Fordom vs Mastercarver

[larrydm]

I'm in the market for a new flex shaft tool. I have been looking at both Fordom and Mastercarver. Fordom seems to be the standard, but ive found some good deals on Mastercarver and by the specs they seem to be pretty much even. Any opinions? Thanks for your help and advice. -Larry

[Paul_Guraedy]

Since I do not have and have never used a Mastercarver, I can't give a personal opinion on them. I have talked to some owners and have not heard anything negative from them.

I bought my first and only flex-shaft, a Foredom, in 1980. Sure wish that I could say that I took care of and serviced it properly. But, it has not received the TLC that a device of this quality deserves. Still like the famous rabbit it keeps on drumming. Now and then, I think of buying another to get the reversible feature; but, don't really use this feature too much on my micromotors.

I suppose that there are some carvers out there who have had a bad experience with a Foredom; but, I have not run across them.

[Doug Ridley]

Larry, I have a friend who has had a Mastercarver for 25 years with no problems. As far as I can tell they are very good machines. I have been using my Foredom for 25 years too with no problems. I don't think you will go wrong with either one but if it isn't too much difference I would pay the price for the Foredom.They are the real deal. My opinion.
Doug

[Callynne]

Larry, I have both the Foredom and MasterCarver. My Foredom is a very old one that I picked up at a yard sale (for $2.00....can't beat that! ). It runs great, but has just the one handpiece so I use it occasionally.

My MasterCarver has all the handpieces with it and I use it constantly....I carve a lot!! First I use the reciprocating handpiece, then the big hogging off stealth handpiece, then down to the smaller handpieces, until I get all waste wood off and am ready to hand carve.

I love that I can just pull off the handpiece I'm using, snap on another and go to the next step of waste wood removal. When I researched rotary units, that was what drew me to the MasterCarver, as you said, it compared, spec wise, with the other units, what I liked was that so many handpieces were included with it, made it a better buy for me at the time.

I feel I made a wise choice, it never once has let me down and I recommend it very highly. Both are great machines and I'm sure you'll be happy with either one you choose! Deborah


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[Dull Knife]

The Master Carver has a 1/3 hp motor, it's got a lot of power. I use the Stealth hand piece all the time. For hogging off, I use an air powered chisel with my air compressor.