Hi All, The flex shaft is probably the tool all us use the most.
Just imagine a day without it. I would be like walking into a dark
room when the electricity is off and still flipping the light
switch.
I used lots of carving wax and was always fascinated by the
description on the side of the box. It said"…excellent for
turning…" I now use my flex shaft for turning wax. Just place
a hunk of wax mounted on a spindle in a handpiece and mount the
handpiece in a portable hobby vice and turn away. I have turned
pieces that were 3" in diameter and about 4 " high. The wax shaves
away so easily I do not need a rest for the turning tool. I have a
paper on the subject if any one is interested. There were 4
articles on the subject in Lapiday Journal a while back.
I have a drill press in which I mount a hand piece. A 3/8" burr
with a cutting edge on the end mounted in the handpiece can be used
as an end mill. I can mill pieces of wax to what ever thickness I
need.
When I first started making jewelry I used my flex shaft with 2"
cutoff disks mounted in spindles to cut stones. I did a lot of
inlay that way.
Lee Epperson