Dremel (Rotary Tool)

Dremel is a small, high-speed rotary hand tool whose brand name has, in the pipe maker's workshop, become synonymous with the tool category itself. It works with a bur, stone, sanding drum, or engraving bit fitted to its tip; it's favored not for power but for precision and its ability to reach tight spaces.

A Short History of the Brand

The company was founded in 1932 in Racine, Wisconsin, by Albert J. Dremel. Dremel, who emigrated from Austria to America, held a large number of registered patents; his early products included an electric razor sharpener. The Moto-Tool, ancestor of today's rotary tool, was introduced in 1935 and became the first widely used example of a handheld high-speed tool. The brand passed to Robert Bosch in 1993 and has been made under that umbrella ever since.

The reason the tool has spread so widely in craftwork is that nearly any type of cutting, abrasive, or polishing head can be fitted to the tip of a small motor capable of tens of thousands of RPM. Pipe makers, too, acquire the tool for this versatility; a single body handles a very wide range of very different jobs.