vintage Craftsman rotary tool 117.2102

davethorik · Sep 24, 2017

Spotted this at a yard sale and it called my name. Picked it up with a vintage C. A. Meyers Awl for All sewing awl in original box, $5 for the pair.

Best part, it still works although it needs disassembled and cleaned. The box is in ok shape with some scuffs and the lid is slightly bowed.

There is a bunch of small parts in the box, typical dremel style attachments, a couple collets, wrenches, spare brushes, and drill bits.

It's heavy, I'd hazard a guess of 2 lbs. From the other couple examples I spotted on ebay, the purple color is original.

Cope · Sep 25, 2017

Good deal. The awl alone is worth $5.

Dennis Leigh Henry · Sep 26, 2017

Nice score.. the case alone is cool as heck.. They don't make them like that anymore...

davethorik · Sep 26, 2017

Dennis Leigh Henry said:
Nice score.. the case alone is cool as heck.. They don't make them like that anymore...

That's what I thought when i spotted it...I love the Buck Rogers styling, figured someone had painted it purple. Best I can tell it is from the late 30s.

3baygarage · Sep 26, 2017

Dave that's certainly at the top of the list for cool looking Cman items. I have one without the case and accessories and can vouch for the color being original. Always thought they were meant to resemble a ray gun or something too. I think you deserve a You **** on the price.

Sadly I never put mine to work. I use my same old Wizard just by habit.

Provincial · May 20, 2018

I picked up one of these Saturday. It has the instruction sheet, "copyright 1939 Excel Auto Radiator Co." so Dave is right on guessing late 1930's.

I copied the sheet to a PDF. I can email it if you send me your address.

Provincial · May 21, 2018

Here is a photo of the front of the brochure.

Stuart in MN · May 21, 2018

I have one of those rotary tools as well - same model, same box, same accessories. It works but doesn't have the speed or power of a modern rotary tool.

exmaxima1 · May 21, 2018

I inherited the same model years ago and burned it up porting the heads on my motorcycle around 1976. From what I recall, it was more powerful than a modern Dremel, and it didn't have that goofy plastic coupling inside that cracks and fails in most Dremels.

Still the have case somewhere in the basement....

Private Lugnutz · May 21, 2018

That's a nice snag, Provincial. In case you're interested in comparing features, a couple of those have been posted in Outlaw's "Show your Long C" thread. Sawdustmaker's, linked here, appears to be the same era. Like an idiot, I passed on one at a flea market last year, also from the same production era, but took some photos, linked here. notlob's incredible "SUPER CRAFTY" model is from 1942 and has an even more Buck Rogers-y looking pistol grip. His post is linked here.

6PTsocket · Jun 15, 2018

Provincial said:
I picked up one of these Saturday. It has the instruction sheet, "copyright 1939 Excel Auto Radiator Co." so Dave is right on guessing late 1930's.

I copied the sheet to a PDF. I can email it if you send me your address.

I looked up vendor code 117. After Excell Auto Radiator, it said (Handee rotary tool). I guess they marketed some of them themselves, under that name.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Bubba3346 · Jun 29, 2021

Provincial said:
I picked up one of these Saturday. It has the instruction sheet, "copyright 1939 Excel Auto Radiator Co." so Dave is right on guessing late 1930's.

I copied the sheet to a PDF. I can email it if you send me your address.

Can u send me the PDF please I need to fix the power cord [email protected]

JoCoSawdust · Jun 29, 2021

Cool find on the roto tool Dave. It amazes me how many of those sets survived will all or most of their accessories intact. What I find most impressive is the fact they came with a spare set of brushes that the user could easily replace. When things truly were made to last a lifetime.

Biff schmedley · Dec 10, 2023

How about a really rare weird tool? Any idea what this is and where it came from (other than my grandfather's shop many decades ago)? The label says "Royal" and under that "Hair cutter"? The "cutting tool" looks more like a gear.

Boogerman · Dec 10, 2023

That sure has a cool 1940's popular mechanics magazine look to it! That's worthy of a Don Long restoration.

RTM · Dec 10, 2023

Biff schmedley said:
How about a really rare weird tool? Any idea what this is and where it came from (other than my grandfather's shop many decades ago)? The label says "Royal" and under that "Hair cutter"? The "cutting tool" looks more like a gear.

That is the same Royal that made vacuum cleaners.

Googling

royal "hair cutter" geier cleveland

Was the second link

There used to be a clipper on the end of it, not a saw type cutter.

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vintage Craftsman rotary tool 117.2102

davethorik

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