Page 2 - Demo

“Das Original,” the original FLEX
In 1954, the FLEX DL 9 was launched on the market — the world’s first high-speed angle grinder.
2002 2017
1965
1996
1954
1998 Slippery Rock Gazette page features
2|September 2019
Flex Tools: Origins of a
Stone Industry Influencer
FLEX has been manufacturing specialty tools for the stone and masonry
Slippery rock Gazette
trades for over 80 years.
All archive photos courtesy FLEX and Chervon Group
Hermann Ackermann
The FLEX story starts in Stutt- gart, Germany, in 1922. The first product produced by Her- mann Ackermann and Hermann Schmitt was a portable grinding machine powered by an electric motor and featuring a flexible shaft: the MS 6, the first seri- al-produced, hand-held grinding machine. This flexible-shaft fea- ture was the inspiration and origin of the new brand’s name: FLEX.
Early flex-shaft grinder and the original FLEX logo, used from 1923 to 1930.
From that humble beginning, FLEX is now an industry leader in wet and dry tools for concrete, stone, masonry and metals. For over 80 years, Flex has been com- mitted to developing products that provide the stone industry with longer tool life and improved performance.
Hermann Schmitt
Today, the Flex family of prod- ucts includes wet and dry grind- ers, wet and dry polishers, wet edge milling machines, wet hand- held and stationary core drills, angle grinders, dustless concrete grinders, concrete wall slot- ters and a pneumatic wet stone grinder.
Braxton-Bragg has recom- mended FLEX tools to stone fabricators for 25 years, begin- ning with the first Braxton-Bragg catalog published in 1994, and introduced to the stone industry in early issues of the Slippery Rock Gazette (see 1998 issue ad, below).
Natural stone has its own rules, peculiarities and sensitiveness.
This is something known all too well to stone fabricators, stone masons, stone sculptors, and hardscape professionals.
In the shop or on the job site, FLEX tools have been the go-to solutions for fabricators for de- cades, including the FLEX LW- 1503 Center Water Feed Grinder.
From the first high-speed angle grinder in 1954, to today’s ad- vanced 5-inch grinders with long- life motors and brushes, and the longest service life in the industry, FLEX continues to lead in devel- oping better tool technology for
the stone industry. “Quality tools for specialists,” is their motto. After 87 years of development– they really mean it.
right-angle grinder, 1954 model, and 1996 Braxton-Bragg catalog page.
Present-day motor testing and grinder assembly at the FLEX factory: all tools must pass the strictest standards for quality.
Circa 1930 catalog– Left: FLEX Impact drill; Right: one of the first center water feed grinding tools.
several new FLEX products developed for the stone industry.