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dremel for detents help

blackz26

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Mar 26, 2013
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So, got me a dremel yesterday thanks to auto zone rewards points. I have heard of people adding detents to tools that don't have them. Specifically evercraft flare crowsfoot wrenches. Basically what I need is the guide for dummys on how to do this. What attachment to use, technique and depth etc. Thanks.in advance
 
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TwoInch

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id try a tungsten carbide burr, but im not sure how they would last being used on the tool steel.
 
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jeremy v

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I don't have any personal pics for you, but I have used diamond tipped dremel bits to grind detents into a few different things before. One was a specialty 1/4" drive adapter that I ordered off of Ebay and it came without detents. I can't remember what the other things were, but I have done it at least 3-4 times with 1/4" and 3/8" drive stuff. It works just fine and the diamond bits last a long time as long as you keep them wet, cool, and go slow. I use a few drops of WD40 (from a small dropper bottle) to keep the bit cool as it spins, but other things would probably work too. If I remember correctly I did put the 1/8" dremel bits into my rotozip for more torque instead of using my dremel, but it should still work just fine in a dremel, it will just take longer.

If you can find on Ebay etc. a set of ball head diamond bits like the one in my pic, those work pretty well and will be the easiest way to make a nice looking detent. Just estimate the ideal ball diameter by looking at other existing tool detents of the same drive size. Realize though that I have only done a few tools, and for the tools I was modifying I only needed to do one or two detents per square hole. You might want to do all 4 sides for a crowfoot wrench set so you can quickly flip the crowfoot wrench around and always have ball detent engagement. That will take longer.

All this being said, none of my crowfoot or flare crowfoot wrenches have ball detents, and I have never missed them. Spring ball tension on extensions is enough to hold them on there just fine for what I do. There is still a good amount of resistance to them pulling off. I almost prefer them to not have them, so you might want to just try using the wrenches without modifying them and see if it really is an issue for you to begin with. It will take a while to do 4 nice detents in every crowfoot wrench no matter how you do it.

In as far as a time estimation, it might differ some depending on the quality of the diamond ball bit, but I bought a set of pretty cheap ones and they worked well for me. I think the bits were about $2-3 each or so and I am still using the first one. You might go through 2-3 bits to do as many detents as you want to do. I would estimate about 1-2 minutes per detent for a nice looking well done detent, so plan an hour or so per set of crowfoot wrenches since you would ideally want to do 4 detents per wrench.
 

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jeremy v

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One thing I forgot to mention is that the carbide burrs might also work. I have not tried them for creating detents, but I have used them for doing other things. They do have a tendency to want to grab or bite and send the bit tip off track in harder metals compared to diamond burrs. Also very light differences in hand pressure will cause them to alternate between skipping on the metal and grabbing into the metal surface so the force needed by your hand to keep them in place can vary rapidly sometimes. That can make it hard to do detail stuff like you are wanting to do. That is the best way I can think of to explain it.

A diamond burr works more like sandpaper does, with an equal tug at all times on your hand while pressing the bit tip into the steel and it constantly shaves off very tiny shavings that are dust like, so there is no grabbing to pull of thin shavings of metal. As a result it is much easier to keep in place. That lesser and more constant resistance should work better with a lower powered tool like a dremel as well.
 
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Haveblue

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Jeremy hit the nail on the head, if you use a good extension you will be fine. I have sunex crows feet with no detents that I use with my blackhack extensions,and I have no problems. Where you run into problems, are when using cheap ***, no name extensions. They dont retain the socket as well, or even stay on the ratchet..unless you are lucky
 
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