Rotary tool (Dremel) flex-shaft lubricant?

John Doe wrote: Any suggestions on the best or easiest to find rotary tool (Dremel) flex- shaft lubricant? ^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is not directly in response to your question, but I hope it saves you, or others, a lot of grief. I was using a Wecheer flex shaft carving attachment on my Dremel, when it started to make an odd noise. It was still working, and I wanted to get the job done, so I continued to use it, and the drive shaft broke. (It's made just like a Dremel flex shaft.) I pulled the broken end out, but there is no way to get the other half out. The shaft (and Dremel is the same), is closed at the business end. When the shaft breaks, the strands flare out and catch the housing, and there is no way to pull it out.

Fortunately, the thing was under warranty, and I got a brand new one, but I started making phone calls, asking you are supposed to replace the broken drive core. Dremel just told me to send it in for repair. Wecheer told me nothing useful.

My advice: inspect the drive core frequently, keep it lubricated, and always replace it if you even think it MIGHT break. Also, always keep the flex shaft as straight as possible when running it, and NEVER bend it to a tight radius when using it.

Hope this helps.

Can you clarify the bit about lubricant please. Should you use "little lubricant" or "a little lubricant"? What sort of lubricant is suggested for these shafts. Presumable they require a fairly low viscosity due to their high speed. Thanks in advance for your help.

John

Cheap bastard that I am, I use a little lithium grease available at most hardware stores. If you only want the bona-fide stuff suggest you phone the folks at Dremel and order direct from them. Of course Foredom has their own special-sauce, and probably Craftsman has theirs too.

The stuff I use in my flex shaft is cable lube made for motorcycle cables. But it doesn't spin as fast as my dremel. The flex shaft is a foredom. Maybe try a jewellry supply house. They sell flex shafts and could certainly tell you what they use. BTW, one nice thing you can buy is a fitting that clamps around the cable and housing and lets you force lube the whole length of the cable. Not sure if the ones they sell at motorcycle will fit your cable. Bring it in and see. Cheers, Eric R Snow

"John Manders" wrote

"Once Every 200 Hours ... The (Heavy duty Flex-Shaft Tool) cable should be thoroughly cleaned with a solvent and lubricated."

I don't find any "thin film automotive wheel bearing grease". Apparently, they meant "a very thin film [of] automotive wheel bearing grease".

Foredom has grease made for their flex shafts, it would probably work for yours. I've seen it at hobby shops that sell Foredom tools, you can also get it directly from Foredom. It's a fairly stiff grease, too, no moly added. Hopefully, the shaft has a removable core, not like some I've seen that have been crimped together with no means of lubrication(Sears Crapsman).

Stan

snipped-for-privacy@americanisp.net (Stan Schaefer) wrote

I guess having the flex shaft stuck in there would be problematic, but I am impressed with the Sears rotary tools I have handled which run smoothly. I picked up a Black & Decker and was unpleasantly surprised by how much it vibrates (had to take it back).

Maybe Sears doesn't want to spend the 10 cents or whatever on a plastic place holder for the shaft and don't want to risk someone using the tool incorrectly (not connected properly).

Having the flex shaft slide out so easily is problematic too since it slides out when I am handling/admiring my new toy. Heheh.

Was fun. Thanks. Out.

I assumed that more folks used the same stuff I do. I had a buddy that carved duck decoys using the foredom tools (he was pretty hard on them). He told me he used automotive anti-seize lubricant on them. When I got mine (Harbor Freight) I put anti-seize on it from the git-go. I've had it less that a year so I can't report on the long term. I also put a couple of drops of RemOil in the handpiece (don't know if that is good or bad).

Bruce