Introduction: Make a Dremel With Custom Removable Attachments!

About: Welcome to Verticees Papercraft. I am specialized in paper model design. You can view all my work at my website: cartesiadesign.com, or at my Etsy shop, www.etsy.com/shop/Verticees. Thanks for viewing!
Hello Everyone,
This is my biggest Instructable so far! I have been designing this for about two months, and have really enjoyed making it. It is a drill/dremel that has custom removable attachments!! The dremel even has an easy battery compartment access door for easy battery change!! I made this because I don't have access to any power tools, so I decided to make my own. Even though I made this at home, it is still quite powerful. Some of the attachments  made are 2 types of cutting wheels, a polisher, and a sanding wheel. I will show you how to make the dremel and all of those attachments in this Instructable!! I made this for everyone who wants a dremel but doesn't have one. The best part is I made this from junk I had around the house.
This is also an entry for the Make to Learn Contest! 

What I made:
I made a drill/dremel/rotary tool and some removable attachments to make it much more useful. It works with a simple circuit with a switch and a motor which is powered by a 9 volt battery. As you may have seen in some of my previous Instructables  I don't buy the materials I use in my projects! That is why absolutely all the materials in this project are from scratch. For the dremel itself, I used a motor from an old toy car, a switch from the same car, a broken broom handle, a medicine bottle, a screw driver, some spare wire, hot glue, a dead 9 volt battery (I used the dead 9 volt battery to make a 9 volt battery clip for my dremel), and a live 9 volt battery. For my attachments, I used small screws,  pencil eraser, a screw driver, bottle caps, tin can lids, the plastic lid to a cool-whip container, scissors, a hammer, hot glue, and super glue.

How Did I Make It:
My idea for the project came to me when I was watching a TV show about a woodworking shop. The guy on the show was using a dremel, and that was when this mammoth idea hit me! I worked on this project completely on my own. My plans and designs for this project changed so many times I cannot count them. My first design was simple, but the battery was sealed into place. I realized that I would not be able to change the battery, so I changed my design and decided to use a medicine bottle as a battery compartment and attached that to the main part of the dremel. My plans also changed when I began building. While building, I broke three switches!! My last switch (the one shown in this Instructable is my last switch. It  was much bigger and hard to work with. I had to put the switch at an angle just to fit it in the main part of the dremel.  However, by incorporating the switch in an angle, I made the design much safer by making sure the user's hand won't slip! 

Where Did You Make It: 
This project was made entirely in my room! This project connects to my life because I am an avid Maker, and I love to build things! This dremel allows me to build many more things  and improve the quality of my projects. I am proud to say that this is the most useful and best thing I have built so far! 

What Did I Learn: 
I learned so much from this project! First off, I learned some basic electronics while building the circuit for my dremel. Some of my best learning experiences from this project came from the challenges. While building this dremel, I finished it, but for some reason, the dremel wouldn't power up. I had to start all over from there! My BIGGEST challenge was when I was building my dremel the second time. While attempting to place the switch in my dremel, I broke the switch. I did this two more times, leaving me with my last big switch that I did not intend to use! However, the final dremel came out even better with this switch. From this experience, I learned that every dream has obstacles, and the trick is to keep on trying no matter how much these obstacles test your patience! I am proud of many things in this project. I am proud that I was able to design this dremel on my own! I also proud of my designs for the attachments. I am very proud of my use of the medicine bottle as a removable battery compartment. Most of all, I am proud that I was able to build this on my own and that it didn't stay as a drawing in my notebook. If I could make this again, I would attempt to find a way to use power tools to make this project. This way, the final result would be much cleaner and neater. Next time, I might also add an extra safety switch to my dremel, as well as a power LED to indicate whether the dremel is on or not.

Let's begin making my drill/dremel with custom attachments!

Don't forget to vote everyone, and please leave comments too!

Note: Quite a few of these pictures are low quality. This is because I took all the pictures with my mom's old (really old) camera. My camera is currently being fixed! Thanks for bearing with me!

You can also check out my video of the dremel in action along with all of its attachments at this link:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOlnNUuhM1Q)

Or you can watch it right here on Instructables.com!

Step 1: Gather Your Materials FOR THE DREMEL

This step only includes the materials needed for the dremel itself, not the attachments.
For the dremel, you will need:
  • Some sort of 1 inch piping (I used a broken plastic broom handle, but you can use pvc)
  • A saw (not shown)
  • A medicine bottle
  • A drill or some way to make a hole (I carved out the hole with a knife)
  • A 9 volt battery clip (made mine from dead 9v battery)
  • A switch (mine is from an old toy car)
  • A 9 volt battery
  • A motor (mine is from an old toy car)
  • Hot glue
  • Hot glue gun

Step 2: Make the Dremel Body

Our first step is to make the body of the dremel. Lets begin this by cutting our piping down to a length of about 3 inches. Make sure your cut is even. Now, we need to make a hole about 0.5 centimeters wide (the diameter of the hole depends on which switch you will be using. This hole is where the switch will be held) about 0.5 inches away from one of the ends of the pipe. You can use a dremel, but since I don't have one, I carved one out with my trusty Exacto knife! After this, our piping is done/

Now, we have to prepare our medicine bottle, which will serve as a battery compartment. Turn the bottle over so the cap faces down. You should see a concave area. Make a hole in this area. Once again, you could use a drill, but I used my knife. I accidentally cracked the hole a little, but it does not matter. We have now finished the two main parts of the dremel. We will put them together in Step 4 after we place all the electronics inside the piping.

Step 3: Make the Electronics

For this step, you will need your medicine bottle and piping from Step 2, your motor, switch, 9 volt battery clip, 9 volt battery, and hot glue.

The first part of this step is (in my opinion) the hardest. We have to insert our switch into the main piping. If you are using a big switch like me, make sure to angle it. MAKE SURE THAT YOUR  SWITCH AND WIRES APPEAR IN YOUR PIPING THE SAME THEY DO IN THE PICTURE. Once the switch is in, secure its position with hot glue.

Now,  we will insert our motor in the opposite end of the pipe; this way, the wires of the switch and the wires of the motor will protrude from the same end of the pipe! Once you have, look at the wires you have. Connect any ONE wire from the switch to any ONE wire of the motor. Twist these two wires together and secure the connection with hot glue. 

We now have two connected wires and two wires that remain unconnected. Take the two connected wires and push them into the piping as far as you can; we won't need to see those wires any more. We now only have two unconnected wires. These will connect to the power source.

Take your medicine bottle and take off the cap. Then, insert the 9 volt battery clip so that the two wires of the clip come out of the hole we made in the bottom of the bottle. Connect these two wires to the two remaining wires from the pipe. Secure the connections with hot glue. Once we have all our wires connected, connect your 9 volt battery to the 9 volt battery clip and press the switch. If the motor spins, proceed to the next step. If not, make sure that you sufficiently and properly connected the wires. Check to see if anything could be obstructing the connection.

Step 4: Assemble the Main Components

For this step, you will need your almost finished dremel from Step 3, and your hot glue gun with glue.

Take your two almost finished components and push them together so that the rim of the pipe lands in the center of the medicine bottle. Glue this securely in place with hot glue. Once glued securely, lets focus on securing the motor. Apply a lot of glue to the sides of the motor so it stays in place while in the dremel. The motor will face a lot of pushing and pulling while putting on and taking off attachments, which is why it is important to secure it in place!

Step 5: Finished Drill!

Your dremel is finished! I added a video of my finished dremel. However, THIS INSTRUCTABLE IS NOT OVER! We still have to make some awesome attachments! We will be making a polisher, a cutter, a different cutter, and a sander. You can also make your own new attachments! Share your ideas in the comments!

Step 6: Making the Polisher Attachment

For this attachment, you will need a pencil with an unused eraser and a screw driver (narrow shaft)

Begin by pulling the eraser off the pencil. Try to keep the eraser as intact as possible. Now, take your screw driver and push the tip of the screwdriver into the center of the top of the eraser. Push about 3/4 way through the eraser. Then, pull the screwdriver out. Now, push the eraser onto the motor of the dremel so the hole we made in the eraser fits onto the axle of the dremel. Make sure you push it on snugly so it doesn't move. Press the switch and watch our polisher spin!

How to Use it:
The polisher is obviously used to polish things. I noticed that the polisher works particularly well on shining old, tarnished coins. Just press and hold the switch and move the polisher all over the surface of the coin. It will noticeably improve the shine of it!

Step 7: Making the Cutter Attachment #1

For this attachment, you will need a pen, a tin can lid, a washer, a flat screw, scissors, a pencil (with unused eraser), a screwdriver, and your hot glue gun with glue.

Begin by tracing your washer with the pen on top of the tin can lid. Now, cut out the circle you drew on the lid with your scissors. Next, use your screwdriver to punch a hole in the center of the cutout circle. Place the screw through this hole. Apply superglue so the screw doesn't move. Now, take your pencil with unused eraser and pull off the eraser. Use you screwdriver to poke a hole ALL THE WAY through the eraser. Once you have made the hole, put your cutting wheel with screw through the hole and use some hot glue to keep it in place. The screw will not go all the way through the hole. The remaining area in the hole is so you can put this attachment on your dremel. Make sure your cutting wheel is firmly attached. Now, place the attachment on your dremel and press the button. The wheel should spin. If you are experiencing a lot of vibration with this attachment, push the attachment further down on the dremel axle. 

How to Use it:
You can use this attachment to  cut and make incisions through many things. It cuts through plastic with ease, as well as wood. It does not work too well with metal however.

Step 8: Making the Cutter Attachment #2

For this attachment, you will need your hot glue gun with glue, a hammer, a bottle cap, a screw driver, a pencil with unused eraser, a small screw, and super glue.

Take your hammer and your battle cap. Smash the bottle cap with the hammer until it is perfectly flat. Use your screw driver to remove some rubbery stiff on the inside of the cap. Now, take your screw driver and make a hole in the center of the bottle cap. Push your screw through this small hole and super glue the head of the screw in place. Now, just as in the first cutter attachment, take your pencil with unused eraser and pull off the eraser. Use you screwdriver to poke a hole ALL THE WAY through the eraser. Once you have made the hole, put your cutting bottle cap wheel with screw through the hole and use some hot glue to keep it in place. The screw will not go all the way through the hole. The remaining area in the hole is so you can put this attachment on your dremel. Make sure your cutting bottle cap wheel is firmly attached. Now, place the attachment on your dremel and press the button. The bottle cap wheel should spin. If you are experiencing a lot of vibration with this attachment, push the attachment further down on the dremel axle.

How to Use it:
This attachment can also be used to cut through things. It cuts through plastic and wood, and can also cut through thin metal!

Step 9: Making the Sanding Wheel

To make this attachment, you will need a pen, scissors, a plastic lid (I used one from a Cool-Whip container), a washer, some sand paper, super glue, hot glue gun with glue, a pencil with unused eraser, a small screw, and a screwdriver.

To make this attachment, begin by tracing your washer with your pen on top of the plastic lid. Use your scissors to cut out the circle you drew. Now, trace the same washer onto the sand paper and cut that out as well. You should now have a circle of plastic and sand paper of same size. Use your screwdriver to make a hole in the center of the plastic wheel. Place your screw through this hole and use the superglue to glue the screw in place. Now, use the super glue to glue the circle of sandpaper on top of the plastic wheel so the screw is not visible anymore. Do not use too much superglue, but do not use too little. Now, take your pencil with unused eraser and pull off the eraser. Use you screwdriver to poke a hole ALL THE WAY through the eraser. Once you have made the hole, put your sanding wheel with screw through the hole and use some hot glue to keep it in place. The screw will not go all the way through the hole. The remaining area in the hole is so you can put this attachment on your dremel. Make sure your sanding wheel is firmly attached. Now, place the attachment on your dremel and press the button. The sanding wheel should spin. If you are experiencing a lot of vibration with this attachment, push the attachment further down on the dremel axle.

How to Use it:
Use the sanding wheel to smooth the surface of objects. The sanding wheel is very effective, and can be used to scrape of all the copper on a penny (see the pictures).

Replacing the Sanding Disk:
Eventually, a point in time will come when the sanding disk wears down. To replace the sand paper, simply peel off the sand paper layer and glue on a new one! It's as simple as that!

Step 10: Changing the Battery

To change the battery of the dremel, pull off the cap on the medicine bottle by pushing down and turning. Pull out the battery and disconnect it from the clip. Then, attach the new battery to the clip and put it back in the bottle. Place the cap back on. You are good to go!!

                    Using a fresh battery ensures that your dremel will be a lot more effective!!

Step 11: Using the Dremel and Safety Precautions

When using the dremel, be sure to always wear eye protection, such as goggles or safety glasses. Also, keep your hands and fingers away from the blades of the dremel. The attachments may hurt you. Please do not use this dremel to hurt any living thing!
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE YOU DO.
When cutting the with the dremel, wear a mask. Materials may release particles and chemicals that are not safe to inhale. 

Thank you so much for viewing this Instructable! I hope you can make this dremel. Please vote for me, but more importantly, leave comments and suggestions. I would like to hear some new ideas. Some ideas I have for modifying this dremel are a LED power light, a safety switch, and new attachments. Thanks everyone!

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Jury Rig It! Contest

Epilog Challenge V

Participated in the
Epilog Challenge V

Make-to-Learn Youth Contest

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