- 1). Choose the right wheel for what you're doing. Dremel cutting wheels range from composite grinding wheels (for cutting soft materials), to metal wheels for medium-hard materials (like wood and soft metals), to diamond-bur coated wheels for cutting things like hard metal or stone. If you're buying the wheels new, check the packaging to see what they're recommended for cutting. If not, check the official Dremel website to find out which of the wheels you have will be most appropriate for your project.
- 2). Mark the material for cutting. Use a string and chalk line (for long lines on porous materials) or a straight edge with a pencil. If you're cutting non-porous material that won't mark with pencil, use a permanent marker (you can remove any remaining ink later using nail polish remover).
- 3). Do a test cut on a piece of scrap material. Turn on the Dremel before lowering it to touch and cut the material. Start with a middle speed and adjust; if the cut seems to be taking too long, turn up the speed. If the cut is happening too quickly, or the cutting wheel skips over the material rather than settling down to cut it, turn down the speed. Practice making a few straight lines of cuts until you feel like you have the hang of controlling the tool and move it through the material at a steady speed.
- 4). Make the cut in your material. Lower the spinning wheel gently down to the edge of the material. If you're making a cut that doesn't start on the edge of the material, touch the wheel about an inch in from the edge of your measuring line to keep the wheel from cutting too far once it's fully lowered and cutting with its full diameter. If you are starting from the edge, place the wheel next to the edge of the material and slowly bring the spinning edge up to material.
- 5). Do an extra cut from the underside of the material if it's too thick to cut from one side. Draw a measurement line on the underside of the material using a piece of string, stretching it from one end of the cut on the top side to the other, underneath. Trace along the edge of the string with your marking utensil, then flip the material over and repeat step 6.
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