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
