What the SAFETY COLLET? FLEX FX3211 24V Brushless Die Grinder Review [4 Speeds]

We take the new FLEX Power Tools FX3211 Die Grinder for a spin. This is powered by the FLEX 24-volt battery and brushless motor, spinning the bits to as much as 28,000 RPM. With the push of a button on the base of the die grinder, you can set the RPM at 10,000, 16,000, 22,000, and 28,000. The safety collet keeps the bits tight, even if you get a loose collet nut. We give you some tips and tricks along the way.
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Today we've got the flex FX 3211 24 volt Die grinder yes it's a brushless tool Pretty much everything that Flex Releases is a brushless tool let's get Started The FX 3211 has several features that Aren't found on your typical die grinder So if you're used to a corded die Grinder quite a bit different of a tool And we're going to explain all those Features and then we're actually going To use this then we'll come back and Talk about pricing and warranty and by The way we have several tips for you Along the way as well let's jump right Into this this is the flex FX 3211-z because it is a bare tool only I Don't don't even believe you can get This as a kit so pretty much what you Get in here is the die grinder and The rich as well so It has a spindle lock on it which we'll Cover here in just one moment and then You have a wrench to release the collet Nut now taking a quick look at this Before we put a battery on it from the End of the collet to the end of the tool Right at 16 inches uh that's pretty much The only real measurement you probably Even care about it's about three inches And pretty square at the widest point Here so about three by three through the Main body here of the tool and again 16 Inches long now we have a pretty deep

Snout here and that's so that you can Hold and control that tool with your Front hand and then the other hand is Back here on the the main handle of the Tool where you can also reach the slide Lock switch so it is a slide lock die Grinder most are and then we get a Spindle lock right here so we do have a Wrench for the actual collet nut but we Don't have to have a secondary wrench on The flats of the spindle you can still Use one you can see the flats there but You don't have have to you can push the Spindle lock and when it gets to a place It will actually fall in right there and You can hold that use the wrench to Release that we'll show that here in a Few moments when we put a bit in there This is a brushless tool runs on their 24 volt battery platform I like to see Right here we have some removable Stainless steel mesh and that's going to Filter out any particles as you're Grinding and sanding to keep that from Entering the electronics and the motor And all the sensitive stuff inside this Tool now the reason this is important It's pretty obvious but this is a little Different than your old you know plug-in Die grinder that has brushes on the Motors there's a brushless motor in here There's also a lot of electronics in Here and what happens is all your air so There's a big fan in here and that fan

Running off the motor pulls air in right Here and when it pulls that air in it Pulls that air and blows it across all These electronics and and then escapes All the way up here so that air pulling All the way through here and pulling Through the electronics we want to make Sure that we're filtering that air and Not bringing in all that metal debris to To blow across all that so it's very Important to number one have these and Number two from time to time pull them Off blow them out maybe even rinse them Out if you want to and to keep those Clear of debris to keep that breathing Very well there's one on either side There very easy to pull those off and to Clean them out just like all other Flex Tools we get a nice rubber over molding Here on the grip so easy to hold this Tool it's not going to slip out of your Hand while you're grinding now a really Cool feature on this die grinder that You won't find on most of your typical Old die Grinders that you're used to is The fact that we can control the speed With a quick push of a button we have Four different speeds that we can Control with the flex FX 3211 now the Max speed on this is 28 000 RPM which is Interesting because a lot of your bits Uh wire brushes things like that will Have a Max of say 22 000 RPM so this is Going above that so take note of that if

You are using wire wheels and things Like that and look at your accessories And make sure that you're operating in That window because you can go above and Beyond that with this tool now we're Going to pair this tool with the three And a half amp hour stacked lithium 24 Volt battery which I think is a great Battery it's kind of that mid-size still Offers a lot of run time offers plenty Of punch but at the same time stays nice And slim with that stack of lithium and Gives you the ability of a little bit of A lighter tool but again giving you run Time so let's go over the actual speeds On this by the way this is a slide lock Switch if you haven't used one before You're going to push this up and it's Going to lock into place So shut this off We can just push right there and it's Going to unlock Now if I just wanted to run this Momentarily I can push on the back side Here and whenever and when I release But if I push it up and push up on the Front That locks it into place and anyway when I turn this on now you see these buttons Light up right here and I can choose What speed I want low is 10 000 RPM Speed 2 is 16 000 RPM Speed 3 is 22 000 RPM and speed 4 is 28 000 RPM so make Note of that so that when you're using

Your accessories you're not over Speeding those or overturning those and If you haven't seen these Flex batteries Before they're amazing as far as the Fuel gauge is concerned if I push this Button here you can see those four Lights light up on either side of that Battery so there's no question at all How much life we have left in that Battery in this case it's fully charged But I love their indicator on their Batteries Now let me briefly touch on as I have Already is like accessories bits things Like that Now here's an actual die grinding bit Where we're actually you know cutting Metal cutting aluminum things like that All of these I should say at least with An asterisk with a little bit of a Surety that uh most of your die grinding Bits are made to turn that 22 000 25 000 30 000 RPM again make note on the Package of what they are but they're not Meant to spend just like say 5000 RPM However when you get into wire wheels Make sure that you see how many RPM they Recommend because if you look at this One this is made for like a drill this Is Max of 4 500 RPM so if you take this And you spin it at twenty thousand plus I promise you all these little curly Cues pieces of Steel fragment are going To go flying and they like to find your

Skin so make sure you're not running Something like this in a die grinder and Make sure your wheels are certified at The RPM you're going to be turning like This one here says 25 000 RPM so I'm Good with that most you're cutting Wheels are fine now here's a wire wheel That's specified at 22 000 RPM it's from Weller so this one I'm safe to spin at That speed still make sure you're Wearing safety glasses because even so These little things here will still like To go flying and they will embed Themselves into your skin if you're not Wearing protection Now let's touch on one more thing before We actually go use this I'm going to Take my battery off and we're going to Take a look here at this collet because I really am not sure yet but I'm going To push my spindle lock I'm going to Take this collet off And I believe this is a safety collet And what I mean by that and this is Something that's been used on routers For for years but really just finding Its way into die Grinders you know Small Die Grinders big die Grinders and I've Reviewed die Grinders in the past Cordless ones that had this on there and People comment with horror stories on Talking about they can't get their bits Out they put it in the Vise they've Hammered on them and they're used to a

Regular collet and not a safety collet And let me explain what happens here and One of the telltale signs typically is That when you pull the spindle nut or When you pull the collet nut off that The collet actually stays in there and As you see here it's captured in there Now if I wanted to I could probably push That out and I could I could pop that Out and pop it back into place if I Wanted to but anyway it's kind of all One piece so let's put it back here in The tool And then we will Slide this bit in here And you can see it's still sliding right There but I'm going to push the spindle Lock And tightening by hand it's now getting A little firmer but now I'm going to use My wrench Really tighten that down and so now my Bit is in there so now I can use that Tool and that tool is going to be in There and again let me make sure that I'm tight Okay now I'm ready to take out my bit I'm done with this job maybe I'm going To change out to a to a wire wheel or a Sanding disc or maybe to a a ball mill Or a to a ball end so I want to take That out so I'm going to push my spindle Lock again right here I'm going to find it where it kind of

Sinks in there we go now that locks into Place and I'll loosen my collet nut So now that collet nut is loose okay so You can see it's freely turning right There however I cannot get this bit in Or out it's not loose now the thing is Is not to hammer on it Because most people with you know other Die Grinders and things well just bump It one time it'll slide in and be free And you can see it's still locked into Place and again that nut is loose so What you have to do is once you loosen It it'll break free it'll turn once or Twice and then get hard again and all You have to do is break that free once Again and now Watch What Happens Now that's Loose as a Goose so that's What a safety collet does if that nut Backs off it doesn't just let that bit Go flying it still locks that into place So don't get frustrated just make sure That you're loosening that twice when You go to remove your bits and change Them out So we're going to start just on some Thin metal well thin metal when it comes To typically doing die grinding stuff This is like eighth inch wall stuff I Think this is like two by three or two By four steel yeah two by four and again Eighth inch wall and I'm going to switch Out my bit Really quick here

To a cone or what we call a Christmas Tree type a bit Give it a little stick out there And I'm going to set this At 22 000 RPM And I could easily go around and kind of Dress these holes up I can also do some Cutting Foreign So you can see if I wanted to Keyhole Something or if I wanted to slot Something this is a great tool to do That with if you don't have some sort of End Mill or something like this that's Where a die grinder comes in very handy To be able to do things like this All right now we've got a piece of a Quarter inch aluminum uh actually Diamond plate aluminum but still it's a Piece of aluminum in the Vise here and Let me give you a little tip when using A die grinder on aluminum because let's Say you want to you know you want to You want to Port that small block Chevy Manifold you've got sitting in the Garage and uh modify your Mom's van Anyway before you do something like that Here's a couple of tips for you number One you can get bur bits made for Aluminum and basically the spacing Between the teeth here are a lot broader Because aluminum is softer and it will Like to gum up a bit like this let me Show you and I'm going to go ahead well

You know what I'm going to leave it in The same speed that we had it in Speed 3 And show you something Ah So you can see it initially started Cutting and then stopped now look Basically that whole bird bit is now Wherever I had that is Compacted with all that aluminum So you can do a couple of things number One probably wouldn't hurt to slow it Down just a touch I'm going to go down a Speed number two is if you're not going To have aluminum bur bits and you're Going to run regular bits make sure you Put wax on the bit and keep wax on it You know you can even put it in here and Run it And fill Those teeth with wax now I'm using uh Some brute Lube wax for like drilling Tapping things like that candle wax will Work paraffin wax will work and Basically what that wax is going to do Is provide as a lubrication as you start Cutting the heat builds it'll keep that Aluminum from building up in there but We you will have to keep dipping that in That wax to keep it from filling up and I'll see if maybe that will clean out as Well Oh So you can see now the aluminum is not Building up and in fact it's starting to

Clean out where that wax is getting Under there and freeing that up so you Can see what a difference it'll make I Ran that less time than this and it kept Cutting so keeping that lubed up With some wax will definitely Aid in Allowing you to cut through aluminum All right Otherwise you'll be taking in picking Out all those aluminum fragments which It looks like I didn't have enough wax In there and I'm going to have to do That so you can use it in aluminum you Can run regular burb bits and aluminum But you have to keep it waxed up have to Keep it lubricated to keep it from Embedding itself in all the teeth That bit's not ruined you can still Clean that out and use it again but just A tip when grinding aluminum or die Grinding aluminum we'll move this up and See if we can't get it to clean out Okay You see those teeth are starting to Clean out there's just a few pieces left In there You can get that cleaned back out and Cutting well so a few pieces left in There but not bad And I slowed that down all the way down To 10 000 RPM And it makes a mess and just another tip For you after using this using this Fender lock I like to really tighten

Those bits down these things are Spinning at 20 plus thousand RPM this Spindle lock is kind of a pain to hold And to use this wrench to to loosen them So I'd recommend get you a just a 13 Millimeter wrench we'll go on that Spindle on the flats of that spindle and Then you can put your other wrench on There your collet nut wrench Offset them A little push Break Free just fine so I'd recommend Getting you a 13-millimeter wrench or You may have another Spindle wrench you use already Versus using the spindle lock this will Be fine if you don't like to tighten Them down I like to really rinse them Down so just another little tip for you And it's not just thin metals and Aluminum quarter inch thick steel no Problem with cleaning up again your Edges things like that depending on Which bit you've got So typically you might clean up these Outside edges with a grinder or typical Grinder but then to get in those inside Edges you can take a die grinder and be Able to reach those Then even cleaning up those inside Corners This is a great performing die grinder And it will accomplish all the tasks That you would typically do with your

Plug-in die grinder or your other Cordless die grinder we like the fact That we can actually control the speed On this as well so if we're slowing down To do aluminum or if we need to slow Down based off of of bits that can't Turn 28 000 RPM which in this case this Wire wheel will will turn at 22 000 and With that said be sure to follow the Recommendations on those accessories Because the last thing you want is Something flying apart and flying at you Because you're overturning them or over Spinning them the other thing is there Are some tools that you can get by with Your safety Squints this is not one of Those if you're grinding aluminum or Steel those shards are flying everywhere Highly recommend safety glasses even Recommend a shield to really protect Your whole facial area and head as well Because it will be flying all around you On that but great performing tool again We love the speed control on it I also Recommend if you're like me and you Really like to get tight on those Collets to keep your bits in place then Go ahead and plan on having you and Typically if you've got tools like this You probably already have the spindle Wrenches and things but just a typical 13 millimeter wrench will do fine you Don't have to grind it down or anything It'll fit on that spindle and then use

Your collet wrench to loosen the nut on That pricing on this is 219 dollars and you get a five year Warranty but if you register this tool Within 30 days and you purchase it Before December 31st of the end of this Year 2023 then you can actually get the Founders lifetime warranty on this tool So be sure to register your Flex tool Within 30 days of purchase you can do That online and then you get the Founders lifetime warranty otherwise It's covered by the standard five-year Warranty on this so check it out for Yourself again it's the FX 3211 also Keep track of us on Instagram Facebook Twitter and even Tick Tock and if you Don't mind would you hit that like And Subscribe button if you haven't done so Already and by all means if you hated Our video well give us a thumbs down but Would you let us know in the comments Why have a great day keep smiling