Need carbide bits for Dremel - which ones, and where's the best bang for the buck?

Bought a Dremel XPR400 set the other day for $20 on Craigslist the other day. The thing looks barely used, and comes with the handpiece and cable attachment. I figure I couldn't get burned too bad for $20, and I could use the bits for another tool if it burnt out.

I'll probably need to buy a collet assortment, but I definitely need some carving bits. I looked at Sears the other day, and they had some Dremel stuff, but didn't know if I could buy an assortment cheaper somewhere.

So what particular bits would you recommend for carving and where would you buy them?

dremel makes a lot of stuff and you can buy it at home depot. i buy a lot of the really good and most useful bits at a fine jewelry supply store. like anything....you get what you pay for.

Jim,

Don't overlook the carbide bit sets from Harbor Freight, they are inexpensive and reasonable quality. The industrial diamond cutting wheels are one of my best bang for the buck items, I have used them to shorten the shafts of solid carbide rotary bits for special projects.
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Woodcraft has them but from the price I think they're made of gold instead of carbide.

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Originally Posted by randall rosenthal

i buy a lot of the really good and most useful bits at a fine jewelry supply store.

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Can you give us a link?

i buy a lot of bits at a place called ZAK.....its on 47th st in NYC.(55 west i think) they often have diamond wheels much thinner than woodcraft or dremel. they also have a lot of small cones, and ball shaped cutters. they also have very fine rouge i use for sharpening my gouges. i get there 3 or 4 times a year.

Fur and Feathers Woodcarving has a nice selection. They even have a collet adaptor that converts an1/8" collet to 3/32". Put your 3/32" bur, bit, or whatever in the converter and stick that into your 1/8" collet. Never have to change collets. Check out Typhoon Carbide burs for quick stock removal. www.fandfwoodcarving.com

Woodcarverssupply.com has a pretty good selection of carving bits for all sizes of rotary tools. Christian Hummul CO. is good to deal with also. www.hummul.com MDI woodcarvers supply at mdiwoodcarvers.com I have had dealings with all three for many years.

I actually have something to add to this...

I've had my eye on rotary tools for quite some time, but just never had the cash until this deal came along. But with that in mind I had asked my dentist to save some of her used up bits for me. They are all 16th inch shanks of course, but I finally remembered that I had them the other night, and dug them out. Most of them are diamond bits of various shapes and sizes, but plenty left over for carving. One bit in particular really was impressive. It looks to be some kind of carbide or similar metal, and is cylinder shaped with serrated cutting edges. That thing goes like a buzz saw right through stuff. Loved it.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there as a cheap source for some bits.

Hi Jim,
That impressive bit that you got from the dentist is probably a "bone cutter". Those things are wonderful. I keep a 1/16 collet in one of my micro motors just for the bits I get from the dentist. The receptionist at that office will also let me pick things out of their catalogs and they'll order them from me. I bought some bone cutters new and they're really pricey though. I paid $34 for one with a standard 3/32 shaft and about $30 for a card of 6 bits in the 1/16 shaft. You can burn them up at high speeds....or at least the first one I ever got, I burned up. Bought it at a dental surplus store up the road from us in an industrial park. I spent hours going through their stock of bits and that was the only bone cutter they had. I think I paid them $5 for it. I got probably over 100 diamond points from them for $12. They finally sold out and don't carry surplus bits anymore...

not only do i use dental bits...i have 2 hand pieces. small right angle makes it easy to get at spots that would be impossible otherwise. giving away my secrets here.

I use these and they are great! http://www.rotarychisel.com/

I've picked up a number of Dremel bits from - of all places - WalMart.

Our WalMart has a couple of aisles dedicated to clearance and mark down items. I got a nice three bit carbide router set for $3.00 there once. A few other times I've picked up odd bits for $1.00 ea.
The one killer deal was a diamond cutoff wheel that was marked down to $1.00 - but - the SKU kept coming up invalid at the register. I tried a few times to buy it (on different days), but, it always came up invalid & the cashier would always stick it back on the pile of stuff o go back on the shelf..
A week later - it was gone.