Dremel is a brand of power tool

Power tool

A power tool is a tool that is actuated by an additional power source and mechanism other than the solely manual labour used with hand tools. The most common types of power tools use electric motors. Internal combustion engines and compressed air are also commonly used...

s known primarily for their rotary tool

Rotary tool

A rotary tool is a hand held power tool with a variety of rotating accessory bits and attachments that can be used for cutting, carving, sanding, polishing and many other applications....

s. The tools were originally developed by Albert J. Dremel, who founded the Dremel Company in 1932 in Racine

Racine, Wisconsin

Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...

, Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

. In 1993, the company was purchased by Robert Bosch GmbH

Robert Bosch GmbH

Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...

, and today it is a division of the Robert Bosch Tool Corporation located in Mount Prospect

Mount Prospect, Illinois

Mount Prospect is a village in Elk Grove and Wheeling Townships in Cook County, Illinois, about northwest of downtown Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 54,167.-Geography:...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. Dremel's rotary tools are similar to the pneumatic die grinder

Die grinder

A die grinder is a handheld power tool used to grind, sand, hone, polish, or machine material, typically metal but also plastic or wood. They are usually pneumatically driven, although versions with electric and flexible shaft drive also exist...

s used in the metalworking

Metalworking

Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...

 industry by tool or moldmaker

Moldmaker

Moldmaker is the designation for a profession in the metalworking and ceramics industry. It is a variety of the profession of the toolmaker. The moldmaker produces molds for the injection molding , die casting and ceramics industries....

s.

Rotary tools

The Dremel Moto-Tool rotates a bit at high speed; the bit is held in a collet

Collet

A collet is a holding device—specifically, a subtype of chuck—that forms a collar around the object to be held and exerts a strong clamping force on the object when it is tightened, usually via a tapered outer collar. It may be used to hold a workpiece or a tool.A collet is a sleeve with a ...

. Variable-speed versions may cover a range of 3,000–37,000 RPM

Revolutions per minute

Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

. The Dremel uses its speed as opposed to torque

Torque

Torque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....

 to get the job done. By inserting an appropriate bit (or burr

Burr (cutter)

Burrs are small cutters used in die grinders, rotary tools or dentist's drills. The name may be considered appropriate when their small sized head is compared to that of a seed of the burr fruit or the teeth compared to a metal burr.To maintain the correct surface speed and cutting conditions...

) the tool can perform drilling

Drilling

Drilling is a cutting process that uses a drill bit to cut or enlarge a hole in solid materials. The drill bit is a multipoint, end cutting tool...

, grinding

Grinding (abrasive cutting)

Grinding is an abrasive machining process that uses a grinding wheel as the cutting tool.A wide variety of machines are used for grinding:* Hand-cranked knife-sharpening stones * Handheld power tools such as angle grinders and die grinders...

, sharpening

Sharpening

Sharpening is the process of creating or refining a sharp edge of appropriate shape on a tool or implement designed for cutting. Sharpening is done by grinding away material on the implement with an abrasive substance harder than the material of the implement, followed sometimes by processes to...

, cutting

Cutting

Cutting is the separation of a physical object, or a portion of a physical object, into two portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. An implement commonly used for cutting is the knife or in medical cases the scalpel...

, cleaning

Cleanliness

Cleanliness is both the abstract state of being clean and free from dirt, and the process of achieving and maintaining that state.Cleanliness may be endowed with a moral quality, as indicated by the aphorism "cleanliness is next to godliness," and may be regarded as contributing to other ideals...

, polishing

Polishing

Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action, leaving a surface with a significant specular reflection In some materials polishing is also able to reduce diffuse reflection to...

, sanding

Sander

A sander is a power tool used to smooth wood and automotive or wood finishes by abrasion with sandpaper. Sanders have a means to attach the sandpaper and a mechanism to move it rapidly contained within a housing with means to hand-hold it or fix it to a workbench. Woodworking sanders are usually...

, routing, carving

Wood carving

Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object...

 and engraving

Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

. Both battery-powered and corded models are available. (Early cordless models were marketed as the Dremel Freewheeler.) Dremel options include a miniature planer

Planer (metalworking)

A planer is a type of metalworking machine tool that uses linear relative motion between the workpiece and a single-point cutting tool to machine a linear toolpath. Its cut is analogous to that of a lathe, except that it is linear instead of helical...

 attachment and a saber saw

Jigsaw (power tool)

A jigsaw is a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves, such as stenciled designs or other custom shapes, into a piece of wood, metal, or other material. It can be used in a more artistic fashion than other saws, which typically cut in straight lines only. In this way, it is similar to the rasp and...

 attachment that lets the tool act much like a small reciprocating saw

Reciprocating saw

A reciprocating saw is a type of saw in which the cutting action is achieved through a push and pull reciprocating motion of the blade.The term reciprocating saw is commonly assigned to a type of saw used in construction and demolition work...

. The rotary tool has been around since 1945.

Other Dremels rotary tools include a cordless pumpkin carving

Jack-o'-lantern

A jack-o'-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday of Halloween and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called ignis fatuus or jack-o'-lantern...

 tool, a cordless pet nail grooming tool, and a cordless golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 cleaning tool.

Similar rotary tools (for example, those sold by Sears

Sears, Roebuck and Company

Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...

 under their Craftsman

Craftsman (tools)

Craftsman is a line of tools and lawn and garden equipment controlled by Sears Holdings Corporation; the brand is owned by KCD IP, LLC, a special purpose entity created by Sears Holdings for securitization purposes....

 brand) are also sometimes colloquially called dremels in an example of a genericized trademark

Genericized trademark

A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...

. Some Sears Craftsman rotary tools are actually manufactured by Dremel, particularly those with model numbers beginning with 572.

Non-rotary tools

Dremel produces hot glue guns, scroll saw

Scroll saw

A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw that is useful for cutting intricate curves in cases where a jigsaw or coping saw is not appropriate. It is capable of creating curves with edges...

s, contour sanders, versatips and powered screwdriver

Screwdriver

A screwdriver is a tool for driving screws and often rotating other machine elements with the mating drive system. The screwdriver is made up of a head or tip, which engages with a screw, a mechanism to apply torque by rotating the tip, and some way to position and support the screwdriver...

s.

Dremel is also one of the manufacturers to release an oscillating tool in late 2008 after the patent had run out on Fein

Fein (company)

C. & E. Fein GmbH is a manufacturer of high-end power tools founded in 1867 by Wilhelm Emil Fein and his brother Carl Fein. They are located in Stuttgart, Germany. Fein became famous for their grinders, electric screwdrivers and the Fein Multimaster RS. Fein invented the hand-held electric drill in...

's Multimaster

Fein Multimaster RS

The Fein MultiMaster RS is a variable speed oscillating tool for cutting, sanding and grinding. It is produced by C. & E. Fein GmbH along with a broad assortment of accessories....

. Dremel's incarnation of this tool is called the Multi-Max.

External links

• "Dremel's Powerful New Moto-Tool", an article from the October 1967 issue of Popular Science
  Popular Science
  Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...