>On 4 Feb 97 at 10:56, W. R. Gibbons wrote:
>
>
>> There is a battery powered Dremel tool that takes a miniature
>> circular saw. I imagine the main drawback would be that the tool
>> would need to be parallel to the limb, which would practically force
>> one to cut at an angle. I will probably get teased for suggesting
>> this; people on the list already think I am overly fond of the
>> Dremel.
>>
>
>I've seen the little battery-powered Dremel tool and thought about
>getting one (for other purposes). But I've still got two of the
>original brown Bakelite ones, and they still work fine.
>
>Considering the Dremel tool for amputations, I can forsee two
>problems, maybe others will see a way around them.
>
>1. The Dremel tool requires an internal NiCad of an unusual size so
>switching to disposable batteries is impossible. And we will _not_
>depend on rechargable batteries for such an operation. I guess we
>could make up a battery pack for it externally and connect a wire to
>it.
>
>2. the circular saw is not likely to be large enough for use to
>maneuver into position past all the muscle and tendon and such to get
>"in" to the bone. And if we were to get a larger size blade, I doubt
>the Dremel would provide enough torque to cut at that large radius.
>
>But thanks for the thought.
>
><snip>
>
>--Keith Conover, M.D., FACEP
> http://www.pitt.edu/~kconover
The cordless dremel (the larger one, 15,000/20,000 rpm) uses five "4/5 sub C
cells" (1000mAH). It has more torque than the ac powered dremels (by quite a
bit), and much lower rotating mass. (tends to break the cutting wheels less
when they get jammed)
It does cut flesh very easily w/ cutting wheels. (oops! slipped into my leg
once)
I have had one Cordless Dremel now for about 6-7 years, and have had to
replace the batteries twice (I use it at work). The biggest problem I have
is the charger is a 3 hour charger, and overheats the batteries if left on
(making them fail earlier than they should, and my base to hold it is also
the charger).
They require a large amount of current when loaded heavily, to use these w/
external batteries would probably require something capable of greater than
10 amps-this might work w/ a larger diameter saw disc, or maybe a drill bit
run sideways.
I have also seen the "loop saw" someone mentioned, and have seen them with a
diamond coating (probably not needed for this). The one I saw worked
amazingly well on dense living wood, so would probably work for this
application.
And yes, thinking about this grosses me out too. Scott M Ryan
(That's why I didn't follow Dad into medicine)
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