DIY with Dremel – How to use Dremel tools for DIY projects

Cape Watch offers ideas and hints on the inspiring projects you can do with your Dremel tools. There is much more you can do with Dremel.

Dremel Project – Wall Clock

Create a unique piece of art you can’t find anywhere else! We found different silver and brass pieces, polished them up, and created a wall clock.

PROJECT PROCESS IN STEPS

Step 1

Once you have chosen the pieces you would like to use to create your clock, begin brightening them up by polishing with your Dremel® Rotary Tool. If you are cleaning brass pieces as we are here, we recommend using brass brushes. These brushes are non sparking and softer than steel so they will not scratch. Use brass brushes if you’re cleaning soft metals like gold, copper or brass. TIP: When using any polishing brushes, always run your tool at 15,000 RPM, no higher. Slowly make light passes across your work piece. Here, we began by cleaning larger areas with the 536 brush and got into tighter spaces with the 537 brush. If you are cleaning silver pieces, use Bristle Brushes. These are perfect for light de-burring, cleaning or polishing of silverware, jewellery and other precious metals. For extra shine, use Bristle Brushes with polishing compound.

Step 2

Mount your polished pieces to the wall, here we used hot glue. Add a finishing touch to your clock by embellishing the clock movement (the centre of the clock with the hour and minute hands). Note that if you are going to be adding polished pieces to the movement itself, a battery powered movement may not be able to sustain the weight. We found that a corded movement worked best in holding up heavier pieces of silver. Here we took the centre of an old corded movement and hot-glued the handle of an old spoon and a knife to the hands of the clock. We hid the cord by running it through the wall.

Cape Watchmakers is proud to be the Dremel Accessories and Dremel Tools supplier in South Africa. Please contact us for all of your Dremel needs.