improved on this and/or other accessories that’d be great. Actually if they would introduce a high quality keyless chuck that would be fantastic. The Dremels are still made in Germany but gosh the quality has gone down and they’re nearly the same low quality as the China copies these days. Not sure who in Germany makes those but they are not nearly the same as they were just a decade ago – glad I bought a few before the running change. A return to that quality would be a winner.
Other accessories…hopefully they all fit. The base of the nose threads looks like it may not work with a couple I have. The ridiculously priced StuMac Dremel tool “vise” holder thing is great but it looks like this new brushless model may not interface well with it.
With the increase in price over the original and with what seem like dubious features or new disadvantages to me, I’ll probably stick with my original until it dies but I’ll give the brushless a good consideration when I can.
The new M12 jigsaw is the same for me. They basically gave the power (and blower!) that we craved and then changed so much else that it leaves a lot of us in the lurch. As a left hander there’s no way I will purchase the new model, sadly. Probably makes no sense financially for this tool category, but there are so many variations with drills and some other tools, it’d be nice if Milwaukee could have another version or two of the jigsaws available to satisfy different needs. They’re too “disruptive” for their own good sometimes…
Ray
I believe this updated version is way overdue honestly. As much as I enjoyed using the original version which I got probably 10 years ago, I had issues with the speed dial on 2 different units. After a few years of relatively light, intermittent use, the tool would not start on any setting under speed “3”, and then eventually wouldn’t start at all.
Milwaukee warranty was phenomenal and to date the only time I have had to use it. I promptly received a new tool, and after maybe 5 years of even more intermittent, light use, the same issue occurred, and the tool would just produce a whiny noise, with the tool no longer under warranty. But when I needed the tool, I was very happy to have it and it worked great until it just didn’t.
Was looking seriously at the Ryobi USB version, or even maybe the M12 die grinders, but now this is out, and no reason not to get it.
tldr…Yes, I will be getting this as soon as I can.
D.Cook
When does it come to the stores?
Stuart
It’s available online now. You’ll have to check with individual retailers to see if they’ll be carrying it in stores.
Robert Adkins
I’m underwhelmed by my old M12 grinder, been waiting for this one only to find it’s not a real improvement on my battery sucking brushed model.