What is a Pendant Motor/Flex Shaft and how to use one
What is a pendant motor?
A pendant motor (also known as a Flex shaft in the USA) is a high-speed rotary tool that is used in jewellery making for tasks such as drilling, polishing, sanding, engraving, and setting.
There are lots of different types of pendant motors to choose from, and on a wide range of budgets, but they are all comprised of the same main component parts: VO a motor, a flexible shaft, a hand piece with a means of attaching pendant motor tools, and some kind of speed control (usually in the form of a foot pedal)
How does it work?
A pendant motor powers a rotating, flexible drive shaft down to a hand piece, where finishing, polishing and other useful jewellery making attachments can be used.
The advantage of the flexible shaft is that it allows a wide range of motion to the hand piece to easily access all angles of your work.
With the exception of some Dremels which have an adjustable speed setting on the motor itself, most pendant motors have a foot pedal that can be used to start the motor and adjust the speed (very much like a sewing machine). The easy-access variable speed that you get with a foot pedal is particularly useful as different tasks will require different speeds.
The hand pieces themselves come in many different sizes and styles but they all have a chuck and a means of opening and closing the jaws to enable you to secure different burrs and bits in place. This one for example has a multi chuck with a key, but sometimes you see them with levers or buttons for quick removal of the attachments.
Make sure they are installed straight and secure before turning on the pendant motor, and don’t forget to tie back long hair and wear goggles!
The Attachments
In jewellery making, the pendant motor can be used to do many different things with an almost infinite number of different burrs and bits to choose from, but the main 4 things I use mine for are sanding, polishing, drilling and gemstone setting.
Here are the attachments I recommend to get you started. This is by no means an extensive list but these are the attachments I use the most.
Sanding & Finishing
A Sanding Drum Set
These sanding drums come in a variety of grits and sizes and are used for quick removal of excess metal and solder from jewellery pieces. It’s quick and easy to change the heads so they’re particularly good if you have a selection of castings you need to de-sprue or if you’re shaping your metal by hand.
A Set of Radial Discs/Wheels
Flexible Radial Discs are perfect for cleaning, finishing and polishing your jewellery pieces. The wheel shape enables you to get into curves and details, and they come in a wide range of grits that mean that you can use them in all stages of the finishing and polishing process.
Polishing
Felt Pendant Points
A selection of felt pendant points is a must. Use them with your favourite polishing compound to get into all the angles and details of your pieces to bring them up to a shine.
Soft White Polishing Wheel
Another of my favourites is a soft white polishing wheel. Use it with polishing compound to get into all those hard-to-reach places.
Polishing Compound
There are lots of different polishing compounds to choose from, but I like to use tripoli first, and then rouge. Just make sure you use different attachments for each of your polishing compounds.
Texturing
A Frosting Wheel
Frosting wheels come in lots of different sizes and are used to create a ‘frosted’ or matte texture on jewellery. Although they’re slightly alarming to look at, they’re actually very easy to use and are an effective way of adding texture.
Gemstone Setting & Drilling
A Set of Setting and Ball Burrs
I always keep a set of setting and ball burrs on hand for tube and flush setting small round gemstones, as well as texturing metal.
A Set of Drill Bits
It’s always useful to keep a set of drill bits on hand as they are always useful for different projects.
Other Necessities
Cut Lube
A lubricant like cut lube will help your burrs to run smoother and last longer. You can also use it on saw blades for piercing projects.
A Small Flathead Screwdriver
It’s always a good idea to keep a tiny flathead screwdriver on hand to quickly change radial discs and sanding drums.
