Dremel is Dead - Are The Alternatives Any Good?

My vote is another dremmel.
Ive never managed to wear one out, i normally loose them first.
The BnQ near me is always having discounted ones due to damaged boxes etc.

Not sure how the lock out has got so worn, any possibility your over tightening tools?

I use the Aldi ones. I've got through a few, but I do use them quite hard - sometimes grinding down MIG weld for example, where I can't get a proper grinder in there. I've worn through some collets, but got replacements on eBay for hardly any cost. The warranty is good - three years, and no quibble. I contacted them when I wore out the first collet, they asked for a scan of the receipt and sent me a whole new kit.

I've had one or two where the lock wears out and won't hold any more. For a while I was shoving a thin bit of metal (actually a blunt scribe) in the plastic "fan" thing that rotates to help cool it, to lock the spindle in place while I changed the tool.

I did have a B&D "Wizard" as my first miniature multi-tool thing, that didn't last long and it went back to B&Q. The down-side of the Aldi ones is that they don't always have them - if you need one right now, that narrows your choices a bit.

I have had my Dremel for 13 years, used for cleaning welds, cutting bolts all manner of other jobs and its one tool I would never be without.
Where I live noise is a big issue so I cant really get the big grinder out without upsetting neighbors so the Dremel is the choice weapon.

My old Dremmel, which was about 20 years old, was fantastic, it was really torquey (no matter which way i spell it, it don't look right) and got used and abused and operated really smoothly untill one day there was a flash from inside it, followed by a grinding noise and it had packed up. I borrowed a cheap one a couple of times and you get what you pay for, it was rubbish, weak, and i swore never to buy one. I ended up buying another Dremmel about 6 months ago and it is not nearly as good as my old one. Its got adjustable speed which is great, but the torque just isnt there. The old one would just constantly work at the same speed no matter how hard you pressed it, the new one just seems to snag when using the discs because it hasnt got the power to keep it spinning when under load.
So if you can buy an old Dremmel youll probably do better than buying a new Dremmel, but don't bother with anything cheap. Also the variety and quality of bits available for a Dremmel will still sway me to buying another Dremmel.

I recently got a mains powered die grinder for not a lot off Amazon. Name I’ve never heard of but it’s got some poke! Variable speed on it as well which is a bonus. How it lasts long term I can’t say as it’s early days but so much easier than firing up the compressor.

I've had three of the cheaper (£30) dremels and they keep burning the motor out or breaking the pin in the locking collar. My dad has an older one and it looks like it's been through the wars and still going.

I've been trying to find an older model in bootsales and ebay for a while now with no avail.

I found that if you use the wee extension it makes the Dremel last a lot longer and you can get it in tighter spaces, it was a godsend when I was doing a bit of porting recently.

www.amazon.co.uk/Dremel-Multi-Purpose-Extension-Sharpening-Woodworking/dp/B008ETGPOY