Customer Review(s)
Customer Rating: 
Summary: as described; works great and good price
Comment: as described; works great and good price.
engraved metals and plastics
easy to control grip in hand.
able to free write cursive 10pt font legibly, easily.
Customer Rating: Summary: More than an engraver
Comment: I was repairing defects on some small aluminum castings, using grinders and files. The shapes are complex, which sometimes requires very careful control of the tool. I found that a chisel (hit with a hammer, or pushed) was best for some things, and it occurred to me that a vibrating chisel would be even better, because it would allow even more control. There are such things, but they tend to be rather expensive. My search led to fossil preparation, which uses vibrating chisels, but they mentioned that for fine work a Dremel 290 is better. Put in a special tool in place of the engraving tip, and away you go! Seeing that Amazon had it for only $12.99, eligible for free shipping, I thought "can't go wrong with that". I just got it, ground a tiny chisel out of some 1/8" music wire rod, and tried it out on a block of aluminum. It curls up little chips very nicely. I think it will be a useful addition to my tool set. As an engraver, I like the fact that you have some control over the vibration. I have a 'Wen Electric Pencil' which doesn't have that, and sometimes it kicks back quite a bit. As to the Dremel, I agree with others that the 'chuck' doesn't look very strong, but for the price, you can't really expect anything better. So, 4 stars for quality, plus one star for versatility.
Customer Rating: Summary: used in our organization
Comment: I purchased three of these with diamond point tips for etching at work.
They get used daily and provide quality identification making on a variety
of materials from plastics, to metal. We have found the diamond tip exceptional in making on tempered metal, and case hardened steel. The new design and style are superior to the old design, and greatly reduce fatigue in those long marking cessions.
Further, the new design allows a greater degree of control when marking in tight spaces.
We have found these tools to meet and exceed the needs of our organization.
