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Milwaukee m12 Cordless rotary tool

Mallen

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 11, 2021
Messages
649
I got tired of wearing out dremel tools, so i thought id try the Milwaukee cordless one since it was 129 at home depot and came with the charger, a 2ah and a 4ah battery, and sooner or later i want to get one of their m12 ratchets. I usually avoid the cordless ones but figured the m12 batreries should be ok. On fact, the do seem to be ok and have sufficient charge even on the small one. But im not particularly happy with the tool itself It overheats fairly easily, but i actually suspect thats not as big of a problem as it sounds. Ive overheated plent of dremels until they are too hot to hold and smell like burning insulation. The milwaukee just shuts down and gives an overheat warning. At first it seemed that it overheats faster than the dremel, but i think whats really going on is that it just wont get as hot and thats probably a good thing rather than a drawback. Unfortunatly, when i used it the second time, the motor would not spin up unless you gave it a kick or turned the speed all the way up and i had to exchange it. Bpth of them had a huge amount of play in the shaft. A quick google search found it was not just mine. They all have it. Im very dissapiinted in that. For many uses, it wont matter. But when you clamp it into a drill press adapter and try to drill with a 0.1mm carbide but, it probably will.

I found that the problem is that the bearing does not fit the housing properly. I took a blade for a paint scraper that was 0.375mm thick and heated it in a flame until it was red and let it cool to aneal the metal then blunted the edge on sandpaper and took a pair of snips and cut some shims for the bearing. That fixed it perfectly. No more play. Still i dint expect to have to reengineer a milwaukee too so its kind of dissapointing.
 
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iamhomeless

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 6, 2009
Messages
336
Location
Indy
I've had really good luck with my m12 rotors tool. But if I am cutting with it for any lenof time, I still pull out the air pencil, those don't overheat.
 

GeoBruin

Well-known member
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
3,738
I got tired of wearing out dremel tools, so i thought id try the Milwaukee cordless one since it was 129 at home depot and came with the charger, a 2ah and a 4ah battery, and sooner or later i want to get one of their m12 ratchets. I usually avoid the cordless ones but figured the m12 batreries should be ok. On fact, the do seem to be ok and have sufficient charge even on the small one. But im not particularly happy with the tool itself It overheats fairly easily, but i actually suspect thats not as big of a problem as it sounds. Ive overheated plent of dremels until they are too hot to hold and smell like burning insulation. The milwaukee just shuts down and gives an overheat warning. At first it seemed that it overheats faster than the dremel, but i think whats really going on is that it just wont get as hot and thats probably a good thing rather than a drawback. Unfortunatly, when i used it the second time, the motor would not spin up unless you gave it a kick or turned the speed all the way up and i had to exchange it. Bpth of them had a huge amount of play in the shaft. A quick google search found it was not just mine. They all have it. Im very dissapiinted in that. For many uses, it wont matter. But when you clamp it into a drill press adapter and try to drill with a 0.1mm carbide but, it probably will.

I found that the problem is that the bearing does not fit the housing properly. I took a blade for a paint scraper that was 0.375mm thick and heated it in a flame until it was red and let it cool to aneal the metal then blunted the edge on sandpaper and took a pair of snips and cut some shims for the bearing. That fixed it perfectly. No more play. Still i dint expect to have to reengineer a milwaukee too so its kind of dissapointing.
Sounds like you might just be asking more from it than it was intended to deliver. I don't think they're brushless motors.

Consider looking at the m12 straight die grinder and getting a 1/4" to 1/8" collet.

I have the m12 rotary tool but it has peen permanently assigned to tungsten grinding duty with a dedicated tungsten grinding apparatus on it. I have the Dewalt 20v cutout tool as well and it's definitely got more beans.
 
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Michael_in_DE

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
1,012
Location
Wilmington, DE
I have the same tool and have the same problems. I was sure I was doing something wrong. Nope, these just generally ****. They are barely better than a battery powered dremel. I was apparently way off when I thought I was getting a battery powered die grinder.
 
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Newell33

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 8, 2016
Messages
318
Location
Midwest
I had one that would shut down with the slightest amount of pressure. It was basically worthless. I sent it in to Milwaukee. They sent it back as repaired and it did the same thing. Finally, I sent it in again. They ended up sending me a new one that works great and no longer shuts down. It definitely sounds different too. The tool itself seems pretty cheap, and I think it's one that needs a redesign.
 

Farmall 1066

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Messages
1,805
Location
Suburban Rockford, NE
Never really wanted one, but found one in a pawnshop, with a 6,0 battery. They’d lost the charger for it and were desperate to get it sold.
Gave $40 for it, just to get the battery….only thing I’ve used it for is to trim our dogs claws, but works great for that.
 

theoldwizard1

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
43,132
Location
SE MI
I always hated my Dremel so I got the M12 rotary tool. Be careful NOT to over tighten the collet. It will break and be stuck in the chuck. Happens twice. First time warrantied. Second time I was able to get it out.
 

Rickster

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 26, 2005
Messages
6,218
Location
SE PA
I have both the M12 rotary and the die grinder. Both have worked well for me. Sounds like you may need to get the straight die grinder if you're overheating the smaller rotary tool.
 
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