Making the Most of Your Flex-shaft
By Karen Christians
The flex-shaft is an essential tool for the bench, and jewelers will often have several at hand. But too often those jewelers don't know how to take full advantage of the flex-shaft's capabilities. This book will help to change that. It offers insights and advice on how to choose the proper system and maintain it, as well as which accessories you need to accomplish specific tasks. In addition, you'll find "out of the box" ideas gleaned from the Orchid archives and the pages of AJM Magazine--all of which can help you to speed production, improve quality, and make your life a bit easier.
About the Author
Karen Christians is the founder and executive director of Metalwerx, Waltham, Massachusetts. Metalwerx is a unique combination of a jewelry and metal arts school and a fifteen-member community studio. In 1998, she began contributing to Ganoksin's Orchid Forum, where she is still active. Karen obtained her BFA with High Honors from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts. She enjoys traveling and meeting other goldsmiths in different countries.
A useful tool
I've been taking metalsmithing classes for a couple of years and for most of that time I've been nagging my instructor for a primer on the flex shaft and all those wheels & burs, only to be told I'll let you know which accessories to use for your project. I was thrilled to see the teasers that this book was being written and ordered it as soon as it was available.
I was taken aback a bit when I saw the book for the first time, it's a physically small book, and I judged the book by it's...size. However, as the adage goes you really can't judge a book by its [size], it's a great book! Plus, {duh} it's the perfect size for the bench. All those mysterious wheels, burs, brushes, mandrels are thoroughly explained along with maintenance procedures and how to use the attachments that are available. I'm finally getting some real use out of my flex shaft.
A very good reference.
This book is an excellent reference for jewellers or beginning jewellers to have in thier arsenal. It is not project based but it does have all you want to know about making the most of a flex shaft. It helps one to understand whats best for ones own needs. It gives advise on purchasing a flex shaft for those of us who might not know what HP and shafts are all about. It fills you in on all of this sort of terminology and gives excellent lessons of many diffrent kinds of attachments and handpieces.
If your a person who likes to have lots of pictures of jewellery and projects then you might be disapointed by this books textbook format - HOWEVER, I would still suggest you buy it because it will enable you to actually make the sort of jewellery we all moon over!! Or at least start us on our way. Its like being able to take a class on the use of flexshafts.
Whilst starting out I was always aware that this tool could really really help me in my excertions making jewellery - but I was uncertain as to how best to use it. I knew it was very useable but lacked the knowledge to actually let it be my "right hand" at the bench. This book helped me to understand and put to use my flex shaft so that it no longer gathered dust as I opted to just do it manually.
I'm very grateful that this book was put together, very very useful.
Seeing as flexshafts can be used for so much, its useful to know exactly what that "so much" is.... Drilling, sanding, buffing, polishing, enlarging holes, texturing, cutting, engraving and SOOO much more.
(Please forgive this review if it doesn't read very well!! I seem to be having a difficult day stringing a sentance together!! But at amazons request, here are my thoughts..)
Is this book worth purchasing?
This was a disappointing book purchase because the material is based on information that is readily available with the purchase of a flex-shaft. The price of the book is out of line with the value of information in the book. I do not recommend this book to anyone.
