power rotary carvers

Hugh · #11 12-05-2005, 01:57 AM

Some of my carving students have dremel and craftsman tools, they work allright, but no comparison to the Foredom for power and flexablitity.
Foredom flex shaft on ebay ,http://cgi.ebay.com/FOREDOM-2276-FLE...QQcmdZViewItem

AlArchie · #12 12-05-2005, 08:16 AM

I've had the dremel flex shaft for over 4 years now and it has held up well. Like, Marci's, my power unit is suspended from the shop ceiling on a chain and s hooks. About every 10 hous of use I put a drop or two of a mix of 30 weight motor oil and STP (5-/50). Their flex shaft will take any RPM that Dremel puts out.

Here's the quallifier.....the Dremel is a multi-purpose tool, not designed specifically for carving. It's made small and works best at full RPM when cutting metal or used as a die grinder. My bet would be that carving-specific rotaries would be better for carving...I use the Lancelots on an angle grinder and rotary rasps on a heavy duty flex shaft with a 3/4 horse motor for large work (home brewed).

Have to admit, that after 20+ years, my little Dremel is getting tired, and I may replace it with a real "carving tool", but this little guy has held up well and done a pretty decent job for me. Carving, cutting bolts, polishing metal, grinding out casting flaws, drilling, milling and even mixing small quantities of paint.

Al

finlander · #13 12-05-2005, 11:27 PM

There is a $99 flex shaft on the Woodcarver's Supply site. Says thousands sold and in use. Should I beware.....?

AlArchie · #14 12-06-2005, 07:39 AM

Make sure you check the RPM rating onthat flex shaft. At just under a hundred bucks, it probably has ball or needle bearings on both ends and should hold up well. Most of the bigger motors crank at around 3450 RPM and that may be a mite high for these flex shafts. If it's made for the carving motors, it should be rated in the high thousands of rpm's.

Al

Callynne · #15 12-06-2005, 08:09 AM

Hi Finlander, I use power a lot, reciprocating and then rotary with large 'hogging off' burrs to remove the waste wood on my larger carvings. I then hand carve everything until I get down to clean up, then I use rotary again. Sounds like that's what you're after, something to do the clean up with.

If you're looking for detail quality, the money invested in a micro-carver (I have the RAM, like Donna and love it), is money well spent.

If you're just looking for clean up on smaller pieces, I would just buy the flex-shaft to go with the dremel. I have that, in fact I have two dremels, one is fitted with the reciprocating flexshaft, one with the rotary. I hang my dremels from a hook, they don't get any sawdust on them, since they are up out of the way.

Al is right, RPM's are important, not only if you want to do heavy work, but for fine detail work too. There is no comparison between using regular rotary and my RAM, for intricate detail.

Good luck, share some pictures with us, we'd love to see your work!

Deborah

finlander · #16 12-06-2005, 08:15 PM

I used the multipro Dremel today to take down some extra basswood on that chickadee ornament. I had it at half throttle and it tops out at 35K rpm's. I don't recall how many that Ryobi had. Seems I rarely max'd out the tool. I just pick it up and go. Don't know it diifferent bits work better at a certain speed. I saw the flex shaft attachment at Walmart last night. I'll check to see if it will work on my toy. I'll probably run this into the ground before I invest in a higher quality flex shaft. Thanks. I did not see any replies on a Craftsman flex, except that one of students owning some. Maybe they're not made anymore.