Rotary tools can be used for a lot of different projects. Remodel Aholic provides a great resource on ways to use a Dremel rotary tool. Some of the projects that you can complete with a rotary tool, include:
- Wooden Inspiration
Wood art is amazing, and you can see what a professional can do with just a Dremel tool and a piece of wood below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv9Y6yMQQqg
Dremel tools can help you make a variety of different wooden items, including:
- Signs: A wooden sign can be made with a rotary tool. You can make anything from welcome signs to complex signage with a logo. The video above shows you just how intricate you can make your wooden items.
- Key Holder: It’s easy to make a key holder. You need just a small piece of wood and metal hooks. To make the key holder, cut in a place for your metal hooks and use the rotary tool to carve in your name, or something simple, such as: keys go here.
If you’re into wooden art, you’ll find a lot of inspiration on Pinterest for your next project.
- Cutting Tile
Hunker makes sense of cutting tile with a rotary tool. You can use a variety of tools to cut the tile, but if all you have available is a rotary tool, you’ll be able to make proper tile cuts, too. A rotary tool can cut tile, but it’s a delicate process.
Rotary tools work best for smaller tiles, under 1/2″.
You’ll need a special bit to cut through the tile properly. The key is to use spare tile to make a trial pass to see if the tile is being cut properly.
Adjust the tool’s speed as needed.
Once you get used to using the rotary tool on tile, you’ll even be able to use some of your artistic talent from the first project to make truly intricate cuts and designs.
- Candle Engraving
If you need to engrave candles, a rotary tool can help. You can choose a lot of tools for the job, but a rotary tool makes engraving quick and easy. You have to make sure that you’re using a high-end rotary tool before starting.
You’ll also need a few supplies before starting, including:
- Large candles (the thicker, the better)
- Piece of paper
- Pen
- Tape
The idea behind having a larger diameter candle is that you’ll have a larger surface to work on. The surface allows you to make a variety of designs, including:
- Dots
- Flowers
- Names
You’ll want to wrap the area with the paper, tape the paper into place and then draw your desired shape on the paper. Use the right rotary attachment for the job. A small point engraving attachment will work best.
- Make a Coat Hook
Coat or wall hooks are great for hanging anything from a dog’s leash to your coat or even a hat. The idea is to create a wall hook on a piece of wood that’s at least 2-feet in length. A longer length allows you to place more items on the hook, making it more useful.
You can use the rotary tool to make engravings in the wood on where to place your items, such as “coat,” “leash,” and so on.
Of course, you’ll need to use other tools to either add metal hooks or carve hooks into the wood.
Adhesive can be used to mount to hooks for a cleaner finish.
- Remove Grout
If you’ve ever removed grout, you know just how tedious it is to remove the grout properly. A rotary tool can make quick work of grout, but you’ll need to have a grout removal attachment. The attachment makes it easy to remove the grout.
You’ll need to attach your bit first followed by the grout attachment.
Set the speed between 15,000 and 20,000 RPMs. You’ll want to use the guide points to stay between the tile. You can adjust the guide to widen the amount of grout you’re removing. Go slowly over older grout, as there may be metal spacers that can damage your bit.
You can also use the rotary tool to remove mold. The nice thing is that you’ll only need to go as deep as the mold has penetrated.
If you’re interested in all of the attachments that are available for rotary tools, Lifehacker has a great resource on rotary tool attachments. The attachments that you can use, and a few that are very popular, include:
- Cutting attachments that cut through wood, metal and other materials
- Carving and engraving attachments that allow you to make decorative designs
- Sanding attachments that make it fast and easy to sand down wood and other material
- Grout removal attachments, discussed above
- Grinding attachments that can be used to sharpen tools
- Cleaning tools that can also polish certain materials
Dremel provides an array of projects that you can do with their tools. You can use these projects as inspiration, or make them your own.