According to Dremel there are more than 17 million rotary tools in use today, of which many carry their name plate. The new 8200 Dremel is the latest of the cordless rotary tools variety and is similar in look and feel to the new corded Dremel 4000. Often the first question many people land on will be; how is this any different from the older ones?
Power
When comparing tools, electronics, cars or anything it’s always good to have some baseline stats, even if you don’t always know what they measure. Unfortunately when trying to compare rotary tools it feels like we are missing some vital stats. Really the only number crunching there is to do is on RPM and whether there are set speeds or variable from 5,000 up to 35,000 RPM. On the 8200 the range only goes to 30,000 RPM, while the previous cordless model went all the way to 35,000 RPM. Does that mean the older version had more power? Absolutely not the case here but there is no stat for power/torque. The best we can say is the 8200 is clearly more powerful with significantly less slowdown or drag while working. This can be a very important factor more in cutting and grinding applications.
Batteries
The new Dremel 12 Volt Max battery borrows heavily from their cousins at Bosch with their version of a 12 Volt Max battery. Unfortunately this does not mean the batteries work interchangeable with the Bosch (like how the Rotozip Cordless can use the Bosch 18V batteries). We did find that the chargers for Bosch and Dremel will charge each other’s batteries, nice for limiting the number of chargers you keep out in your shop.
The previous cordless Dremel uses a 10.8V lithium battery which is essentially the same as a 12V Max so don’t mistake the increase in power for a higher voltage in the newer Dremel 8200. While both tools use the same number of lithium cells these batteries are not compatible either. The old system took 3 hours to charge while the new 12V batteries are full in just 60 minutes. More good news is the new Dremel 12V Max Batteries will also work with the new Cordless Multi-Max (see info on Tool-guyd.com) which should be coming soon.
Run Time
The 12V market for tools no longer faces the question of can it power tools for professionals and serious tool users, clearly 12V is here to stay. These little power plants are idea for their compact size however in applications of high torque or continuous run-time battery life can become a question. Many applications for the 8200 cordless Dremel will involve long periods of continuous work so we though it was important just to see how they will hold up. We did two time trials to gauge the battery life: first we tried several cutting attachments where the Dremel would be running a minute or then have a few second break and back to work. The battery lasted about 35 minutes with breaks to change cutting materials or attachments. It was incredibly annoying only having the single battery, if you have the option get the kit with 2 batteries! So after an hour of watching the charger we did the second test. This time it was a continuous run of the battery with the sanding wheel between 15k-25k RPM. The Battery died after 23 minutes which was actually a pretty decent amount of time for this application. In both tests we were very impressed with the low amount of heat generated, definitely warm but still comfortable in the hands.
Accessories
As with many tools today the accessories that come with the kit are basically just enough to get started and realize you don’t have enough accessories. You get 1 metal disc, 1 grinding cone, etc but it’s enough to give you an idea of what the tool is capable of doing. It looks like the kit with 2 batteries also includes the right angle attachment which seems like it could be useful. There are so many attachments and accessories for these tools it would be impossible to make the right kits for everyone. Check out Dremel.com Accessories Page (here) for all the different options.
Overall
Even more pics in this Photo Album. The Dremel 8200 is definitely a big improvement over other cordless rotary tools we have seen. It is also more powerful than many other corded versions, even though nobody has any stats to prove it. If you are looking for a cordless rotary tool this is it. If you are not sure between corded rotary tool and this cordless 8200 that will depend greatly on what type of work you will be doing. Our recommendation if you decide to go with cordless would be to get the kit with 2 batteries!
