Which Foredom Pendant Motor Should I Buy? And Compatible Hammer Handpieces

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As jewellers, we have a huge variety of tools available to us and some are definitely used more often than others. For intermediate to advanced level jewellers, one of those frequently used items is a craft drill or rotary tool. Laura-Jayne of Small Dog Silver jewellery shares her knowledge of the Foredom pendant motor/flex shaft to help you make an informed decision when purchasing.

Firstly, what is a pendant motor?

Known as a pendant motor in the UK and a flex shaft in the USA, this is a motor that you use to drill, sand, polish and texture metal.

Many jewellers will start off with a dremel, an affordable option. However, as you develop your skills you will likely want to invest in a more powerful motor.

The pendant motor comes with the motor which needs to be hung up on a hook. Some motors also come with a foot pedal you can use to start and stop the motor and control the speed, useful as you often have your hands full when using it!

The flex shaft - the cable where you attach the handpieces

Handpieces - these are interchangeable and have different functions e.g. drill, polishing, hammer etc.

I, like many others, started out with a Dremel, which was perfect to begin with. But I soon realised that it was a little ‘overenthusiastic’ in some cases and could be awkward to use. As soon as I could set up my own bench, I started to look for an alternative and settled on a Foredom pendant motor, which hangs above my workspace and has a long ‘flexible shaft’ that I can connect to different handpieces.

Every time I use it I am happy that I invested in my Foredom pendant motor and handpieces. I use it for drilling, burring, polishing small pieces, stone setting and texturing - it really is a workhorse.

There are several different types of pendant motors available by different brands, but in this blog post, I’ll be focussing on Foredom specifically.

How many types are there?!

Don’t worry - it is a little overwhelming when you first start looking at the options. I’ll take you through the main types and that will help you to make a choice.

The Foredom SR

This is the most widely used motor, powerful enough to cope with pretty much anything you want to use it for with a maximum speed of 18000 rpm (revolutions per minute - e.g. how fast the motor can spin the drill bit or burr). The SR has 2 options for how your handpieces attach to the flexible shaft, a key tip, or a slip joint - both types allow you to change the handpieces easily - with the key tip just slotting in and the slipjoint having a lever.

Note - it is important to know what type of fitting you have in order to buy the correct handpieces.

CooksonGold sells 3 types of SR system:

1.The SR Jewellers Kit Quick Release System - this comes with a lovely slim quick release handpiece, meaning you don’t need a ‘chuck key’ to change your bits and burrs - but you might not be able to use all your existing rotary tool accessories due to their shank size. It uses the ‘key tip’ connector from the flex shaft to the handpiece.

2. The SR Jewellers Kit Fixed System - don’t be fooled by the name, you can still swap the handpieces on this model, but the handpiece it comes with is more like a normal rotary tool as it uses a chuck key, the handpiece is larger than the quick release, but you should be able to use any existing rotary tool accessories with it.

3. The SR Motor Slip Joint System - this is the same motor and flexible shaft, but it uses a lever fitting for attaching the handpiece, rather than the push-in ‘key tip’ type. It’s worth noting that the slip joint system available on CooksonGold doesn’t come with a handpiece, so if you went for this version you’d need to buy that separately.

The Foredom LX

The LX is a low speed pendant motor - with a maximum speed of 5000 rpm, which makes it ideal for stone setting, pearl drilling or wax carving, anything where you need high power, but low speed for control.

CooksonGold sells 2 version of the LX motor:

The LX Motor Low Speed - this is the motor and flex shaft with a ‘key tip’ fitting. Again, worth noting that it doesn’t come with a handpiece so you’d need to choose one separately.

The Professional Stone Setting LX System Deluxe System - this comes with the pendant motor and 2 handpieces - again, it’s the ‘key tip’ fitting.

Both of these systems are foot operated, a bit like a dental drill, which I find so much easier than having to click a button or slider on and off. You can also get a desktop speed control, which is a dial, to help limit the RPM to a specific rate - this is perfect for using with a hammer handpiece for stone setting.

Hammer HandPieces

A Hammer what?

Remember I mentioned the different handpieces you can use with the Foredom? The Hammer Handpiece is one of my absolute favourites. It has magic in it that transforms the rotary action of the pendant motor into a hammering action. You can use it for different types of stone setting and texturing (or even engraving with this handy adaptor by Lion Punch Forge available from PepeTools).

You can get a hammer handpiece with a key tip fitting, or as a slip joint - both are available from CooksonGold - just make sure that you get the style which fits your version of pendant motor.

You use the handpiece with screw in bits called Anvils - which are available as a set of 6 or individually.

OK SO WHAT SHOULD I BUY?

It can be confusing to know what is compatible with what. See the chart below to check if the Foredom pendant motor and attachments you are buying are compatible. Cookson gold product codes are included in brackets:

(Note: This table can appear small on a mobile device. A printable Word version can be downloaded on the button below)

download compatability table (word)

Anvil Tips for Hammer Handpieces

Each anvil tip can be used for a different purpose, from bezel setting, to texturing. I like to ‘dress’ my anvils before use - basically taking any super sharp edges off with some different grades of sandpaper.

I use the bezel rocker to set cabochons, and the slightly rounded one for tube setting or closing heavy bezels, like this chunky set labradorite ring

It’s very satisfying using a tool that sounds slightly like a mad woodpecker to create my pieces!

What if I already have the FOREDOM SR and want a Hammer Handpiece?

You can use a hammer handpiece with both of the motor options (SR or LX) but it is advised that you do not run it above 5000 rpm - meaning that the LX is the preferred choice. However - if you already have an SR, don’t lose hope! By adding a Dial Control you can ‘lock’ the RPM down to a lower speed (the first quarter of the dial will keep your SR down to about 4500rpm)

My dial control sits happily on my bench, connected to both my foot pedal & my pendant motor, meaning that I can just set the maximum speed & use the foot pedal to switch the motor on & off.

The Pendant Motor Laura Uses:

One other option that I wanted to quickly share is the Foredom Pendant Motor, Powergraver Handpiece And Kit - this is the kit that I use, it is definitely a considered purchase, but as I do a lot of stone setting it just sang to me. It comes with a version of the hammer handpiece which will accept HSS graver bits, a foot pedal and a desktop control. It is a lower speed even than the LX, but I still find it perfect for all my bench needs.

Hopefully, this has helped to explain some of the options you have when upgrading to a pendant motor - if you do have any more questions please feel free to drop into our friendly Facebook community and we’ll be happy to help!

Happy Tool Shopping!