Dremel ( ) is a multinational brand of

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

s, focusing on

home improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

and

hobby A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...

applications. Dremel is known primarily for its

rotary tool Die grinders and rotary tools are handheld power tools used for grinding, sanding, honing, polishing, or machining material (typically metal, but also plastic or wood). All such tools are conceptually similar, with no bright dividing line ...

s such as the Dremel 3000, 4000 and 8200 series which are similar to the

pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and ...

die grinder Die grinders and rotary tools are handheld power tools used for grinding, sanding, honing, polishing, or machining material (typically metal, but also plastic or wood). All such tools are conceptually similar, with no bright dividing line be ...

s used in the

metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...

industry by tool or

moldmaker A moldmaker (mouldmaker in English-speaking countries other than the US) or molder is a skilled tradesperson who fabricates moulds for use in casting metal products. Moldmakers are generally employed in foundries, where molds are used to cast pro ...

s. Dremel later expanded its product range and now produces butane tools, benchtop and hand-held saws and oscillating tools. The Dremel die grinder tools were originally developed by Albert J. Dremel, an Austrian immigrant who founded the Dremel Company in 1932 in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

. The company was purchased by

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch and stylized as BOSCH, is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 1886. Bosc ...

in 1993, and today it is a division of the Robert Bosch Tool Corporation located in

Mount Prospect, Illinois Mount Prospect is a village in Elk Grove and Wheeling Townships in Cook County, Illinois, about northwest of downtown Chicago, and approximately 4 miles north of O'Hare International Airport. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total ...

History

Founded by the Austrian inventor Albert J. Dremel in 1932, the company is located in

, US. Albert J. Dremel held 55 patents across a wide range of inventions, including an electric eraser, electric fish scaler, electric shoe polisher, electric screwdriver, power sanders, scroll saws, a device to monitor chicken's egg production, and first design of the now standard walk-behind rotary

lawn mower A lawn mower (also known as a mower, grass cutter or lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the design of the mower, but g ...

. His first product released within the company was an electric

razor A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors. While the razor has been in existence since before t ...

-blade sharpener, which lost popularity when cheap disposable razors became available. Dremel then developed the high speed lightweight

, later named the Dremel Multitool, for which the company continues to be known. This invention was successful in the hobby and craft market. In 1948, Dremel gave his employees a 3% year-end share of profits, at the time seen as a radical idea. Dremel died on 18 July 1968 at the age of 81. People found many ways to use the rotary tools. In the 1940s the Defense Department reportedly used Dremel rotary tools in developing the first atomic bomb. Military doctors used the tools in dermal abrasion techniques to reduce scar tissue from battle wounds. Dremel tools are also used in tattooing. It is also used by podorthists for use on shoe inserts, and dentists use them for crafting dentures. Dremel said in 2013 that there were more than 17 million of their rotary tools in use.

Timeline

* 1932 – Albert J. Dremel founded the Dremel company. Awarded 55 patents; electric erasers, pusher lawn mower and first razor blade sharpener. * 1935 – Introduction of first handheld high-speed rotary tool, called the Moto-Tool. * 1939 – The Dremel Moto-Saw was developed. * 1964 – Introduction of the Dremel Electric Engraver. * 1973 – Introduction of compact

table saw A table saw (also known as a sawbench or bench saw in England) is a woodworking tool, consisting of a circular saw blade, mounted on an arbor, that is driven by an electric motor (either directly, by belt, or by gears). The blade protrudes t ...

and multi-use disc/

belt sander A belt sander or strip sander is a sander used in shaping and finishing wood and other materials. It consists of an electric motor that turns a pair of drums on which a continuous loop of sandpaper is mounted. Belt sanders may be handheld and mo ...

. Dremel Manufacturing Company was acquired by

Emerson Electric Emerson Electric Co. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri. The ''Fortune'' 500 company manufactures products and provides engineering services for industrial, commercial, and consumer markets.

* 1993 – The Dremel brand is purchased by Robert Bosch Tool Corporation. * 2003 – Dremel introduces the

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

for power tools. New tool creation of the Dremel 10.8 Volt Lithium-Ion.

Operations

The main office of Dremel US is located in

Mt. Prospect, Illinois Mount Prospect is a village in Elk Grove and Wheeling Townships in Cook County, Illinois, about northwest of downtown Chicago, and approximately 4 miles north of O'Hare International Airport. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total pop ...

. Dremel's activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are operated by Dremel Europe, with its headquarter located in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

, Netherlands.

Rotary tools

The company currently produces six rotary tools, three corded and three cordless. Over its history, Dremel has created over 30 different designs and models, mainly for home improvement and hobby use. Dremel rotary tools are suitable for

carving Carving is the act of using tools to shape something from a material by scraping away portions of that material. The technique can be applied to any material that is solid enough to hold a form even when pieces have been removed from it, and ...

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

routing Routing is the process of selecting a path for traffic in a network or between or across multiple networks. Broadly, routing is performed in many types of networks, including circuit-switched networks, such as the public switched telephone netw ...

grinding Grind is the cross-sectional shape of a blade. Grind, grinds, or grinding may also refer to: Grinding action * Grinding (abrasive cutting), a method of crafting * Grinding (dance), suggestive club dancing * Grinding (video gaming), repetitive and ...

sharpening Sharpening is the process of creating or refining the edge joining two non-coplanar faces into a converging apex, thereby creating an edge of appropriate shape on a tool or implement designed for cutting. Sharpening is done by removing material ...

cleaning Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning is often performed for aesthetic, hygienic, functional, environmental, or safety purposes. Cl ...

polishing Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or by applying a chemical treatment, leaving a clean surface with a significant specular reflection (still limited by the index of refraction of the material accordin ...

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

and

sanding upright=1.35, Sheets of sandpaper with different grit sizes (40 (coarse), 80, 150, 240, 600 (fine)). Sandpaper and glasspaper are names used for a type of coated abrasive that consists of sheets of paper or cloth with abrasive material glued to ...

. Many different accessories and attachments are also produced. Dremel Multitools work by using speed instead of torque. Different tools products range in speed from 3,000 to 37,000 RPM. The concept of the original Dremel Moto-Tool was to rotate a bit held in a

collet A collet is a segmented sleeve, band or ''collar''. One of the two radial surfaces of a collet is usually tapered (i.e a truncated cone) and the other is cylindrical. The term ''collet'' commonly refers to a type of chuck that uses collets t ...

at high speed. Variable-speed versions cover a range of 3,000–37,000

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

. The Dremel concept relies on high speed as opposed to the high

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

of a conventional power drill. By inserting an appropriate bit (or burr) the tool can perform

drilling Drilling is a cutting process where a drill bit is spun to cut a hole of circular cross-section in solid materials. The drill bit is usually a rotary cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit is pressed against the work-piece and rotated at ra ...

, and

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

planer The term planer may refer to several types of carpentry tools, woodworking machines or metalworking machine tools. *Plane (tool), a hand tool used to produce flat surfaces by shaving the surface of the wood * Thickness planer (North America) or thi ...

attachment and a

saber saw The sabre saw (also saber saw) is a hand-held powered reciprocating saw. It is similar to, but larger than, a jigsaw Jigsaw may refer to: * Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves * Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires t ...

attachment that lets the tool act much like a small

reciprocating saw A reciprocating saw is a type of machine-powered saw in which the cutting action is achieved through a push-and-pull ("reciprocating") motion of the blade. The original trade name Sawzall is often used in the United States, where Milwaukee Electr ...

. Other Dremel rotary tools include a cordless

pumpkin carving A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phenomen ...

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

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

cleaning tool. Dremel spindle dimensions

However, the

s are flexible and will accept both original Dremel and alternative makes of cutting, grinding, and polishing head shafts.

Other tools

Dremel produces

hot glue gun Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand ** Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...

scroll saw A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw used to cut intricate curves in wood, metal, or other materials. The fineness of its blade allows it to cut more delicately than a power jigsaw, and more easily than a hand coping saw or f ...

s, butane tools, contour sanders, versatips, powered

screwdriver A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, used for turning screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. This form of the screwdriver has been repla ...

s, as well as accessories and attachments. Dremel tools are categorised into Compact Tool Systems and Benchtop Tool Systems. Dremel is also one of the manufacturers to release an oscillating tool in late 2008 after the patent had run out on Fein's Multimaster. Dremel's incarnation of this tool is called the ''Multi-Max''. Additionally,

3D printers 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

are sold under the Dremel brand by 3Pi Tech Solutions

References

External links

*
"Dremel's Powerful New Moto-Tool"
an article from the October 1967 issue of

Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

Disassembly of a cordless Dremel tool
{{Power tool manufacturers Power tool manufacturers Metalworking cutting tools Metalworking hand tools Woodworking hand-held power tools Tool manufacturing companies of the United States Companies based in Mount Prospect, Illinois