Wednesday, January 14, 2015

New Year...New Tool

In the past 6 - 7 years that I have been making jewelry, I have burned-out not one, but two Dremel's...such talent!  I have no idea how I kill these machines, but I do!  So, after I murdered the last one in December (only 1 speed of 3 was working), I decided to bite the bullet and buy a Flex Shaft.  I did LOTS of research to decipher which one would work best, and I decided on this model.



I buy most of my tools, wire, sheet, etc. from Rio Grande.  I was lucky enough to  purchase this when they were offering a 3-day special on shipping.  Cause I gotta tell you, the shipping from Rio can be expensive!  So I bought a few accessories as well. The motor HAS to hang from the bench (or desk, or whatever one is using).  Since my bench is made of solid wood, I decided to buy the swing arm that is drilled into the bench - so much more secure than using a C-clamp.  (This is the swing arm model that I purchased - link here).  

I am so glad there were no camera's on me when I drilled the holes into my bench to bolt this baby down...I measured not twice, but 6 times!  Success!  I also had to move my bench around so that I could plug the foot control directly into a grounded outlet - no extension cords or surge protectors here!  Let's face it...I am in the basement and no one would hear me if I electrocuted myself!  This new bench location setup is much more efficient, too.



I have shelves everywhere in this space, and I was able to move my most-used tools directly to the left and right of my bench.



I went ahead and purchased the magnetic tool arm and the peg arm for the swing arm, and I am so glad I did! One side of the magnetic arm holds about 90% of my files.  Instead of digging through a drawer, they are so easily accessible now. 



Swing that arm 180 degrees, and I was able to hang many of the drill and sanding mandrel attachments to the other side.  The best part is that the Dremel mandrels work with the Flex Shaft - thank goodness! 



I have not yet hung anything from the peg arm - but I will!

Since contracting the flu on Christmas, and caring for my Mom who is also healing from this nasty, nasty bug, I have only done a bit of wire wrapping - I need to be at 100% before I can wield a flame around!  But I am almost there and I cannot wait to utilize this new tool and see what it can do!

So, have you purchased any new tools lately???  Do share!!!

Thanks for stopping by today - have a wonderful rest of the week!

xo
Patti