I have my eye on a Foredom flex-shaft machine. It is like a Dremel tool, except the motor is housed separately from the business end, and the two are connected by a flexible shaft.
Come to think of it, it resembles a dentist’s drill more than a Dremel.
The problem is justifying the expense to myself. It would come in handy when I make jewelry, but isn’t really essential. I want to buy it because I am a tool junkie and this is one really cool tool! And so,…
Do you find a Dremel or flex-shaft machine a useful tool?–or is it one of those things that is nice to have but rarely gets taken out of the drawer?
Janet
Replies
Janet,
A flex shaft grinder is the tool for sharpening profiled edge tools. You want a hand piece that takes 1/4" shanks and an assortment of grinding points including some of rubberized abrasives. Get a single point diamond dresser for the regular grinding points and some diamond files to dress the rubberized abrasives and you're in business.
By the way, Dremel use to make (and still may for all I know) a flex shaft unit like the freedom. I had one for years on my hobby (train) bench. They also made (and I think still make) a flex shaft that attaches to the current line of moto tools. They are NOT as nice as the Freedom (a friend has a Freedom) but they are a lot cheeper, or at least used to be. And for the cost they are a better bang for the buck.
Doug M
Doug,Grizzly sells a flex shaft grinder for $50 but its hand piece only takes 1/8" shank points. It's a knock-off of the Foredom and the Fordom hand pieces fit the Grizzly. You can get a Foredom hand piece that takes 1/4" shanks for $50 or $60. Again, the Grizzly isn't as nice a tool or as well made as the Foredom.
I have two Foredoms-the second one was a grand prize at a woodcarving show. They are great and reliable. The noise level is quiet-the Dremel is louder. The tool is very adaptable and several kits are sold, one is for carving. You can carve rocks, etc Dont know much about jewlrey making. It is likely that you will need a box with fans and a filter to pick up the dust. That can be irritating or dangerous with metals. There are numerous bits and attachments-diamond, ruby, carbide, polishing, etc There are machines a step up from the Foredom in price that turn much faster. Some use these in decorating turned bowls, etc
Janet, you should know by now that a *true* tool junkie needs no justification or validation. ;-)
Buy it.
Janet
I have a couple of the Foredom tools.
I can only say that it depends on what you happen to be doing.
I find that some operations a fast and easy with a flex shaft and they can be very handy.
But....
My wife makes jewelry and is more afraid of the tool and prefers hand work. When I show her what to do, she almost always opts for hand work or leaves the power tool to me.
Should you buy one?
If you think you can use one, yes. They do work.
Keep an eye on ebay, they often show up real cheap.
Jeff
I have had a Dremel for many years, and while I don't use it often, when I do it is the tool for the job. I've often regretted passing up a used Foredom several years ago -- the man from whom I bought my plunge router and a few other things had one for sale, but $$ was tight, so I passed. Should have gone for it! It would have been much sturdier than the Dremel, which has to be babied to some extent.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 2/6/2009 8:26 pm by forestgirl
I have a couple Dremels so since I don't have much use for one I tried to increase the diameter of some bolt holes on my tractor back blade. Well, I got one hole up to size befor the Dremel wore out. End of story.
That sounds more like a job for a die grinder.
I have a Dremel and a Foredom, the Dremel is great for portability and short duration jobs. The Foredom is much smoother and to me at least much more controllable. The Foredom also has a chuck which takes a wider variety of tooling.
The induction motor on the Foredom does not care how long you run it andthe handpiece is again to me much more comfortable and controllable.
I have the flex shaft for the dremel but it does not compare in performance or flexibility to the Foredoms.
Other users mileage may vary!
For engraving and fine carving I have an air driven 50,000 rpm tool sold by Astro Pneumatics that I like a lot.
For heavy grinding and polishing I have two Makita die grinders that do a great job.
................................................
Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
Get the flex shaft.
I bought a Dremel back in the late seventies and bought a speed control box to go with it. I used those guys hard for all these years. I even used it so hard once cutting a slot in a car bumper with a cut off wheel that he got so hot it smoked. I let it run and cool and kept going.
It ran for another ten years after that. It died recently after I got into wood working and was doing what I thought was some light work with the router base accessory. It just flashed once and stopped. That was it. I gave it a respected space on my tool board still.
Now lets talk about the modern Dremel equivalent. I tend to have several of the same tools when I get to cranking on some thing so don't have to change tips or bits or what not. It is a piece of junk. Period. It has a built in speed control. The slide is so loose it varies the speed by its self from the vibration of the tool. There is more vibration than the old one. The chasey of the tool is all plastic. ( the old one had and internal metal frame for the bearings and magnets etc.
Many years ago I bought the flex shaft tool you are considering; with a foot speed control. Like it like it like it !
You got to treat it gingerly and not bend the shaft in a kink while using it and get used to sliding the cover back in place over the chuck nuts but you get what you pay for in a nice flex shaft. There are other brands like Buffalo that I was skeptical about but I bought one of those while I was in Sante Fe and it has done well also.
Another option is an air grinder. There are very small ones down to the size of a ball point pen. We had racks of them at the foundry. Picture a carousel with like twelve air grinders all hooked to an air manifold line at once. Just turn the thing, grab the one with the bit you want and grind.
No waiting as they say. Nice ! We had several stations like this. The owner had tried all grades of tools over the years and found the cheepies, $50 to last as well as the $300 ones. Damn noisy and it takes a lot of air to keep one running. We had a ten horse compressor with a monster tank. Of course you wouldn't need all that.
The Nice thing about the air is they don't get hot in your hand or over heat the tool even if you run it so hard you stall it often.
good grinding
roc
Edited 2/6/2009 10:39 pm by roc
Whoo-hoo! I found a sale and just ordered a Foredom flex-shaft:
http://www.ottofrei.com/store/product.php?productid=3275
(If you think I bought the wrong model, please don't tell me! Ignorance is bliss.)
Thank you for the advice and encouragement.
Janet
The problem is justifying the expense to myself.
AND you forgot the cost of the bits!
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled