After getting a tip about it on the Lead Adventure Forum I quickly went on eBay and looked for this magic tool. It wasn't hard to find, just stick "engraving tool" in the search and you will be presented with several choices. Most of them look like to be the same item just from multiple sellers.
I wanted to see what the budget option could do, and ordered the cheapest one. It was about two dollars, including shipping!
A few weeks later it finally arrived.
First Impressions
The tool arrived in generic blister/card packaging, which I immediately threw away without taking pictures of it.
There is no visible brand name or even pretty much any other markings on the tool -- always a sign of quality product, right?
I guess they put stickers on them if they are sold "branded".
The tool is designed to run on two AA cells and it has a simple on/off switch in the handle. It is very light, most of the weight will be the batteries.
The actual tool bit is permanently fixed ball-head type of about 2mm diameter. It appears to be coated and looks pretty similar to the cheapo diamond coated grinding bits I got for my Dremel.
Interestingly the bit mounting has some spring-loaded flexibility in it, making it easier to apply rather gentle pressure. When you first touch whatever you are working on, it's actually only the rather light spring pushing the tool in.
In Use
I popped in the batteries and tested it out on a couple of models on the desk. As expected given the power source, it is not hugely powerful. You can't really hurt yourself with this, it will stall out before doing any real damage. There is also almost no torque at all.
This is a good thing.
It is virtually impossible to cause accidental damage with this. It won't randomly skip and fly of in unwanted directions. If you press it down too hard, it will just stall out.
But it is powerful enough to do real work. It's not super fast, but it will grind down mold lines on plastic, resin and even white metal models.
The biggest minus in my opinion is the permanently mounted tool bit. The ball head is too large for some spots, a cone head would be better. If it was changeable, I could just swap it out as the stem seems to match my existing tools. Perhaps I can find another variant with a different head, at this price buying multiples is not a problem.
Grinding plastic leaves behind a fuzz that requires a bit of final cleanup. However, I found it to work best on small delicate parts because it does work without pressing down too hard. E.g. the pistol holster and the water bottle on the pictured backpack are difficult to clean with a knife, because it's hard to support the parts against pressure.
Verdict
You can't really go wrong at this price. Sure it could be better but it works.
It is a very specific tool for a very specific task, not a multi-purpose tool like a Dremel. It doesn't have the power to drill through steel, but it's not supposed to either.
A knife is still faster, but on the other hand you can give this to people you wouldn't trust with sharp objects.
The small size and very light weight make it much easier to use than a more powerful multitool.
If you can find a slightly more expensive variant with changeable tool heads that might be a better choice.
maxxon
Sucks!
