Need Some Bead Reaming Tips

by Drake Collins.
(Akron, Ohio, USA)

I’ve recently been including more beads in my chainmaille and wire jewelry, and I’ve run into a bit of a problem. My beads are not drilled at a consistent size, and so I will have to ream a lot of them in order to get a 16g wire through them for some of my pieces. I’m using a flex-shaft with a reaming bit, and a little bowl of water to actually do the reaming in.

The problem is, I melted through my flex shaft. While reaming the second bead. The Flex Shaft is labeled with a company called “World,” Which I can’t seem to find online. However, the Flex Shaft appears to actually be manufactured by Foredom, because the foredom name is cast into the outer casing of the shaft motor.

I’ve melted through the sheath before, and had to replace it, but this time It actually melted through the Grey connector between the motor and the shaft. I’ve ordered replacement parts through the company I originally ordered the flex shaft from, but I was wondering, is this a common problem with flex shafts, or am I doing something wrong?

Drake Collins
Caminus Vulcani Studios