A must-have for artisans and crafters

One of the most useful and versatile tools one can ever own is the Dremel. It’s not just an arts and crafts accessory, as a matter of fact, I don’t think that was meant to be it’s primary purpose. It’s an all-purpose, “do-it-yourself around the house” tool. Eventually more and more people began integrating it into arts and crafts and hobbies uses.

I am looking at my “Dremel Product and Accessories Catalog”, and there is a very pertinent quote contained therein, which states “If you can’t figure out another way to get a job done, you’ll find a way to do it with a Dremel rotary tool”. This is not BS. It’s lightweight, compact and versatile, with over 150 accessories enabling one to cut, sand, shape, engrave, carve, drill, buff, grind, polish, etch, clean and more. If you’ve never used one of these nifty tools, I highly suggest you get one. You will find many uses for it, whether you’re a craftsperson, an artist, or a handyman. It’s an amazing “problem solver”, and priced very reasonably. I own two of them (one very old, another slightly newer; about 8 years old) and they’re still going like gangbusters.

The Dremel is a rotary tool, which relies on very high speed (up to 35,000 rpms!) instead of force to get the job done. The speed does all the work, while you just guide the lightweight, easy to handle tool. And yet another bonus is that the “Dremel People” are some of the best in the world at “working with you”… In other words, if something breaks, they generally replace it for free. Lose a part? Contact them and they’ll do everything they can to help. They make accessories which enable this one tool to do practically anything. I believe one could almost build a house with it, except as they state in their guide, “it makes a lousy hammer”.

The “accessories” are different bits or attachments that one changes for doing different jobs; some are for sanding, some are for cutting, some for buffing, etc. Then one can purchase many different “attachments” which turn the simple dremel into something altogether different. For example, I own a “shaper/router table”, which converts the tool into a bench mounted wood shaper. I also own the “Flex Shaft Attachment”, which is basically an extension that is attached allowing you more freedom of movement and ability to get to hard to reach places. There are attachments that can turn your dremel into a wood-burning tool, a chain-saw, lawnmower and garden tool sharpener, a tile cutter, and a drill press, to name a few.

Their website is (what else?) www.dremel.com