Do-It-Yourself New Year’s Resolutions

As you draft your annual list of New Year’s resolutions, don’t forget to include the household projects you keep meaning to do. With the help of Dremel tools, small and large household resolutions alike will be accomplished with ease. To get you started, we compiled a few common resolutions along with advice for tackling them:

Resolution: Add character to blank walls of a new house or apartment.
Solution: Window treatments are one of the most commonly overlooked solutions for personalizing a room. Curtains and blinds can add color and texture to a blank wall and serve a practical purpose as well. Use the 10.8-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless rotary tool equipped with the #150 1/8-Inch Drill Bit to drill precise pilot holes for mounting drapery hardware and prevent splitting wood trim. Then, use the Dremel Driver™ and appropriate driver bit to install brackets and hang blinds or curtain rods. View a video demonstration.

Resolution: Clean and organize your personal workshop.
Solution: Tools will be out of the way and easy to find when hung on hooks on a wall-mounted peg board. Use a Dremel rotary tool equipped with the #670 Mini Saw Attachment and #546 Rip/Crosscut Blade to cut peg board to fit the size and shape of wall space available. Additional tools can be hung from a garage organizer system. Use the Dremel Driver and appropriate driving bit to hang the organizer with precision and ease. View a video demonstration of cutting peg board and installing an organizer.

Resolution: Refurbish the antique table and chair set that has been sitting in your attic for years.
Solution: The new Dremel Multi-Max™ Oscillating Tool System is the perfect multi-tasking tool for this job. Use the #MM440 Wood Flush Cut Blade to remove old or broken dowels from chair backs. Strip surfaces of tattered varnish or paint using sandpaper attached to the Hook and Loop Pad. Start with 120-grit wood sand paper and finish with 240-grit wood sand paper for a smooth finish. View a video demonstration.

Featured Project – Make a Peg Jumping Game for Winter Fun

There’s no better activity on a cold winter evening, or an afternoon when family and friends are home from school and work, than getting everyone together for a round of games. Make the day even more special by creating the game yourself. A wooden peg-jumping game is an easy and fun game that all ages can participate in.

The Dremel Web site offers a new, step-by-step video with simple instructions for making the game and tips on the best tools and materials to use. You’ll need a Dremel rotary tool (the Dremel 300 Series Variable Speed is used in the video, but the 400 Series XPR, 200 Series, 100 Series or 10.8-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless will also work), a #220-01 Dremel Work Station™, #150 1/8-Inch Drill Bit, a triangular piece of wood, a set of pegs or golf tees, a paint brush and paint or varnish to finish the project. The Dremel Work Station transforms the rotary tool into a drill press, which you’ll use to drill a series of holes into the wood.

Fill all but one of the slots with pegs. Then, jump pegs over one another, removing each peg as another peg is jumped over it. Try to end the game with the least amount of pegs remaining in the board.

View the video to get started. If you’d prefer to follow project instructions on a DVD, visit the Dremel Web site and fill out an order form to get a copy of the free Dremel Informational DVD.

Expert Advice – Rotary Tool vs. Oscillating Tool

With the introduction of the Dremel Multi-Max Oscillating Tool System, many Dremel rotary tool users have asked which tasks a rotary tool would be most appropriate for and which an oscillating tool would tackle better. While both tools bear the characteristics the Dremel brand is known for – precision, versatility, ergonomics, compact size – it is easy to see that the tools and accessories are designed differently so each can accomplish unique tasks.

The Dremel Multi-Max and Dremel rotary tools complement each other. One type of tool picks up where the other leaves off. Generally, the Multi-Max can accomplish more heavy-duty tasks, while rotary tools can aid users in achieving a level of precision that can’t be achieved with an oscillating tool. An oscillating tool can be used to get the bigger tasks out of the way so the rest can be finished with a rotary tool.

There are several applications that both tools can tackle, although the size and scope of the project will determine which tool is best for the job. Both tools sand, but rotary tools can tackle detail work that oscillating tools can’t. Likewise, oscillating tools can cover more ground much more quickly than rotary tools. Both remove grout, but using an oscillating tool would likely be easier for a novice to learn. Both can cut wood and metal, but the capacity of the oscillating tool outweighs rotary tools. To cut in tight spots, rotary tools are still the best choice but might prove challenging to more inexperienced users who haven’t cut with a wheel before.

Oscillating tools and rotary tools also offer unique benefits. Carving, routing, cleaning and polishing are tasks exclusively achieved by rotary tools. Rotary tools are also the most versatile for use on the widest variety of materials because of the plethora of accessories and attachments available. Oscillating tools can scrape, while rotary tools can not.

If you find yourself facing a project and unsure of which tool to use, please contact the Dremel Experts for advice. They can be reached via e-mail or 800.437.3635 Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST.

Dremel News

Calling All Readers

Year after year we make improvements to the Dremel eNewsletter based on reader feedback. Please submit an e-mail to let us know what you would like to see in the Dremel eNewsletter next year.

Win a Dremel Driver

The Dremel brand is giving away five Dremel Drivers this month to lucky readers in need of a compact power screwdriver designed to handle precise projects. To be eligible, readers must complete this sentence in the body of an e-mail: When I think of Dremel, the first thing that comes to mind is __________. To enter the drawing, submit an e-mail with your answer (fill in the blank line) to the open-ended sentence, your name, shipping address (no P.O. boxes) and phone number in the body and “Dremel Driver” in the subject line. We’ll pick five entries at random from all eligible entries and announce the winners next month.

Congratulations

Congratulations to the seven winners of last month’s eNewsletter giveaway, who will each receive a Dremel Glue Gun just in time for holiday craft, hobby and do-it-yourself projects and 2009 resolutions. The winners, chosen at random, were: Edward Johns, Seymour, CT; Bill Green, Forestburg, AB, Canada; CharEileen Heimann, Bellflower, CA; Paul Patten, Toronto, ON, Canada; John van Veen, Pictou, NS, Canada; Leon Naegele, Maize, KS; and Tom Conroy, South Bend, IN.

Stay tuned for more Dremel news in 2009!

Safety reminder: When working with Dremel brand or any other power tool, always wear eye protection and a dust mask, and read and understand the owner’s manual prior to using.