What's a Flexible Drilling Shaft?

In several of our drilling and project guides, we mention using a flexible drilling shaft or flexshaft.

One of the most common issues with drilling glass or tile is how fatiguing it can be. Your hands get tired. After 5-10 minutes of drilling, even a light rotary tool feels like it weighs a ton. Compounding the problem, you’re usually using only one hand to drill because your other hand is holding the glass, tile, wine bottle or sea glass.

Some people get around this issue by using a drill press. You can get a drill press at any hardware store or home center. A drill press is more expensive than a flex shaft and isn’t as portable. It’s a little harder to set up and take down on your workbench or kitchen table unless you’re setting it up and leaving it.

Some artists/jewelers/craftsman think that they have more control if they use a flexshaft instead of a drill press. Some feel the opposite way. It’s a matter of personal preference. There isn’t a right or wrong answer–just whatever works for you.

A flexible drilling shaft is an accessory that you screw onto a Dremel (or other) rotary tool. Other models of the flexible drilling shaft fit in the chuck of your regular hand drill.

Attaching a flexshaft to a Dremel tool is easy. You take the decorative black plastic ring nut, collet nut and collet off the rotary tool as if you were going to change collets. Next, you screw on the square drive collet nut and screw the flexshaft on the Dremel tool in place of the plastic ring nut. It's an easy process that takes about 30 seconds. If you’re using one in a regular drill it’s even easier–you insert the end of the flexible shaft in the chuck of the drill and tighten the chuck.

When you’re finished, you'll have a pen sized drilling tool for your hand and 30 inches of flexible shaft. The motor and battery, which are the heavy parts of the rotary tool, are resting comfortably on your workbench or kitchen table–not in your hand.

Your drill bits, grinding stones, polishing wheels and disks fit in a collet or adjustable chuck on the end of the flexible shaft, exactly the same way that they fit in your rotary tool.

We’ve used several brands of flexible shafts and reviewed a few of them on Amazon. The Dremel brand is a little more expensive, but more versatile. Most of the cheaper ones will only take a 1/8” collet and don’t have replacement collets. This limits your choice of drill bits. It also means that if you ever lose or wear out the collet, the entire drilling shaft is useless. The Dremel Flexshaft will accommodate several sizes of collets or their adjustable chuck and you can buy replacement collets. We personally believe that the Dremel brand is worth the additional $10-$15. You can get them from your local hardware store or at Dremel retailers online.

If you have a question or comment, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a comment, below, or email us a note.

If you're interested in learning more about drilling, you can download a free copy of “How to Drill Glass, Tile and Stone.” Click here for your FREE copy.