ENKAY - Heavy Duty Flex Shaft with 1/4 inch Keyless Chuck (56 inches)

I have enjoyed using this very good flex shaft. The chuck holds my sanding and grinding bits firmly and is comfortable to use. I originally used it with my drill press, but purchased a second flex shaft and set it up using an old sewing machine motor with a foot pedal for speed. I set up a small work station and use this daily for all kinds of tasks. The video shows using a nylon abrasive brush in the flex chuck to remove rust from a vintage machinist's wrench. Works great. Just need to make sure to wear safety glasses and a dust mask. The chuck holds very good, and will hold the 1/4-inch round and 1/4-inch hex tool shafts.

I had one of these from Guinevere that worked well for a couple years. I use it with an inflatable sanding drum. Let me give you a warning on using this that way. I was holding the work piece up close to my body with my left hand and sanding it with this shaft in my right. The sanding drum caught on to my sweatshirt and the whole thing rolled up my shirt pulling the 1/2hp motor off the bench and hitting the floor yanking the power cord out of the wall. I held on tightly and received no injury. That happened twice. The second time it bent the flexible outer sheath of the flex shaft right at the handle rendering it useless. So I ordered this one as a replacement. I found this to be as good as the Guinevere at half the price with the caveat that the chuck that comes on this one is 6mm max. It will not contain a 1/4" shaft which is what is on the Guinevere sanding drum as well as others. So I had to swap the keyed chuck from the broken Guinevere to this one and was back in business. I was looking forward to using the keyless chuck but it wasn't to be. Had I not had the chuck from the Guinevere it would not have worked for my application and I would have been disappointed. But this works great for my needs and I recommend it. The quality is just as good as the more expensive brand. I would like to see the maker increase the chuck size to 6.5mm so it will hold a 1/4" shaft which is a standard in the US. It's kind of ridicules that it won't. Just be careful with your clothing and sanding drums.

I have been using a permanently mounted flex shaft for my Dremel drill for many years, but needed something similar for work with regular drill bits or a countersink in tight spaces. The total length of the flex shaft is about 55 inches less the portion which goes into the chuck of the drill. The hand tightened chuck of the flex shaft accommodates all drill bits up to 9/32 inch, and is as effective as any hand tightened chuck I have ever used. The diameter of the chuck is about 1 1/2 inches, and there is a 5 1/2 inch handle which provides a comfortable grip. The chuck diameter means that you can drill a hole about 1 inch above a horizontal surface without the spinning chuck touching that surface. While it is a little heavy and stiff, certainly stiffer than the Dremel little cousin, this flex shaft is nevertheless very easy to use once you become accustomed to it; a lightweight flexible shaft might not hold up very well. I had no problem routing the flex shaft to the hard to reach spot for drilling; it was very stable, even with one handed operation, while I controlled drill speed with the other. This flex shaft is a welcome addition to the DIY arsenal for those occasions when you have to drill holes in tight spaces where you can't get the drill itself in there.

This Enkay Flex Shaft is advertised as heavy duty and it seems to live up to that title, I received mine today it feels well made and solid, I have used it only once so far and it worked great. The Enkay's 1/4 inch chuck holds the drill bit securely and spins it accuratly on center with only a slight amount of play. The shaft itself spins smoothly even while double looped in a 8 inch circle so should have no trouble bending around awkward areas. One thing worth noting, on the packaging it says this shaft is designed to rotate clockwise and shouldnt be used in reverse, this is not mentioned here on amazon. I have run my drill slowly in reverse just to see what would happen and it seems fine, I would try using it in reverse if I really needed reverse drill bits to remove a sheared off bolt as it feels like it still runs smoothly that way but be aware the caution note on the packaging advises against it.

The quality of this item looks good, have a nice grip to it,I haven't used it as of yet to determine the lockability.

Works okay for those right spots but the cord would whip up and tangle up if you don't keep it straight or inline with the drill.

I attach this to a multipurpose craftsman router, using a speed control. It made working on my projects, quite enjoyable.

I purchased a name-brand one of these and used it for a complex project and it held up ok, but did get quite hot at times. An employee wanted to make one for themselves, so they used it and within short order, it separated from the chuck, the parallel wires inside that give it the flex were broken off. I didn't worry about it because I had run it at higher than the rated speed for a time, so I bought another. But that one broke similarly within a few days. I reached out to the company and asked if we were using it wrong. They said it didn't appear so and they would replace the second one under warranty. I sent it off, but haven't received the replacement. In the meantime, I bought this one, figuring if they're going to fail often, I should pay the lower price. Weirdly, this one seemed to run cooler and finished out the project no problem. In stuff like this, I always assume they're made by the same manufacturer, so don't expect dramatic differences in quality, but in this case, it seemed the rare case where the cheaper one was better. So 5 stars, would buy again!

Après une première utilisation pour du bricolage, le fil a chauffé et a fondu près du joint de raccordement. Je ne peux pas te recommander.