Good Friday morning. I don’t have a project to share with you today but I wanted to draw your attention to a tool my husband recently purchased for me. Over the years my husband’s Christmas wish list of tools included a Dremel and several of the accessories that work with it. Of course the one he has is a “man sized” toy….I mean tool that he uses for odd jobs around the house. I asked if Dremel made a “girl sized” tool that I could use to file off the little wires that remain when I pull connected dies part. You know…..the ones that inflict puncture wounds if not carefully filed off. LOL! His answer was ”yes they do” and the Dremel 7300 came to me in the mail from Amazon a few days later.
If you are of unsure what I mean by die sets that come connected you can see my new Taylored Expressions Build a House die set that have the pieces connected by wires and needs to be pulled apart and have the pointed edges filed off.
I don’t know about you but I have grumbled to myself many times when I have opened a new set and found that the pieces were all connected. But recently I found out from an owner of one of my favorite companies that this is the most economical way to produce multiple piece die sets. Otherwise the cost of manufacturing sets like Taylor’s above would be much higher and that price would be passed down to us as a customer.
I took a picture of the tool in my hand so you could see that it really is “girl size”. I have copied the description for it below.
- Cordless small rotary tool; compatible with Dremel bit accessories; 1/8-inch collet
- Small rotary tool ideal for delicate tasks and finer work; 2 speeds (6,500 and 13,000 rpm)
- Lightweight plastic housing
- Includes MiniMite 7300-N/8 4.8-volt cordless two-speed rotary tool, (8) accessories, wrench, battery, and charger
The small charger for the Dremel stays plugged into the wall and is easily attached to the bottom of it for use.
I have filed these wires off several times with my hand file set and it really is an awful chore. The rotary file makes this a breeze and only takes a few seconds.
I hope you don’t mind me taking time away from a card project to share this information with you. I believe it is the best $25 I have spent in a long time.
I would love to hear your comments and reviews on this project. I hope you have a great day and upcoming weekend.
Kittie, let me be the first to “thank you” for today’s tutorial. Not that I won’t miss one of your always fabulous cards but for card makers I think this is very worthwhile information as how you were able to address a problem we all deal with from time to time as I agree the injury from these “tags” are not fun. Thank you and have a great weekend!
It sounds and looks like a great tool to have. I hate those little pieces of metal sticking out also and have poked myself. I’ve tried cutting them with wire cutters and can’t get close enough and tried to file them and it takes forever. May have to get myself one of these. Birthday is coming up, may put a note up for all to see. haha Thanks for sharing. Edna
What a wonderful and thoughtful husband you have and how sweet to go and order it for you. Thank you for the wonderful tutorial. I will definitely have to get one of these!
Hi Kittie, thanks for sharing that – such a useful tip, looks like I have to do yet another trip to Home Depot…. (I’m in the middle of construction in my house….)
Great idea Kittie. Those sharp points have stuck me many a time but do understand
why they are made that way, we wouldnt want to have to pay more….or lose those
cute little pieces.
I was faced this week, AGAIN, with the unpleasant task of seperating dies. My hubby has a Dremel tool in the garage and I would have never thought to use it for this purpose. I think it may find a new home in my craft room…LOL He’s learned when he cannot find his tools in the garage to look in my craft room. Thanks so much for the wonderful tip…I’m going to test it out today.
BTW, once I seperate all the pieces in my die sets, I mount them onto magnetic sheets and store them in page protectors in a binder. I have a red binder for all my Christmas dies, a green one for all my botanicals and a black one for everything else…saves me lots of time when I need leaves and can just grab my green binder, etc.
Love all the projects you’ve been doing, too.
“Thanks for a great tip!” she typed, her fingers covered in bandages to stop the punctures from bleeding on her keyboard.
LOL 😉
Thanks for the clever tip! I have heard of using a grinding wheel but was very intimidated by the thought of using one! This is perfect! I think my hubby may actually have a Dremel in the garage somewhere….score!!!! 🙂
Wow…Awesome!!! Thanks for sharing, now I NEED to get one. Those sharp edges get me all the time even when I file them down, I have to really get in there & file to get rid of most of it….this will make the job soooo much easier & faster.
I just ordered it with next day shipping! I have even cut myself on those sharp edges!
Thanks for the review! I’ve heard of people using Dremel tools on dies, but didn’t know they made a smaller, less expensive option. It’s on my wish list now.
That is a great idea, whenever I get these die sets the first thing I do is tear them apart, thanks for the tip I will have to check out my hubby’s and give it a try!
Way to go Kittie! My husband LOVES his Dremel and now I have a very useful reason to get one too. Thank you for sharing this fun tip.
Kittie,
How nice and considerate of you to give that useful tip to many who need it. I do not have a die of my own but still really appreciate your help! LOVE your cards and projects,too, of course.
A faithful follower of yours for years, Kittie. I really appreciate this tip. I have been using plier/cutters and, like others have mentioned, can’t get close enough, so this little tip is a very useful. Thanks!
thanks so much for this info..i have a dremel tool, and silly me, never thought of using it for this..thanks!
Oh yes….many nicks from those little wire edges, and the hand files just don’t work that well! Thanks fir the tip Kittie!
Jan
Great tip! I can’t wait to see what you make with those dies! 🙂
Great tip Kittie. Have a few smaller die set that I can now separate. Hate to hand file, and yikes the cuts/punctures you can get!
Thank you for sharing your experience. It will help me.
I am getting one of these! Thanks for sharing!
I am OVER THE MOON with this wonderful tip, Kittie! I’ve Googled the best buy and have already ordered my Dremel 7300. Even with good nippers and a well-made file, it’s hard to get good results: the nippers never get close enough, filing those shark teeth down takes forever, and you can’t always get into little spaces with a big honkin’ file. You’ve really made my day with this tool tip and I am so grateful to both you and your husband for making this happen!
Thank you Kitty for this post!!!!!! Thank you!!!! Can you tell I am excited! I have resorted to just leaving them, well, I do cut them off, but too much work. The filing down part. I will order one now! lol!!!
What a great idea! Thank you for this useful tip. I think we might have a dremel somewhere, but I’ve never used it – that will change now! You ought to contact Dremel about your post here – they might offer you some sponsorship!
I’ve been stabbed many times by those metal ‘needles’…lol. Thank you so much for this information. I’m gonna get it and I can hardly wait to start ‘drilling’….lol…
WOW!! AWESOME!! I too have wondered what would be the BEST tool to use!! I have a pair of wire cutters, but they don’t always leave a nice clean cut and I agree filing by hand can be hard and I have been hurt several times in the process!! This looks AMAZING!! THANKS for sharing and I hope you tell your Husband THANKS too!! =) Have a FABULOUS WEEKEND!! =)
Thanks for the GREAT tip!!! I hadn’t thought about using a dremel for that dreaded project! I’m going to ask my husband to unearth his!!
Good Afternoon, Kittie, It was a pleasure to here an see this tool for yrs my husband has had this tool as he is a model radio control airplane enthusiast. i really didn’t know about the girl Dremel. A great Christmas, or birthday gift for us gals. Thank you soooo much for telling us about it.
KIttie you are a life savor!!! You must have been reading my mind and your timing is impeccable! Thank you sooooo much for introducing me to this wonderful tool. Sore fingers will be the thing of the past. You’re the best!
Good Afternoon Kittie,
You have a solution for sore fingers!!
Thank you for the fantastic tip!
My husband has a Dremel, maybe I can borrow it :-)…
Hugs, Eva.
WOW what a great idea! I have a dremel and never thought of using it for these dies.
Thank you for this wonderful tip!!!!
Thank you Kittie for sharing this great info. I love my dremel tools, I’m a tool girl. I just purchased the Impression Obsession dies Mini Delicate Doilies, they were die of the month at my local stamping store. After I got home I looked at the dies and thought now how am I going to get rid of those wires? Now I know. Thank you for sharing this today, I needed the info.
Jacquelene L
Canada
Will if there’s still one left to be ordered after all the other Gals above get theres I’ll have to see about one too!! What a simple idea,,,,one I’m asking myself why didn’t I think of that..?
Thanks so much for sharing with us, Your the BEST!!!
Would love to know how you store different things in your craft room…maybe once in a while you could slip us a tip!!!
What a great idea. I knew about dremel tools but I didn’t know they made these battery powered versions. Now I want to get one.
Perfect timing!! The last set of dies I purchased was welded and I swore I would never purchase another one. A few weeks later you come with the absolutely, fabulous answer. TFS.
Your post is a lifesaver for me!!!! I have tons of die sets that are nested and connected together. Been searching for a solution for a long time. I have so many injuries from the sharp edges that the wire snips didn’t remove. And filing the points is not a fun job at all. I have fine motor challenges at my age, and I’m so looking forward to receiving my Dremel 7300. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, KITTIE. I placed an online order with Walmart today .. for this invaluable tool .. “girl sized” dremel 🙂