Hi folks,

In an previous thread, some one mentioned that there were a lot of things one poster was missing by not having a Fordom.

I currently carve small items, mostly walking sticks and other things that are less than 2 inches around. I carve mostly wood spirits on them. I use a couple of dremmels, one old and one new, and a Power Crafter air powered engraver.

I have been looking at the 5240 kit from Smoky Mountain Woodcarving.

Is there anything I would gain specifically from the Foredom? I do like the reverse feature as sometimes going the other way with my dremmels gives a bit of a challange, but other than that - what advantages would you think there would be from buying the Foredom?

Thank you for your help!

Al

[Kenny_S]

I am not in to power carving persay but I would think, more power over the dremels. I have to Dremels and just use them for touch ups sometimes.

[Mitchell]

Basically it's heavier duty.

More power, more durable, etc.

If you're happy with the Dremel, there's nothing wrong with that.

Thanks for the replies.

What about the interchangeble hand pieces? How important is that to folks who have Foredoms? How much do they differ from the flex shaft on a Dremel? Size wise I have a medium hand I guess. The dremels feel just a bit large to me.

Thank you again for your responses.

AL

[Doug Ridley]

If you don't plan on carving any bigger than 2 inches around a Dremel should be okay. I didn't understand whether you have flexshafts on the Dremels or not but I would highly recommend them. 'Bout 30 bucks each. Also I would go to a sewing machine center and get a foot feed. They sell them for about 18 bucks each.
Doug

[maryjo]

Hi Al; I bought the Foredom kit you are referring to.I love it for roughing out large pieces.I don't think you would need one unless you plan on doing much larger carvings.The Dremels I have did a great job until I started doing much larger pieces.I'd just get a flexshaft for the Dremel.The kits a great buy,if your wanting to get into larger work.It might inspire you to GREAT THINGS

[susieq]

Hi Al,
The Dremels are great little tools. I used a Dremel with a shaft when I first started carving (the shaft is a must for more control and less wear on your hands). I didn't buy a Foredom until two years after that. For what you are doing the Dremel would be just fine. I still use two Dremels. One with a 1/8 collet on it and one with the 3/32 collet, both on foot pedals.

The Foredom is great for more power and higher torque but it is also much slower rpms so you are giving something up. The speed makes up for less torque if you let the rpms do the work and for doing the finish work, higher rpms are a must.

Dremel is a great middle ground between the bigger slower Foredom and the faster, but much less powerful micro motors that are expensive and so popular for finish work.

No need to spend the money unless you need the power.
susieq

Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate the help.

Al

[squbrigg]

I have and use both the Dremel and Foredom, and each has their own application.

The Dremel is useful for more coarse carving, roughing out, both on round items and relief. I find it very useful when roughing a cane shaft, and in applications where setting up the Foredom may not be easy. The free "use" of the Dremel also comes in handy when a Foredom shaft gets in the way, or may be too limiting.

The Foredom has much more power than the Dremel and can remove wood much quicker, but ....... you loose some control when using bigger handpieces and bigger burrs. I have a fine, medium and coarse handpiece (# 8, 28 & 44) and a complete range of burrs, from very coarse typhoon and Kutzall's, to small diamond, and ruby burrs and even dental burrs. The Foredom will do stunning work on a whole range of tasks that the Dremel could not approach. It will take your carving to a whole new level in fine detail. The handpieces are just much more comfortable for using in this delicate situations of detail. The reverse application is a real bonus, and I use it more and more.

Both Dremel and Foredom have applications in stick carving and a whole range of other carving, so I'd recommend that anyone interested in power carving use both!!! The investment is worth it, or it was to me. The biggest investment will be burrs, don't skimp on them.

Bob