# Dremel 8200 12v Cordless Rotary Tool



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

I was recently given an opportunity to review the new cordless offering from Dremel. In the interest of full disclosure, this tool was donated by Dremel for this review, via WoodworkingTalk.com. I say this so you'll know up front my review is not biased because of this, and I think you'll see that by the time the review is finished. 

The tool is officially called the: Dremel 8200 Cordless 12VMAX High-Performance Rotary Tool. It was designed by and is sold by Dremel - a division of the Robert Bosch Tool Corporation. Dremel has an interesting history, and for those interested you can read a brief overview about it from their website. While the company is based in Racine, Wisconsin - they are, like most large corporations today, truly an international company that utilizes labor resources in countries all around the planet. The tool itself and the case in which is comes is assembled in Mexico. The battery is manufactured in Malaysia, and the charger is made in China. The accessories and attachments are made in Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Italy, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, Taiwan, or the USA. Whew! I'm not making a moral judgment on the company, I'm merely mentioning this because I'm aware that many woodworkers like to know where tools are manufactured before they buy. 

Here is the tool I received. 











The manual is very well written. The operating instructions were obviously written by someone with experience using the tool. The manual contains more than just basic operation procedures, it also gives tips on how to use the tool with various materials and which accessories work best in certain applications, and what the optimal speeds are. The how-to tips are quite accurate too, so I assume the manual was written by someone with field experience, or at least the person/team that wrote it made sure to get input from personnel experienced in the use of cutting and grinding tools in real world applications. It comes with an impressive amount of documentation and paperwork. Laid out end to end, about 6' of it in fact . . . . 












The kit came with an impressive number of accessories, and also a quick reference foldout poster which has part numbers of accessories and attachments, and also other models of tools which are available. One of the inserts within the manual was a basic IPB (Illustrated Parts Breakdown) which can be used to order parts and make repairs once the warranty has expired. Those with technician backgrounds and DIY repair types can really appreciate that detail. Dremel did themselves and us a favor by not designing and packaging this as a disposable unit. Too many companies today do not design their tools to allow for end-user repairs once the warranty has expired, but the detailed documentation Dremel provides is excellent. I have not priced replacement parts and do not know the actual availability, but I must say what they provide inside the kit is tantamount to a service manual. A simple one, but one nonetheless. You just don't see this kind of thoughtfulness in a tool in this price range anymore. They knocked a grand slam with me on this.

I received the first Dremel Rotary Tool on May 1st and put it to use immediately. Yes, I did say “first” tool. I used it for 10 days before alerting the Administrator of this forum that the tool had an intermittent problem. “Intermittent” but chronic in that the tool would simply not start sometimes. Of course I made sure I wasn't doing something wrong or overlooking something. When I would attempt to power the unit up, roughly 8% of the time the unit would not start. I did this with a known fully charged, fully seated battery and checked the contacts for solid connectivity. The administrator contacted Dremel, and they sent another tool for review which I received on the 9th of June. 

As of this writing (21Jul2010) I have used the second tool almost daily. I've used the tool for everything from pencil sharpening to gunsmithing. From cutting to grinding and even polishing. The tool comes with polishing wheels and polishing paste. I didn't think I would use it when I first noticed it in the kit, and even sneered a little thinking it was thrown in as filler. Not so. 

My wife, who has recently taken up woodturning has also used it to sand , and with surprisingly good success. She has turned a vase lamp and it turns out some of the curves in the lamp were such that the cordless tool was able to get her very close to the finish sanding. In fact it enabled her to skip several grits of hand sanding in those small grooves. 












I used the tool to grind some relief on the edge of a broken tang prior to welding it back together. It ground the edges quicker than I thought it would. It took less than a minute to grind, but also allowed me the control not to grind off too much. 













I had also used one of the sanding wheels to grind out enough wood in order to get a pair of grips on the tang and pull it out of the handle.










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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

I needed to make a temporary machinery repair until a correct replacement part arrived. The Dremel cordless made quick work of the protruding screws. 












I got to the point using this tool, that I wanted to know what the limits were. I chose a task I didn't really need to perform other than challenging this tool. I grabbed a 1/2” copper coated steel grounding rod, and put the cutting wheel on the Dremel tool. This is a job I would have normally reached for the 3” pneumatic cutoff tool to do, but I wanted to see just what this 12v cordless was capable of. I apologize for the poor picture, I didn't notice it until just prior to publishing this review. 












The tool cut the rod in 2 minutes and 5 seconds. It would have cut it faster had I set up a brace where I could've held the tool steadier, because I was unable to keep it from binding up frequently once it got deeper into the cut. The battery was not fully charged when I began, but it finished the cut without having to change batteries. When I started, the cutting wheel was almost new similar to the one shown on lying on the floor. By time the rod was cut, the wheel was nearly gone. This was pretty impressive; this isn't the level of work this tool was designed to do, but in a pinch you could use this tool to do it. The collet is a quick-change design (shown in the red circle) and it's super easy to change, but also locks solidly. 












I've used this tool on more jobs than what I can remember, and I eventually stopped documenting them all. The battery charges quicker than advertised (maybe it is a 30 minute charger!), and the charge lasts longer than what I expected. But don't expect 28v Li-Ion performance from this lightweight tool; keep in perspective what it is and what it is designed to do. Light jobs around the house and shop. Having said that, this tool delivers beyond what you would expect – like cutting a 1/2” ground rod in half. I can't comment on battery life obviously since I've only had the tool for about 6 weeks, but so far so good. 

Speaking about the batteries, I noticed something about them before I was even aware that Bosch owns Dremel. And that is that the batteries are the exact same ones that my 12v Bosch impact driver uses. This can be handy if you have Bosch and multiple batteries for your Bosch, or your Dremel tools and want to keep one hot while you're expending the other. It's probably not a good idea though, as the Bosch is a 30 minute charger whereas the Dremel advertises it as a one hour. I'm sure they'd advise against it. The batteries will not interchange with each tool however, because while they have the exact same part numbers, the moldings were made so that the batteries are proprietary to the respective brands. 












Now for some things I didn't like about it. The tool gets very hot. So hot that in some areas you can barely keep your hand there. This happens after you've been using it at it's design limit for several minutes, but I thought it noteworthy. 

The on/off switch is somewhat difficult to operate because of the design of the switch more so than its location. The slightly raised portion of the mold-injection plastic switch is thin, narrow, sharp, and not pronounced enough for my liking. I do not have a large thumb and it's a nuisance to me every time I use it, so I would think a truly large man with large thumbs would find it nearly intolerable. 

In summary, I like this tool a great deal. It's a high quality, well-engineered tool. It's light weight and can get into small places. It retails for $172.64 but can be found online for as low as $99.00 that I have found. Would I buy the tool? Yes, definitely. It has power beyond that of any Dremel tool I've used in the past. In fact, I have an older corded Dremel tool that can't hold a candle to the power that this 8200 cordless Li-Ion puts out. I'll finish the review with some “good/bad bullets”, but before I do I'd like to acknowledge that this wasn't intended to be a full review of this tool. It has tons of more uses and applications but this should give you an idea of what it can do. 

It has many attachments and accessories, and it comes with a cutting guide which I didn't even have a chance to use. I could probably have used it cutting the end of the ground rod off, but it didn't cross my mind until just this second. I bet it would have held the tool steady enough that it would've cut it a great deal faster. If anyone has any questions about this tool, or if you want me to test it in some other application to help you decide if it's something you'd like to purchase, let me know and I'll try to accommodate you. 



The good

Excellent power
Wide variable speed range
Light weight compact design
Battery “fuel gauge” let's you know what's left in the tank
Battery charge lasts longer than I expected with heavy use
Collet is easy to tighten/loosen. I don't even use the tightening wrench
Tool comes with a nice basic kit for accomplishing a wide variety of tasks
Outstanding value, especially if purchased in the sub $100 range.


The Bad

Gets very hot with extended use
On/Off switch could stand some redesign









I would have to rate this cordless rotary tool system 4.5 stars out of 5, getting knocked only because of the heat & switch issues.






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## mickit (Oct 5, 2009)

TT thanks for the very concise review. I've been thinking about buying one, or one like it. Nothing like first hand information...way better imo than the "user reviews" I've read.
Mick


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