Is there a Flex Shaft accessory for Standard Routers?

[mkochsch]

Is there a product out there that I can attach to the 1/4 or 1/2 inch collet on a standard router which will turn my router into a dremel-like tool with a flex shaft?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

None that I know of and if there is, I don't want to be near it. That shaft would be turning at 24,000 rpm. Not a good idea for things of that size. Can you imagine an abrasive wheel that it could turn with that power and speed? Ed [e-mail]

[mkochsch]

Dremel's spin at up to 30,000 RPMs.

~m

[SawEyes]

Dremel's are not 2 or 3HP though :)

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Dean Bielanowski Editor, Online Tool Reviews

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[Edwin Pawlowski]

But a Dremel does not have the power to sling an 8" grinding wheel. Look at the RPM ratings on larger grinders, saw blades etc. The max will be 4 to

5,000 rpm. Ed [e-mail]

[Andy Dingley]

20,000 rpm for the fastest Foredoms. Those are a properly mounted motor too.

Dremels (puny little pieces of crap) only spin at 30,000 rpm when they're spinning freely. They also only claim 20,000 for the flex-shaft versions. If you actually try it, you're lucky to reach

15,000.

Most of the sub-Dremels with optional shafts recommend a maximum of

5,000 when using a flex shaft.

I'd use a router to drive a flex shaft (it's just a motor after all) but I'd want some serious engineering of the shaft mount, and a Foredom-like swivel to suspend the motor. Just shoving the inner core into a collet and resting the motor on the bench is asking to get hurt.

If you _really_ need an ultra high speed tool with a tiny handpiece, buy some second-hand dentistry and get an air drill.

-- Smert' spamionam

[mkochsch]

I guess the short answer is no, or that I keep looking. There are a number of ways for securing the motor that come to mind (side mounted router table for instance). The HP and RPM's don't really play a factor, it's the anchoring of the motor, I could make a lathe out of a PTO from a tractor if I could hook it up easily. I figured I'd have to dial the router down to lower RPM. I'm just amazed something like this isn't out there.

~m

[Charles Krug]

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 15:24:25 GMT, mkochsch wrote: (snip)

Many farm machines have a V-belt pulley driven from the PTO shaft. I think a rotery mower might be the easiest to adapt.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures . . . ;-)

[Charlie Self]

Let's not get too antsy. At one point, a good number of consumer radial arm saws were available with a power take-off, and, IMS, several had flexible shafts to fit. I never used one, but there we're also talking about 1-1/2 HP (probably a lot closer to true HP than the so-called 3 HP routers we see today), though shaft speed was MUCH slower.

Some attachments that allowed use of router bits were also available. A lot of this stuff must still be around in varous places.

Charlie Self "Brevity is the soul of lingerie." Dorothy Parker

[JMartin957]

I'm certainly one to adapt things where possible, but using anything at router speed that wan't specifically made for it is something I stay away from.

I was in a woodworking tool store once when a customer came in to complain about the quality of their drum sanders. The small ones, with a 1/4" shaft and maybe a 1.5" x 1.5" rubber drum, designed for use in a drill press.

You guessed it. Router. Bent the shank to 90 degrees, and how he managed to hang on to the router I'll never know. It must have been bucking something fierce. He never really did understand that he'd done something dangerous.

Actually, the Dremel probably does have the power to sling an 8" wheel. Might take it a minute to get up to speed, though.

John Martin

[Upscale]

This question has been asked a number of times and the general consensus is that the horsepower behind a router would make a flex shaft pretty dangerous.

[Mark]

It's not the horse power that would bother me. We all know how these horse power ratings go.

What would worry me is the spinning mass of the armature. That old inertia thing. Get a half inch HoleShooter and drill a hole where the bit binds. I'll bet this has broken more than one wrist. Get a similar rated air drill, bind it's bit. By comparison it's a nuisance.

I could see a grinder on the end of router driven flex shaft binding, the shaft pretzeling and getting shorter pulling drive and driven closer, the router inertia trying to keep everything spinning, if the motor slows the rotor making torque ..... Yee Haw. Your along for the ride.

[Johndonn]

It would however be good if you wanted to create your own dupli carver as you would have no heavy router which needs a hefty counter weight making the whole machine way more versatile as you would not be dealing with the weight of the router

[ck]

Le 24/06/2022 à 05:31, Johndonn a écrit :

Try to be more explicit for the intended applications.

Maybe a linear grinder? (see:

)

Or a trimmer (e.g.

?

[10x]

On Jun 23, 2022, Johndonn wrote (in article<16fb70f985dace6b$98$1937703$ [e-mail]>):

We do realize that this question was originally posted 18 years ago?

I suspect the original poster has gone on to other endeavors by now.

Joe aka 10x

[DerbyDad03]

Actually what happened is this:

The OP rigged up the flexible shaft from his Dremel so that he could use it with his 3HP router. Things were going fine until the internal cable bound up, kinking the casing and whipping the router up into the air and into the OP's head.

They say that he is doing OK, considering. He spends his days yelling at re-runs of The New Yankee Workshop while the nurses wipe the spittle from his chin.

He gets especially worked up when Norm opens that drawer full of routers. Something about "They are trying to kill you!" but it's kind of hard to understand him.

[10x]

On Jun 24, 2022, DerbyDad03 wrote (in article [e-mail]):

🤪LOL🤪

[krw]

A flex shaft turning at 25000RPM? Not this guy, not even eighteen years ago.