unclej Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 i've started doing some stone and bone carving and thought i'd invest in a flex shaft for my dremel so i checked out ebay and found one that i got for about $11. it said that it went on a dremel tool but...the female threads on the shaft are a finner thread than the male threads on the dremel..the shaft itself has a square end and looking into the barrell of the dremel i don't see a square receiver. did i get bonned or is there an adapter that is available to make the conversion. i've searched the dremel sites and can't find anything like that. thanks unclej Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 (edited) I think there is supposed to be a "drive nut" included. Its a cap with a square hole that fits on the end of your dremel and accepts the square drive shaft of your flex shaft. I've used similar for my spin saw, well, before I wrecked it (rectum? damn near killed 'em!), and it featured a special square-holed collet that fit into the chuck of the drive unit. As far as threads matching up you have to be careful with these accessories. Things like the little router table, plunge router attachment, drill press attachment AND flex shaft only work with a few different Dremel models. Make sure you know what number/model of dremel these attachments are made for before you buy. Found this unclej. Edited November 10, 2006 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted November 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 thanks southpa..that's the info i needed. looks like the square holed nut wasn't included and the threads are definitely wrong but santa's supposed to bring me a brand new one so maybel it'll fit. might even be able to find a brass fitting at the hardware store that will work. anyway, thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 Be careful about how long you use the flexshaft in one sitting. They tend to put a lot of extra stress on dremels. I would know...I had a dremel actually light on fire while I was carving a top with a flex shaft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGman Posted November 11, 2006 Report Share Posted November 11, 2006 Be careful about how long you use the flexshaft in one sitting. They tend to put a lot of extra stress on dremels. I would know...I had a dremel actually light on fire while I was carving a top with a flex shaft. I used to used those flex shafts alot for metal working, though oneday i was using it for a fairly long time and the casing on the dremel started to melt, seconds later the motor blew. Not the safest tools i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted November 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2006 thanks for the heads up. i was actually having second thoughts about using it anyway. it feels a little cumbersom just holding it and i reallly don't have a problem using the dremel by itself. i just felt like i really, really needed a new toy. anybody want to buy a cheap flex shaft? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightLamp Posted November 11, 2006 Report Share Posted November 11, 2006 You've just got a non official dremel shaft that's all. The dremel collar should fit the threads on the flex shaft if it's original dremel (All my old fitting still work on my new dremel, so I know they haven't changed it). As for the square shaft, if I recall, you just put the square shaft in the collect and tighten the heck out of it. Cheers, Nish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted November 11, 2006 Report Share Posted November 11, 2006 I think i still have a square shaft collet kicking around if you want it, my dremel died and i bought a cheap replacement one from Princess auto (works better than the dremel might I add) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted November 11, 2006 Report Share Posted November 11, 2006 we used the hell out of flex shaft stuff when I worked at a jewelers. never seen one melt though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 12, 2006 Report Share Posted November 12, 2006 There's a big difference between grinding a piece of jewelery every couple of minutes and hogging out mahogany with a coarse burr for a good half an hour non-stop. Also, it seems like a lot of jewelers(at least the ones I'm aware of) use foredom flex shaft tools, which are much, much more robust than a flex shaft and a dremel. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted November 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2006 I think i still have a square shaft collet kicking around if you want it, my dremel died and i bought a cheap replacement one from Princess auto (works better than the dremel might I add) thanks..i appreciate the offer but i took another look at the flex shaft yesterday and the square drive shaft is recessed so far into the housing that i don't think that i could tighten it. i might try to rig up some sort of adapter but i've kinda lost interest in the whole thing. and like i said, i've used just the dremel for so long now that i'm pretty adept at it. i was probably just trying to satisfy my ebay jones when i bought the damned thing in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRossitter Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I got one of those cordless ones last year. I turned it (to what I thought was) off and left the room for a minute to get a soda. When I came back the damn thing was smoking. It seems that the cordless dremmel wasn't engineered to the highest standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I was completely dissatisfied with the cordless dremel I bough a while back. The battery drained very quickly and it had very little torque, even with a fully charged battery. However, I did have the cheaper of dremel's two cordless models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I've been using my cordless "Mini-mite" for quite some time. I've been trying to hunt down a spare battery for it and I would expect to pay more than the whole unit is worth if I did find one (my rant about batteries for cordless tools is somewhere in this forum, ) But so far I've been getting a good couple hours use out of the battery before it needs charging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRossitter Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Lucky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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