Flexible shaft for the drill with their own hands

How to make a mini drill with their own hands: the most effective way

Mini-drill. it is a universal assistant to the craftsman in carrying out minor home repairs. It is also used to repair various types of digital and computer equipment or electronics. You can find the device on the market or in a store of electrical equipment, but it can be expensive.

Therefore, if you do not have at hand a mini drill, and do not have time or desire to spend your own money to buy it, you can take the advice of experienced craftsmen and build a tool at home, using improvised means and materials.

Materials required

Before proceeding to the description of the various ways of making a homemade mini drill, it should be determined what structural elements this tool consists of.

• The drive is the heart of any tool. It can be either mechanical or electrical, in the form of an electric motor. In this case, based on the rules of safety, masters recommend using a low-powered unit with an operating voltage of up to 12 volts for a mini drill.

RS385 12V electric motor

• Chuck clamp. If you want, you can find a universal chuck suitable for both a drill and an electric screwdriver. Such as collet mechanisms, for example, are cheap and consist of a chuck and interchangeable drills, which are fixed in the chuck by protruding screws.

Mini chuck small for 0.7 mm. 3.2 mm

• Miniature battery or power adapter for powering our Mini drill. If possible, it is better to use a machine with adjustable supply voltage, this allows you to change the speed of the shaft.

Reference! There are manual and electric versions of the mini drill where some of the components are eliminated from the design (e.g. power unit or housing).

What operations are performed with flexible drive engravers

To turn an engraver with a flexible shaft installed on it into a truly universal device help special attachments, which include:

• grinding and polishing wheels, allowing to bring the surface of the machined product to a perfectly smooth state;
• brushes used to deburr the surface of the product and sand it in hard-to-reach places;
• Cutting-off wheels for cutting workpieces and processing jagged edges;
• Drills which convert the device into a miniature drill;
• Cutters and abrasive discs that allow machining products in hard-to-reach places;
• Pen-shaped nozzles, with which engraving work is carried out.

To ensure the convenience of working with such a device equipped with a flexible drive shaft, you can purchase additional devices. rubber pads on the handle, a lock for the trigger, etc.

All kinds of holders in which you can fix various attachments in addition to the shaft and engraver are very useful

Engravers with a flexible drive shaft also include a drill used in dentistry, a manicure machine, equipment for processing natural stone and applying inscriptions and drawings to the surface of products made of it.

You can also use a flexible shaft for a drill or buy a flexible shaft for an electric screwdriver. With this improvement to the usual power tools, an electric screwdriver nozzle or drill bit can be successfully applied to perform work even in the most inaccessible places.

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Flexible shaft construction

First of all we have to prepare the cable. It has to be pulled out of the protective sleeve. In order to prevent it from unraveling when we cut the restrictive seal, it must be soldered with tin. We put some flux on it, heat it, tin it, cut it off.

Take it out of the sleeve. On any brake cable, there is a threaded rod at the other end for adjusting the pull. Let’s cut the thread, we need about 1.5 cm of it. Next, solder a metal tube onto this piece, on which we will later put the bearings. In the same way, we smear the soldered surfaces with flux, put the tube on a piece, throw a piece of tin into the tube, and heat it with the soldering iron until the tin melts and spreads over all the lubricated surfaces.

While the tube with soldered cable is cooling, let’s prepare the rod for the cartridge. I got it from a CD drive. But you can use anything of the right size. This rod is adjusted to the inner diameter of the tube, by winding some duct tape on it, until it reaches the right caliber.

We put the rod in the tube with glue.

When the glue inside will be hardened, the connection will be as good as the soldering, you can see it in the video Next, let’s prepare the body of the holder. I took for this purpose an aluminum body from a perfume bottle. it fits the bearings almost perfectly. Drill a hole in the housing face for the rod outlet for the cartridge.

Slide the bearings on the tube with the rope. My bearings fit perfectly, but to be sure I put a little glue on them to make sure they’re safe.

Next, we also fit the bearings to the body with duct tape.

Drip glue inside the housing, and insert the tube with the bearings on it. Place the bearings so that the edges of the housing are left free. About a centimeter.

Do not forget to put a drop of oil on the bearings. Be careful not to get glue in the bearing mechanism, otherwise all this work will be wasted! I used Cosmo CA-500 glue.200. it’s very hard to tear something glued with it, that’s why I chose it over soldering So, the shaft body is ready. It remains to attach the wooden part of the handle with the rope sleeve.

Thread the sleeve through the wooden handle and fix it with glue inside the handle. Next, liberally grease the cable with grease.

Pull it through the handle with the sleeve and fasten it to the aluminum body. again, with glue.

If you plan to use the flexible shaft only for a drill or a screwdriver, then this is the end of the work. attach the end of the rope to the chuck of the drill, and use it with pleasure!

And if you made the shaft for the graver, from a thin bicycle cable, then you need to make a rigid protection for the cartridge, so that the elastic rope does not unscrew it. Each graver has a cap on the threads below the chuck. This cover can be removed and if necessary a plastic chuck with flexible shaft wire can be screwed on this place. We need a thread, like on the cap, a piece of plastic tubing that the thread will fit into, and a tapered end where we’ll thread the rope sleeve. There is nothing complicated here; we glue all the parts together, put it on the cable sleeve, clamp the end of the cable in the collet chuck, and screw the resulting cap on the engraver body.

It will keep the rotating steel cable from shattering the brass collet chuck. I made a flexible shaft for the drill, but to show clearly how to use it with the engraver, I also made such a protective cap.

Such a shaft will not take much space for storage. it is easy to twist it into rings, and hang it on a nail in the shed or closet, and at the right time it will help you to make a hole in a hard-to-reach place, or to screw in a screw there.

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Making a flexible shaft

First of all we are going to prepare the wire. It must be pulled out of the protective sleeve. To keep it from unraveling when we cut the restrictive seal, it needs to be soldered with tin. We put flux on it, heated it up, impregnated it with tin, cut it off.

Pull it out of the sleeve. On any brake cable, there is a threaded rod on the other end to adjust the pull. Cut the thread from it, so that there was a small section, a centimeter and a half. Next, solder a metal tube onto this piece, onto which we will later slide the bearings. Let’s put some flux on the soldered surfaces, put the tube on the wire, put a piece of tin in the tube, and heat it with the soldering iron until the tin melts and spreads over all the lubricated surfaces.

While the tube with soldered cable is cooling down, let’s prepare the rod for the cartridge. I got it from a CD drive. But you can use any screw of the right caliber. This rod is adjusted to the inner diameter of the tube, by wrapping electrical tape around it until it reaches the desired gauge.

We put the rod in the tube with glue on it.

When the glue inside has cured, the connection will be as good as the solder connection, you can see it in the video Next, let’s make the holder body. For this purpose I used an aluminum body from a perfume bottle. it matched the bearings almost perfectly. Drill a hole in the end of the housing for the rod exit for the cartridge.

Put the bearings on the tube with the cable. My bearings fit perfectly, but to be sure I put a little more glue on them to make it even safer.

Then place the bearings in the housing in the same way, using masking tape.

We drop some glue inside the case and insert the tube with the bearings on it. Place the bearings so that the edges of the housing are free. About a centimeter.

Do not forget to put a drop of oil on the bearings. Carefully watch that glue does not get into the bearing mechanism, otherwise all the work done will be useless! I used Cosmo CA-500 glue.200. it’s very difficult to rip something glued with it, that’s why I preferred it to soldering So, the shaft body is ready. Now we have to mount the wooden part of the handle with the rope sleeve.

Pull the sleeve through the wooden handle, and attach it with glue inside the handle. Next, liberally grease the cable with solidol.

Thread it through the handle with the sleeve and fasten, again, with glue, the wooden handle to the aluminum body.

If you plan to use the flexible shaft only for a drill or screwdriver, this is the end of the job. attach the end of the rope to the drill chuck and use it with pleasure!

And if you made the shaft for the engraver, from a thin bicycle cable, then you also need to make a rigid protection for the cartridge, so that the elastic cable does not shake it. Each graver has a cover on the thread, below the chuck. This cover can be removed and if necessary, a plastic chuck with flexible shaft cord is screwed on this place. We’ll need a thread like the one on the cap, a piece of plastic pipe that the thread will fit into, and a tapered end where we’ll thread the rope sleeve. There is nothing complicated, we glue all parts together, put it on the cable sleeve, clamp the end of the cable in the collet chuck and screw the ending cap on the engraver body.

It prevents the rotating steel wire from unscrewing the brass collet. I made a flexible shaft for my drill, but to show how it can be used with an engraver, I also made this protective cap.

Such a shaft won’t take much space for storage. it’s easy to twist it into rings, and hang it on a nail in the shed or closet, and when you need it, it will help you make a hole in a hard-to-reach place, or screw a screw in.

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How is it constructed and how does the engraver work?

The engraver, which allows to make parts with high accuracy and productivity, works on the principle of an ordinary drill, and outwardly it looks very similar to the automatic handle of large size. The main structural elements of such a device are:

• motor;
• flexible drive shaft that transmits the torque from the motor to the working nozzle;
• gearbox;
• fan for spindle cooling;
• the spindle itself with a protruding working part;
• device body with special openings for the outlet of heated air
• a nut, designed for fixation of the used nozzles
• device power regulator;
• lock button;
• power switch;
• hook to hang the unit when it is switched off.

The rotation of the motor is transmitted to the axis of the flexible shaft, the reverse side of which is connected to the working nozzle. The seats of the nozzles are unified, so there are no problems with the choice of the required tool and its replacement.

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Flexible shaft for the drill with their own hands

For making flexible shafts for drills with their own hands need to take any wire in a braid. It can also be purchased, which will cost ten times cheaper than buying a ready-made nozzle. If you are planning to wind the spiral wire on the rope yourself, you should understand that it is impossible to do it at home. After all, armor steel is used as the spiral-shaped base. When such a device rotates the steel wire inside the shell, and the armor in the form of a spiral wire bends in any position, but it does not move. For the spiral-shaped wire, the device is held by hand when working.

This is interesting! For making a homemade device, the cable from the speedometer of the car or motorcycle, which is available in the garage, is suitable.

Finally, a shank for the flexible shaft is made, which is installed in the chuck of the drill. For this purpose, the tail part from a spoiled drill is used. The rope is connected to the shank by welding (other connection methods are unacceptable). At the second end of the wire is attached a collet chuck, which can be taken from another power tool.Advantages of a homemade flexible shaft under the screwdrivers and drills a lot, but the most important is its low cost. Having used such a nozzle once for work, you can find out what its main advantage is, and why manufacturers have invented this device. The ease of making a nozzle in the form of a flexible shaft on the drill yourself contributes to the fact that it is more interesting to make their own hands, than to buy on the Internet or in a tool store.

Flexible shaft on the drill

Samodelkin 25-06-2015, 13:24 6,766 Aliexpress / Tools and gadgets

Flexible shaft on the drill. a device that can bend around different obstacles, allows you to work in inaccessible places.

Nowadays it is difficult to meet a person who does not use self-tapping screws, screws, screws to connect various elements in the course of his work. This is a collection of furniture, repair equipment, toys, cars, various equipment, etc.д. But not always the twisting/unscrewing process is easy. In close work conditions or in hard-to-reach places with a drill without special devices is almost impossible to work. In such cases, the panacea for any craftsman is a flexible shaft on the drill.

Its design is simple enough: a flexible rod, on one end of which there is a shank (for its fastening in the chuck), and on the other end. a flexible rod. bit holder. Flex shaft length 290 mm.

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The world of home-made objects

I made this drill with a flexible shaft back in the days of total deficit, and I still use it today. it is very convenient to hang the working head above the workbench in the garage.

As a flexible shaft I used the speedometer cable from some truck: it was more suitable for attaching to both the motor and the working head.

Structurally the drill consists of three parts: a motor, a flexible shaft and a working head with a standard three-jaw chuck of the drill, with a shortened Morse cone. As a drive I used the 35-watt DCS-1 electric motor, rated at 220 V. You can use and any other motor with power up to 60W and speed of 2700-5000rpm.Schematic of the mini-drill and its tools: 1. cartridge (A), 2. front cover, 3. ring (D16T),4. housing the working head (D16T), 5. tube, 6. shaft (St). 45), 7. ball bearing, 8. back cover (D16T), 9. ring (D16T), 10. flexible shaft, 11. sleeve (D16T), 12. angle (D16T), 13. ground (textolite 5-10 mm), 14. motor, 15. back corner. A. cutter assembly and bearing diagram, B. polishing head and its bearing.

The design of the working head is simple and can be seen in the figure. Assemble it in this sequence. On the shaft up to the stop press ball bearing 8, then together with the shaft it is revealed in the housing bore, put on a spacer bushing pressed up to the stop in it the second similar bearing, before assembly both bearings are thoroughly washed in kerosene, and after pressing them on lubricate with thick grease or technical Vaseline. The shaft should rotate in the housing smoothly and easily. After making sure, screw on the front and rear housing covers. Then the cable end is inserted into the shaft and the coupling nut of the flexible shaft is screwed on.

Mount the electric motor on the base in the following order. On a suitable size board or thick plate of textolite two angles are fastened with M4x10 screws and between them. an electric motor. To the right corner with screws M5x12 are attached adapter sleeve and motor; in the left is inserted the ends of the studs connecting the front and back cover of the motor. Then connect the second end of the flexible shaft wire, and its coupling nut is screwed on the adapter sleeve. A condenser in a housing and a switch can also be placed on the motor base. As the feet of the base you can use rubber caps from medical vials.To work with an electric drill you can also make microtools. It can be made of dental burs, sharpening discs, drills up to 6 mm in diameter, etc. For homemade ones, it is enough to make a holder-base, and the working part can be interchangeable: cutters, abrasive stones, circular saws. These are inserted with washers into the tool holder and secured with nuts. For circular milling cutters and saws the working head must be fixed in a stationary position, e.g. by means of inserts and a table vice. It is better to make a special table with an appropriate attachment for the working head.

Using an electric drill is handy for drilling holes in plastics and metals, sharpening cutting tools, polishing parts, milling complex surfaces, engraving, cutting sheet material, and performing many operations.

Design features

The main construction feature and at the same time the main advantage in application is the ability to bend it anywhere in any direction. This is achieved by using the following components:

• A flexible and durable steel braided cable that transmits torque;
• Armored braid or coiled spring wire, which serves as a flexible drive body.

On the outside the wire is covered by a corrugated plastic sheath, inside which is grease. It reduces friction, prevents abrasion of the core wire and protects it from moisture and dust.

the drill’s flexible drive also includes the bearings to which the cord is attached. They support its rotation. The wire is secured in a chuck at one end, and a tool mount is provided on the other end.

Such tool drive is designed for light and delicate work, you should not expect to unscrew a hardened screw or screw a 130-mm self-tapping screw at full speed, remember that the torque transmitted by the flexible shaft is limited.

Drill bit attachment

The flexible shaft for the drill is made from a rotary transfer wire with several layers of braiding. It has an increased safety margin, since it is designed for high speeds up to 1500 rpm./min. Available in lengths from 950 to 1250 mm. Other sizes are possible, but less common or made to order.

Before starting work, unscrew the mounting sleeve on the drill and insert the end of the shaft into the tool hole. The locking ring is clamped, as with drill mounts, directly into the tool chuck. Now you need to fix the drill so it does not move from the vibration of the motor and fall.

In a store that sells flexible shafts for drills, you can also buy a portable stand to hang the tool at the same time. The simple device can also be assembled with little effort by hand. When working in a permanent location, a clamp on a table or wall is sufficient. Do not use the flexible shaft with high-speed and impact drills. Speed-controlled and reversible tools are best suited to work away from the body.

Lawn mower shafts

Flexible and rigid shafts are installed in the grass trimmer. The choice is based on the intensity of the load on the mower and the hardness of the grass you will be cutting. The solid shaft is suitable for high loads in the form of thin branches on bushes, stubborn stems and possible bumps, uneven ground and debris. They are designed for professional use during a work shift every day. These tools are very robust and heavy.

Flexible lawnmower shafts are installed on lightweight trimmer models designed for lawn and garden work. The cutting tools used are fishing lines, reels, and lightweight knives. When overloading occurs, the flexible shaft is twisted. It breaks most often at the top, near the motor. The parts should be selected according to the direction of the upper braid, since they can only rotate in one direction.

There is no outer casing on the shaft. It is replaced by a cavity in the handle of the grasshopper that runs from the motor in the shoulder to the blade mount. At the beginning of the season and in the event of replacing the shaft, the cavity in which it is located should be well washed. Then fill it with fresh, thick grease, the brand of which is listed in the product data sheet. Can be added every 3 months.

Polishing and grinding nozzles

As noted, engravers are used to grind objects made of different materials.

Usually a felt nozzle is used for this kind of work

, which are coated with a special polishing paste that acts as an abrasive component.

Polishing discs can be used for both roughing and finishing. They are also often used when it is necessary to finish the surface

To select the most suitable paste, first determine the material properties of the workpiece to be polished. For hard metal surfaces, for example, it is advisable to use pastes based on polishing powder and wax

And for finishing wood mixtures made of diamond dust with different fractions of granules are perfect

They are very effective in getting rid of scratches on glass and wood surfaces, and bring them to a perfectly smooth condition. The most recommended powders in this case are those containing diamond fractions 5/3 and 3/2.

Felt sanding pads can be used for both wood, metal, glass, and to equip dental drills or simple hand-held instruments.

Work kits for professionals

Professional equipment is represented by a separate category of nozzles.

Good craftsmen usually have sets of tools, differing in construction, materials, shape of the working part.

In the majority of cases such sets consist of the following components:

• Various cutters for the engraver.
• Abrasive, diamond and felt bits.
• Drill bits so that the machine can be used as a drill.
• Cutting discs.
• Wire nozzles for cleaning surfaces from dirt and corrosion.

All these components of the kit allow the specialist to produce a neat and high-quality workmanship

even very small parts. For this, of course, it is quite often necessary to change the tools used to select a more suitable equipment variant for the particular situation.

But the end result will be well worth it. Possessing a large kit is often a sign of professionalism and experience.

Cable connector

Based on the 12-volt Proxxon Micromot 50/EF, I thought of installing a “spiral” power cable, which is not as cluttered and is more flexible. Found one of these at home. from an old Philips electric razor. I did not want to make it detachable, soldered directly to the engine, although it was possible for better ergonomics to move the button a bit to the side and stick on the end of the socket type “women”.

The connectors were chosen for their reliability, but they also fit nicely into the green color ensemble. I recommend. They are. neat and practical, the contact is tight. Bought in real life, but such products on Ali, too, are inexpensive. as an option: aliexpress.com/item/10-Pcs-CCTV-Cameras-2-1mm-x-5-5mm-Male-DC-Power-Plug-Adapter-DC-Power/32598414355.html (1.7 yuan).е. for 10 grand).

Micromotor with my own hands

Micromotors are widely used in the construction of small flying objects (for example, models of micro-vertopters and airplanes). The micromotor itself is a brushless DC micromotor.

You can make a micromotor from an electromagnet from an old cell phone vibroplatform.

For the axis of the rotor you can use a drill with a diameter of 0.29 mm. To make the motor you need to carefully wind the copper wire on the drill in two steps. The length of the winding should be a few mm longer than the length of the solenoid.

• Apply a thin layer of epoxy metal adhesive to the coil and put the electromagnet on it;
• Make two bushings out of fluoroplastic, and put them on the solenoid on both sides;
• Put the construction on the rails under the winding, and wrap it with copper wire.

The micromotor is ready! It remains to install the valves on it, and connect to the power supply through a microchip with 5 inputs. Instructions on how to make interesting handicrafts from motors offers on his channel Roman Yursi.