Thread: Instead of a dremel

Today at harbor freight I picked up a 3in Grinder/Polisher with a flex shaft.
Heres the description

Small enough to pack along to the job site. Perfect for deburring, grinding and polishing small parts. Use the 31'' flex shaft for precision work and hard-to-reach surfaces. Includes flex shaft and wrenches, 3'' grinder stone, 3'' fiber wheel and 1/8'' mounted stone bit. Variable speed control, ball bearing construction.

• Motor: 110V, 60 Hz
• No load speed: 0-10,000 RPM
• Wheel size: 3-3/4''
• Arbor: 10mm
• Flex shaft collet: 1/8''

A couple of issues I've noticed
1. It does NOT go from 0-10k RPM. When you start I would say the initial speed is about 3-4k rpm. That is just a guess by the difference in sound between initial turn on and full speed.
2. The buffing wheel is some type of hard fiber wheel. It will get sparks off a razor especially if used towards the edges. I will look for a 3 in cloth wheel when I can.
3. Flex shaft has a plastic collet to attach it to the housing. If careful it should last awhile. (I hope). The chuck uses a wrench and not a chuck key

My Observations
1. It runs pretty quiet, I can hear it in the next room but it doesn't scream at you
2.When using the fiber wheel if you let your hand rest on the housing it does get hot!
3. If careful and using a quenching bowl you shouldn't overheat a razor
4. The wide polishing wheel will leave marks if you don't keep it moving
5. The flex shaft uses a 1/8 chuck. It will take dremel attachments.

Overall its a small decent little tool. It wont last forever but for razors it should be a big help