[Jewelry making - Article 00464] - Re: [Orchid] Comparing flex shafts

[John Donivan]

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>     Someone at the recent enameling conference told me that she didn't
>     have enough money to buy cheap tools 

    I am, like many here, a tool nut. And the above statement is good -
    I'm going to remember that. And for the topic - flex shafts - yes,
    I'd say stick with Dremel for $40 or go for a real flex shaft when
    you get there. In the big picture, though, it's not that simple
    sometimes. I bought a milling machine and needed tooling - all of
    it. I bought a set of Chinese R8 toolholders for $200 or something -
    that's 12 pieces. Since I was a beginner and I'm not doing
    aerospace, it was a good starter set. We're not talking garbage like
    the anvils mentioned here. The distinction is Tawan, which makes
    fairly high quality products in general - it's mainland China that
    is iffy. Anyway, to buy better would cost me about that for each
    tool - top of the line would have been 10 times that, like $1000
    each and up. Meaning in tools there's quality and then there's
    quality. I use a $10 ball pein that I got at the hardware store for
    my main hammer - it's American made, hickory handle, still going
    strong. I COULD buy a $90 European gadget hammer, but it's not going
    to do any better work, frankly. And of course, junk is junk. The
    point being that the right tool is important, too. I could be all
    idealistic and say I must have the very BEST for my miller, but it
    would cost me $100,000 and the tools would be better than I am and I
    just don't need that. I cross paths with a lot of students buying
    tools, and they're all starry eyed looking at all the cool stuff
    they could plunk down their hard-earned cash for, and some are
    useful and some are more just gilding the lily. I use my dapping
    punches periodically but not all that often - if you have a line
    that requires using them 30 times a day, then you want that kind of
    quality, but if you're more like me, then a "reasonable" quality is
    just fine. Yes, fine tools are wonderful, but it's very easy to
    break the bank, too. But a real flex shaft is going to be your best
    friend. 

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com
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