Foredom flex shaft

R

Randy3000

Joined
Jun 3, 2017
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What is the deal with ebay listings with "new" Foredom flex shaft machine for under $100? These sellers have 98% feedback, so probably not an outright scam. What am i not seeing?
 
I don't know but if those are as solid as the fordom tool I have you will only need to buy one in your lifetime. Or 3 and use them for different jobs.
 
I use a rotary tool all the time for cutting pins, doing inlays, polishing, cutting straight pulls, etc. I really wished i had heard of a flex shaft machine before i spent $60 on a dremel that barely made it one year. From what i hear, a used foredom for $100 sounds infinitely better than going the dremel route again. I think i will pick a seller that actually admits it is used, though.

I have quite a collection of 1/8" (#30) burrs, any chance i can still use them?
 
Foredom brand tools have blue name plates, not red fwiw. A real Foredom is ~$300 unless on sale or used.

I would have no qualms buying a used one.
 
Yep, the one i saw had red name plate, i guess you found it too. I would of linked it but i had a thread closed elsewhere on this site linking to amazon.
 
kuraki said:
Foredom brand tools have blue name plates, not red fwiw. A real Foredom is ~$300 unless on sale or used.

I would have no qualms buying a used one.
Click to expand...

The foredoms made for the european market (or more precisely: for a 230V, 50hz grid) have red name plates. Not saying that the ebay offers with red name plates are genuine, but not every foredom with a red name plate is a knockoff.
 
Yes Randy a Foredom will take any size burr.
You can use Dremel bits and all others
 
The same seller probably has ebay listings for "Genuine Samurai Sword - Real Antique - $100".

These knock off sellers are very prominent on ebay. That is not to say that the unit is junk. Many knockoffs are made at the same factory as the genuine article, just sold for less directly ( and illegally) by the manufacturer, of his cousin. Sometimes they change the label, and sometimes they don't even bother.
While I haven't used any Chinese $100 Foredoms, I have used other lower priced tools from there with good results. Usually, the biggest issue is the shipping time.
 
I love my foredom! I used a Dremel with a flex shaft for a few years but the fixed speed and underpowered motor burned it out.

My step brothers dad was the CEO at Foredom and (Olson Saw blades), so I don't know why it took me as long as it did to pick one up.
 
Buy a Real Foredom from a place like Rio Grande supply and never look back!! Mine is 20 years old.. The one feature I would get if I bought another is reverse. Especially if you want to carve with it..
 
Genuine Foredom tools usually don't go that low... perhaps refurbished or used maybe
 
Foredom tools last narly a lifetime. I use them probably 500 running hours a year (and that is a LOT) for decades, besides changing brushes and greasing the shaft, they run with no issues.
I usually wear out a shaft every five years. I can get parts for a 30 year old unit easily.

In all my years I have burned out one Foredom. It was run in the dustiest location and used for heavy grinding. It took 10 years to kill it.
 
Thanks stacy, the used ones i saw are not current production models. I am on vacation now and in two days i will buy one of the used foredoms i am looking at and hopefully get it right when i get home. Good to know older models are still able to get parts.
 
I just had a look. I have a 220V foredom and it has a red label as well.
So that may be why it is cheaper
 
I still havent bought one. I am now leaning towards a new model SR. I havent found a used SR cheap enough to justify not getting a new one. I like the SR over the S since the SR can go in reverse, and also has a little more hp. I am rife with indecision.
 
This is the one I bought

I wanted the higher torque version. I added a Grobet #30 chucking handpiece for a total of just under $300. 1/3 hp and 15,000 RPM made more sense to me personally than 1/6 hp and 18,000 RPM.
 
Holy cow, i am now going to have to spend two weeks or more repolishing knives (seriously thinking about disassembling them and redoing polish and do a few other things i have learned recently). Dremels can supposedly hit 25k rpm, the model i had anyway, but i dont know if it is lack of torque or what but the flex shaft is phenomonally better at polishing! I sort of was thinking the foot pedal would be unnecessary but it actually is pretty nice and useful. You can always tell a well made motor by the sound, and this sounds top notch. Hopefully i can get one of those really tiny cutters and actually get a decent shield inlay in some bone now.
 
Dremels, flex-shafts and speed are not good polishers for large items.
For knives you need a real buffer. The surface area of tiny polishing wheels make a uniform finish very difficult to achieve on anything larger than a ring.
 
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