Dremel: I recently bought an accessories kit for my Dremel (I have everything,   but you can never have too many bits!).   I had a list of each bit along with the usual use for each one.   I shall try to describe them here, for those of you who asked.

Grinding wheel - aluminum oxide ~ used for cleaning, deburring, grinding and polishing of most metals, castings, welded joints, rivets, rust.

Grinding wheel - silicon carbide ~ stone, glass, ceramics, porcelain, non-ferrous metals Sanding bands (barrel-shaped), flap wheel, sanding disks ~ different grits - obvious use for sanding.   Different shapes get into different places more easily.

Diamond cutters ~ fine detail work on jade, ceramic, glass, wood (I would not use these on wood).   There are hundreds of shapes and sizes. American Scientific and Surplus has some very inexpensive sets similar to what I have and they are most useful).   They need to be cooled when used.   I keep a sponge handy and periodically cool the bit and the work piece.  Light touch is mandatory.

Carbide cutter ~ hardened steel, cast-iron, stainless steel, ceramics HSS cutter (not sure what that means - high something steel) ~ soft steel, soft metals, plastics, fiber glass, wood (Last two are metal file type bits)

Fiber glass cut off wheel, general purpose cut off wheels heavy duty and regular ~ slicing and cutting metals, wood, plastics (and I also carefully use the flat areas to sand with - they break easily though)

Rubber emery wheel (Cratex) ~ light deburring (metals, jewelry work, plastics)

Bristle brushes ~ cleaning and polishing silverware, jewelry.  Also nice for getting into corners to clean.

Axial or Radial stainless steel brushes ~ removing rust, corrosion, polish metals (also texturing wood)

Brass brushes ~ clean electrical components

Felt wheels ~ used with various polishes on metals and plastics (can also be used on stone).  For high polished objects, do not mix different polishes on same wheel.  Store used wheel in plastic bag and label what polish is on it.  Tiny grit can contaminate these and ruin a piece.

Cloth layered wheel ~ also for polishing

Twist drills - obvious

Mandrels ~ hold various types of grinding and sanding disks and saws

Screw point mandrel ~ hold pointed felt and cratex bits

Collet ~ various sizes to hold various shanks in Dremel tool

I finally bought an adjustable adaptor for the dremel that avoids a lot of switching.   See MicroMark

Dressing stone ~ cleans grinding wheels.

Other things I use and find handy ~ router attachment with router bits to make mini moldings, chanels, etc.

Right angle head helps me get to places I can't with the straight tool.

Flex shaft

Metal saw blades ~ best if you set the dremel in a clamp base and make a table to fit over it so it can be used like a table saw.   Can be quite dangerous.

1/4" shank mini chain saw bit ~ very dangerous - use with shield (which I shall soon purchase) for wood carving.

I am sure I am leaving something out, but this is such a versatile tool that I could do most of my work with just this one tool and all of the attachments.

Jacqui in Hilo

Fancy toothpick uses: I know of two uses for carved toothpicks:
1. (for 1/12 scale): paint the carved end gold, cut it off and glue to green wire and you have a garden hose.
2. (for 1/48 scale): fancy table legs, bedposts.

Trish in Sunnyvale, CA

Fancy toothpick uses: I made a cane--painted the carved end gold and the other end brown, cut the sharp tip to dull it a bit, and it made a rather elegant cane. ( I found my toothpicks in my grocery store.)

Gary

Fancy toothpick uses: I made Japanese hair ornaments out of the tops. Cut them off and tapered the end to a point. Painted, attached pearls, beads, or flowers. (If you need more directions let me know---I actually strung the beads and then attached them to the toothpick so the dangled) Also, may be used for the handle on a fan (not the folding kind). Or the handle on a Mardi Gras mask.

Elise in Va.

Silicon Health Warning: I'm trying to get caught up on my digest reading and missed the original post. But, yes, Lesley, it is my daughter who became seriously ill after ingesting a silica packet. When Amanda was only 4 she ate one of the packets (possibly two) out of a shoe box. I emptied out her mouth, thinking I caught her in time. The following year she began to display some unusual symptoms. Skin rashes, vomiting, aching bones. We were told the rash was ring worm and the other was normal stomach upsets, growing pains, etc. It wasn't. A year and half went by, countless doctor visits and finally a diagnosis -- Progressive Systemic Scleroderma which is often triggered by silicon.

She has endured surgery, treatments, special diets, therapy, and enough blood work to kill us all! No one should spend that much time at the doctor's office and hospital. Amanda is under the care of doctors ofdermatology, gastroenterology, opthamology, endocrinology, rheumatology and various surgeons. We've spent more time at Duke University Hospital than the workers it seems! Scleroderma can be a potentially deadly disease, and we are grateful that she is doing so well. We were told at the time of diagnosis (by a less than kind doctor) that from onset of disease she had seven years to live and the time she had left would be difficult at best. That was nine years ago next month! The latest symptom is her deteriorating vision. In one year she went from 20/20 to needing bifocals. PLEASE, PLEASE do NOT use silicon in your minis. Your children, grandchildren and pets are at risk! Miniatures are a wonderful hobby I dearly love, but they aren't worth your health.

Michelle in South Carolina

Fancy toothpick uses: I use them for Windsor chair backs, etc., and for wheel spokes. Also for making stronger butt joints. They are invisible in side the joint. Easy to line up the holes when they are to be drilled. Drbob's Ph.D. method: (PHD=Pin Here Dummy)

Ph.D. method ----TIP----( for lining up drill holes to accept dowels) If you have to line 2 (or more) holes up when drilling them for dowel insertion. Prior to drilling and to find the exact locations. Try this. It works for me. Take a straight pin and tape it to the edge of the wood to be drilled. Place the head of the straight pin over the location of the hole to be drilled. Put the two pieces of wood together (with the pin taped in place).Position the material (wood) as it is to be glued. Then give a sharp rap on the end of either piece so that the pin head will make an indentation in both opposing surfaces. Take apart and remove pin. The indentations made by the pin head are the sites for the holes, they will mate the dowel and holes exactly. I usually make a pencil mark in the indentation to make sure I see it. "old eyes" ya know.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL

Fancy toothpick uses: I remembered that years ago at a Christmas Exchange, we each received a box of 6 wooden soldiers. The top knot of the pick was the black bushy part like the Queens Guard. The uniform is royal blue with yellow straps in an X across the chest. They were very well done by Lynn, a gal in club.

MAP in Puyallup

Dremel accessories: Jacqui in Hilo made some very good postings regarding the use of Dremel accessories. I feel I should put in my 2 cents.

I have used the Dremel metal circular saw blade and it has a problem in that it is so thin that it meanders all over the place and follows the wood grain instead of the cut line. Dremel has two new wood cutting circular blades. One is thin and rigid with diamond dust on it. It does a good job. The other is a much thicker kerf but rips and cross cuts like a gem The wide kerf mandates cutting on the waste side of the cut line.

For cleaning out sanding drums and files. I use the metal wire wheel that is a metal brush. I hold it in my fat little hand while the sanding drum is rotated and it does a fairly good unclogging job. Same for files. I use the wire brush in the Dremel for files. I have yet in all my years used the dressing stone. May be it's just old habits die hard.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Dremel: I haven't figured out why those people haven't even tried to use their Dremel tool.   I am on my second one and this one is cordless.   I dearly love it.   I use it to drill holes to start screws, to lightly sand the "feathers" from my Dremel jig-saw. I have been making the 1/4" Debbie Young stores and use the cutting wheel to cut out the doors and windows.   Much easier than trying to use and X-Acto knife.   I buy the sanding discs from MicroMark because I can buy the peel and stick.   In fact, you   had better move when I have the little Dremel in my hand because you either get sanded, or holed.   I couldn't live without it.  Just start using it, you'll love it.

Mary Ann

Irish pubs: I'm American, but I live and breathe Irish culture and have spent LOTS of time in various pubs! I think they come in categories -- at least they feel like categories.

There's the working class pub that is purely functional and pays little attention to decor. The floors are usually slate or possibly wooden, and the two drinks of choice are Guinness and Harp. There really wouldn't be a huge variety of bottles behind the bar, but there are always standard non-alcoholic drinks like Lucozade and white and red lemonade, which come in tall, plastic bottles. Look up "sugan chair" on the web, and you'll find a typical style of chair. Tables are small and round or else rectangular and low, and the wood tends to be dark. Upholstery has some shade of maroon but can also be a simple dark, muted print. Lots of bars have pool tables and/or dart boards and always a cigarette machine and a pay phone, which often sits on the end of the bar and looks more like a normal phone but with a slot to put the money. Almost all have an area that can be cleared out for the seisun musicians who amble in for an informal set or two.

If you live anywhere in the U.S. that has the "manufactured" Irish pubs -- constructed in Ireland, deconstructed, and then reconstructed here -- they'll be much cleaner and will have beautiful wood and antique pieces. There are bars like that in Ireland, but they seem to be more for tourists. Another thing -- most have an area called a snug, which is really an intimate corner. Also, lots serve food, so menus of sandwiches, fish and chips, and lasagna would be appropriate!

Pam