Pendant Drill question

[eamon]

Hi Guys,

I did a search on the forum but still feeling a little bit unsure about this. Can anyone offer some advice?

I am currently using a dremel 4000 as a pendant drill. It works well but lately the flexshaft keeps cutting out. I feel it maybe time to upgrade to a pendant drill with a foot pedal.

I was looking at cooksons Dremel fortiflex which looks like it could be a good investment but maybe a little heavy,

Was just wondering about the Dremel vs the Foredom. Does anyone know if there is much of a difference between these two.

Thanks for any help

Eamon

[enigma]

Yes Dremels are rubbish.

[eamon]

Thanks Enigma,

Is the fortiflex that bad? what do you use yourself?

[Aurarius]

We need to be clear what we're talking about when we say "a Dremel". A Dremel 4000 is a very different animal from a Dremel Fortiflex; whilst the first is of limited use for many of the more subtle operations in jewelry making, a Dremel Fortiflex is a serious rival to a Foredom pendant motor.

[eamon]

Hi aurarius,

Have you used both the fortiflex and the Foredom?

Which one would you recommend?

I saw some good reviews of the fortiflex on youtube, and i see cooksons don't stock the foredom. Is there a reason for that would you know?

Thanks for any help or advice offered.

[enigma]

Hi Eamon

No I haven't had the fortiflex only two of the standard Dremels but the quality and longevity of those is so poor I would personally never buy any Dremel again.
The standard Dremel is useless for burring and drilling too because of the power/torque so I wouldn't imagine the Fortiflex would be ideal either?
There are quite a few quality tools that Cooksons don't stock unfortunately :/

[Aurarius]

Hi aurarius,

Have you used both the fortiflex and the Foredom?

Which one would you recommend?

I saw some good reviews of the fortiflex on youtube, and i see cooksons don't stock the foredom. Is there a reason for that would you know?

Thanks for any help or advice offered.

I've used neither so I can't judge. Lydia from our forum, though, has done a video review of the Dremel, if I remember rightly, and there are some fairly thorough video reviews of the Foredom SR out there.

On paper the Fortiflex has more power than the Foredom SR, but I don't know how this translates to the real world; it depends where on the machine the power is measured, and how power correlates with rpm. I believe the Fortiflex has a keyed chuck and there is no quick release handpiece option, unlike with the Foredoms. That was a while ago now, though, and things may have changed since.

The large range of available handpieces argues strongly in a Foredom's favour, I think, and also the manufacturer's good aftersales backup. That's not to say you won't get good aftersales backup with a Fortiflex, assuming you buy it from a reputable source to begin with.

There is more than one Foredom pendant motor you can buy; besides the SR, there is the LX, which I would get myself if I were in the market for one as its power is generated at relatively low revs, which is a desirable feature for many operations in mounting and setting.

[eamon]

Thanks Enigma and Aurarius for the info and tips.

I will have a look at some of the video reviews online, and have a think about it.

I was annoyed in fairness with how long my dremel 4000 worked for before starting to cause problems.

Cheers

[china]

Foredom have been the industry standard for many many years there are other good brands like Faro etc. in my experience Dremel are not what they used to be 30 years ago, quality control seems to be a big issue, after sales service is pretty well non existent.
While I have no affiliation with Foredom I do recommend them, they are a one off purchase (and have just about any attachment you will ever require) that will last a lifetime, if you do have any issues they seem to go out of their way to resolve them, mentioned in a previous thread if you go Foredom make sure it is a genuine item.

[Maree Hart]

I bought a foredom very recently after looking at other brands. I was initially drawn to the Dremel, partly because contrary to other members experience here I have had good service from the two dremels I had (in other hobbies, whilst acknowledging they are unsuitable for jewellery use). However as mentioned above they do not offer the choice of handpieces and I already know I want a hammer handpiece, and possibly the #30 as this is an interface with many 3rd party add ons.

Although the Dremel looks snazzy and the foredom very industrial (not that it should matter!) I am totally happy with my choice.

I did think about the LX model for stone setting, but wanted to be able to polish too. I have found the SR very easy to control at very low speeds.

[Patstone]

I bought a Foredom SR about 9 years ago when I first started and love it to bits. It will do anything. My next investment may be a hammer handpiece but not sure if its better to do it by hand. Unfortunately my hands are losing their strength a bit, not sure how to overcome that and I find it hard to hold a tube of jumprings to cut them up into individual rings.

[Dennis]

Leaving them on their mandrel, resting them on your bench peg and cutting them one by one from the top helps.

Alternatively you can give up the saw and use nylon reinforced extra thin separating disks. You need finger protection against the heat though and eye protection. https://www.goldschmiedebedarf.de/product_info.php?products_id=24765 Dennis.

[eamon]

Thanks for all the tips guys, might go for the foredom over the dremel fortiflex.
Cheers
Eamon