Foredom TX flex shaft review

Here is my humble review of the new Foredom TX flex shaft. I have now
been using it for one month.

First I am going to list what I am comparing it to.

I have an older Foredom R flex shaft (14,000 rpm - 1.0 amp) that I
use all the time. The foot pedal just cam back from being repaired by
Ken at MPG Repair http://www.mpgrepair.com. He did a wonderful job and
it is working like new.

At the class that I teach we have both the Foredom R (20,000 rpm - 1.7
amp) and Foredom S (18,000 rpm - 1.7 amp) machines. Now for the
review of the TX.

The first thing that I noticed was the size. The motor is quite a bit
larger than the other models.

Second was the smooth start up. It is not quite as smooth as my R
with the newly repaired foot pedal but it is close. The only reason
that it is not as smooth is that the movement of the plastic foot
pedal is not quite as sooth as that of the metal petal that is on my
R machine. I bought the TX from RIO Grande and they did not offer the
metal pedal. I do however like the plastic petal more than I thought I
would. I thought it would be sliding out from under my foot, but it
does not.

Third was the torque and acceleration. If you have an open hook type
hanger, you will need to fasten the TX motor to it securely with wire
or something. This motor will jump right off the hook. One must be
thorough when testing a new flex shaft. :wink:

I put the TX to the test with a #18 hand piece, a large bur and a
block of wood. I found that if I bear down too hard the bur will spin
in the chuck. I switched to the old trusty #30 hand piece and
tightened the chuck on the same bur. The TX has way more power than
needed for jewelry work, but is there one among us that would complain
about something like that?

The only week area in the TX machine is the shaft itself. But without
the shaft, it would not be a flex shaft, it would be a drill. Don’t get
me wrong here, I am not saying that the shaft is bad. I am saying that
the motor has power. Anyone that uses a flex shaft knows that they
have limitations.

Now that I have been using my old trusty R next to the TX, the old
Foredom R seems anemic, but I will keep it around. The TX will be my
work horse.

Timothy A. Hansen
TAH Handcrafted Jewelry

@Timothy_A_Hansen1