When I found out about the Worx maker X line of multitools I was extremely excited. Worx giving me a free set to review may have just pushed me over the edge!
They sent me the WX988 maker combo kit which comes with the rotary tool and soldering iron and uses the same battery pack all the Worx tools use.
Which is fantastic as I already have a whole bunch of Worx tools and really like them!
Included in the kit is the usual battery and quick battery charger – I already have about 5 of these and they are massive but a smaller one is available if you want to consider making this a travel tool.
There’s the instructions of course. Worx always give a really good set of instructions.
And a lovely little tool kit of rotary bits for the rotary tool. There’s polishers, cutters, diamond burs and even some sanding tools and grinders – nice little start kit with most stuff the average crafter would need.
I’m already fairly stocked on bits though.
The main drive thingy itself, battery just pops in nice and simple and really light and really small even with the battery so potentially good for an everyday carry or camping gear. There’s a good 1.2 metre long cable on here and it looks like its braided too so should last even if you accidentally nick it with your tool.
The Rotary Tool
The rotary tool uses a 3 pin din style connector that’s keyed so you can’t plug it in incorrectly.
Much like similar tools out there has a button you can lock the spindle on to change the tool and a little chuck and collet. It looks like it fits the fairly standard 3.2mm or 1/8th bits that most tools take and indeed that’s what it comes with, nice.
Sadly it doesn’t fit my Dremel collets due to the inside diameter of the tub but the thread however is the same as a Dremel so you could use a mini Jacobs chuck or switch out the collar.
Bits only need to be hand tightened but there is a flat on the chuck and a little spanner included to give it some extra grip if you need it.
It says in the manual it does 5000 to 35000 rpm which is again what you expect for this type of tool and the speed is controlled from this little knob here.
It’s a shame it doesn’t have a speed control or even an on/off control on the tool itself as you would normally be holding something in one hand and with the tool in the other. This is probably a feature I would pay more for if they had it available.
The power button releases the hounds! No it turns the thing on and off obviously.
Oh and its torquey, jumps in my hand and not surprising there’s a nice brushless motor inside that’s pretty powerful for its size.
Its light and its comfortable to hold too.
I also suspect this won’t be as powerful as my foredom by a long shot but….its not meant to compare with a tool like that and my big foredom is not easy to take those outside.
Oh I can just imagine now, child playing on the tramapoline and the wife bringing me a pimms while I do some carving in the garden on a hot sunny day…..
So thats exactly what I did; took it out to the garden to do some of the most relaxing power carving I’ve ever done!
Not content with some wood carving I tried some diamond burrs and did a little rock carving! 🙂
Soldering Iron & Wood Burner
Now before I get carried away lets give the soldering iron a go.
Its not just a soldering iron I might add – it comes with some adapters that turn it into a little wood burning tool and comes with a few different shapes of nibs. Sadly they seem to use a different thread size to the standard weller bits but still this is pretty nifty.
The soldering iron tip it comes with is pretty good but it doesn’t seem to fit my standard Antex, weller or TS100 bits and Worx don’t seem to do a spare currently. Hopefully this is something they will do as without them, this thing is only going to last as long as the tip.
Oh comes with a little stand too, that’s nice.
Turning it on it does need another push of the button on the tool itself which is a nice little safety feature.
And oh that heats up pretty fast, it has a small display like many modern irons showing the temp and it can adjust it anywhere from 200 to 480 degrees C
It also comes with what looks like a silicon sheath for extra protection so I’ve popped that on. Bit fiddly to do but worth it as you can hold the iron for a lot longer.
Heat up time there was about 25 seconds to get to 200 degrees which wasn’t as fast as advertised but certainly that’s plenty fast. It took just under 60 seconds to get to the full 480 degrees c.
It cools down from 480c in about 10 minutes so it can be cold enough to touch the end again.
Swapping the bits out is as simple as unscrewing the bit, being careful with the heating element there and sliding one of the attachments on with the tip screwed in.
Nice.
So I can imagine if you don’t already have a soldering iron, maybe you have a small desk as your maker area this could be a really really nice system but where it really shines is taking it on the go. You could take it camping or just out in the garden or really anywhere you like.
So it’s a nice day, lets take this thing outside!
Here’s a little soldering project that I’ve been putting off for ages – suddenly the motivation to finish it while I sit in the sun with the birds chirping away its not so bad. It’s a plug that needs adding to this transformer so I can test out some LED panels.
Could do with a smaller tip but this is pretty good.
Summary
So my final thoughts on this tool system? Would I take it tomb raiding with me?
Some of the downsides are the incompatibility with other tools or lack of spares but this is no biggy, the rotary tool will accept any 3mm bit you can think of and it wouldn’t stop me buying one if I needed to. If I had a choice though, I might give the soldering iron a miss just because of the lack of replacement tips at this time but at the same time it makes a good emergency or site soldering iron.
However, for what it is – I absolutely love it and while it’s no replacement for a top of the line soldering iron or my foredom it’s not trying to be and it works really well. I love that I could put a more powerful battery on and carve away for hours and I love that I don’t have to clean up my mess by carving outside.
Thanks you Worx for sending me this, I think during the summer especially its going to get a lot of use!
The Maker X system is out now on amazon and I’ve popped some affiliate links in this video description so please check them out. If you do end up buying one I get a tiny cut of the sale and you don’t pay any more – win win!
If you have any questions for me or Worx on the product please pop them in the comments below or on my video and as always I’ll try to get round to answering every comment.