uppitycats Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 ... to do things like widening doorways (when the house is already constructed, they're there, you want to widen them..)... or to cut bigger windows, or new windows where they didn't exist before? My husband says the "Dremel saw won't work..it's at the wrong angle to get in there.." I'm not a tool person, but from the picture I've seen, it SEEMS like it would work.. but I thought I'd ask the experts.. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I use the dremel to slightly enlarge door & window openings, areas that just need sanding to be a bit larger or rounded. But for new 'holes' I usually call in DH with his trusty sabre saw (which I'm not allowed to use -- power tool, y'know :lol: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Color Me Holly Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I would proabably use a rotary saw, if it would fit. There is a rotary saw attachment for the dremel. I have a black and decker rotary saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaimieMarvon Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I would proabably use a rotary saw, if it would fit. There is a rotary saw attachment for the dremel. We have the Dremel rotary tool (only about $15 or so) and used it to cut a hole in the kitchen wall after the house was built. I was afraid of it and made hubby help. It was very noisy and shook the house, but it got the job done very well. After a little sanding and perfecting the "hole" looks great. pic of kitchen with new "hole" in the wall For the Master bedroom, when I decided that I wanted to open up the room like almost everyone else had done witht e Garfield, the Dremel wouldn't have fit well enough so I used a combination of Xacto knife and mini hack saw. Very messy job and was hard to do with one person, but again, it got the job done! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniMadWoman Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I just use my trusty old utility knife. I just widened a doorway in the kitchen of my Beacon Hill to make room for a swinging door. I think I posted pictures in my "conservatory blog". :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I just use my trusty old utility knife. I do the same thing. You can see me doing this in my Arthur house by clicking HERE I am power tool challenged so I use my Hobby knife a LOT :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 when I cut the wall out of the bathroom in the Willowcrest I tried using the cutting tool on the dremel did not work out very well so I used the xacto. one slice at a time. it may have been a bit more time consuming but the cut was smoother than the dremel cut. again this is one of those areas that it is all about what works for you and how comfortable you are with tools. personal preferences. next question nutti :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uppitycats Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 Oh darn...and I so wanted to play with my new Dremel! :lol: We did widen one door yesterday with the handtools. Took awhile, but worked. Guess that's what I'll do with the other one that needs a bit of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 My husband says the "Dremel saw won't work..it's at the wrong angle to get in there.." I'm not a tool person, but from the picture I've seen, it SEEMS like it would work.. I don't know anything about the Dremel Saw.. but a regular dremel works great for this! In my Santa House I had the entire house fully constructed - the wall paper up and everything and only Then decided I needed to change the door - I used a dremel to completely recut the door frame to fit an upgraded preframed door. I've used it many times to recut windows. In the Community Orchid Blog if you look at the house I'm building you'll see that I recut ALL of the windows on that house. All except the front set of lower windows were done with the dremel and to be honest I wish I'd done them with the dremel too! I used a scroll saw on those and the vibrations from the saw gave me a lot of trouble with the die cut pieces I'd purposely left in falling out due to vibrations. I recut the big front octagonal window to raise it and added 2 more octagonal windows on each end of the house and cut all of them with the Dremel. It's a Wonderful tool for remodling houses. I've cut walls, door ways, windows, floors All with my dremel. You just need to use the right tip for each application. Here's the interior of my santa house - that door way had to be fully recut to fit the new door - the dremel made it fast, easy and a perfect fit and remember the house was fully assembled when I recut it: -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uppitycats Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 David, a dumb beginner question: what attachments (or blade or whatever you call it!) did you specifically use to widen the doors? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I decided to bash in a double door in the Pierce kitchen after the house was built which was a lesson learned in the value of pre-planning. :lol: I used the dremel wheel cutter for that. It was a trick but it worked well. Since then I've invested in a mini jigsaw with an adjustable angle shoe and just love it. It's perfect for cutting out doors and windows and the blades are so fine that it doesn't splinter the wood. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishMist Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I like to make an angled cut in the corners with my Easy Cutter (LOVE THAT TOOL!) and then use a fine mini hacksaw to cut out the unwanted part. The angled cut gives you a starting point. Carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 David, a dumb beginner question: what attachments (or blade or whatever you call it!) did you specifically use to widen the doors? Thanks! Not a dumb beginner question at all - it was pretty dumb of me not to say what tip I used -Doh! I think I need more coffee. I used (like Deb said) the wheel cutter. There are a couple of types. There is what I think is called a ceramic blade - I really do need to research names of things :lol: anyway.. no wait - I'm gonna get photos since I can't remember names - The large one is, I believe a fiberglass wheel cutter and the smaller one is I think called a ceramic wheel cutter - not because it cuts ceramic but because it's made of a ceramic composit material. The ceramic type cutters do tend to break really easily and you should always wear eye protection when using either of them but Especially important when useing the ceramic type. The other cutter (the bigger one - fiberglass) holds up really well and I almost exclusively use those with wood now. Here are 3 shots of them - front, back and from an angle so you can see how they look As you can see the shaft has a screw head on the end. You unscrew this, slide the screw into the hole in the center of the cutter and screw it back on to the shaft - which means it's really inexpensive to replace the blades Hope this helps, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPCullen Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I just use my trusty old utility knife. I just widened a doorway in the kitchen of my Beacon Hill to make room for a swinging door. I think I posted pictures in my "conservatory blog". :lol: I use my trusty ol' tool too--Jimmy ... But if I have to cut something, I can only use a razor blade. It's the only thing I don't cut myself with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 I use my trusty ol' tool too--Jimmy ... And from what you've said, that particular tool works reeeeeeally well and is self operating! The only problem is we can't get one at Home Depot. I asked. They said no. :lol: Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uppitycats Posted August 18, 2006 Author Share Posted August 18, 2006 Thanks for all the ideas, everyone. And David, thanks for the pics! I have those with my Dremel Stylus, wasn't sure how to use them, and your pictures helped a lot. I'll practice a bit and see how it goes. Just spent a bit of time googling the mini hacksaw and jigsaw, too.... Lots of stuff to add to my shopping list! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouchouch Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 You know I'm really pissed at my husband for NOT telling me he has a dremmel kit AFTER I made all the doorways larger. I used a utility knife and saw and elbow grease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPCullen Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 And from what you've said, that particular tool works reeeeeeally well and is self operating! The only problem is we can't get one at Home Depot. I asked. They said no. ;) Deb LOL! And they probably wouldn't sell him to you here either because they make way too much money off of him ... plus he's sick right now so you probably don't want him anyhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogster Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 I got a rotary saw (spiral saw) for just that sort of thing, it has a guide for easier control. Plus it was cheap, 20 bones on sale at Toys is Us, I mean Harbor Freight. I've burned out the motor on a variable speed rotary tool which cost about 3 times as much, this tool is like a Dremel on steroids, lots of steroids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uppitycats Posted August 21, 2006 Author Share Posted August 21, 2006 My husband shops Harbor Freight all the time. I'll have to actualy look at the catalog, next time, rather than just tossing it to him! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 I used to get them in the mail too but I guess I have not ordered in a while so I must not be on there mailing list any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missymew Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 I've ordered a few tools from HBS, but didn't know what they were for ... they just looked interesting. I'm more a glue, paint, wallpaper person. Ray uses them though. Just today he told me that he really likes the Easy Cutter. Says it saves him a lot of time. -Susanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Cal Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 One hand tool for enlarging windows would be a "veneer saw" usually found in woodworking specialty stores....Rockler, Constantine's, and Garrett Wade X-Acto used to make a saw blade to fit the #5 and #6 handle tha would be great . This is not the razor saw blade 34, 35 I dont remember the blade # may no longer be available either Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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