Need some advice

[Colin-Partridge]

Hi gang I am seriously thinking my chainsaw carving days are getting the better of me and think that it is time for me to consider maybe power carving. I have been checking and like the look of the Optima 2. Does anyone own one and if so how do you like it. I am also open to suggestions so any power carver experts out there I would appreciate hearing from you. I do have a Old Fordom carver with a foot pedal but I find the hand piece too big and never use it. I do have a Dremel but again too cumbersome. Price is not an object I just want to make sure I am getting what I want and your advice is much appreciated. I am going to have to undergo extensive shoulder surgery this fall on a double tear in my rotator cuff so I wont be able to do much knife and chisel work that I love to do. The surgeon tells me that I will be about a year in rehab so I thought that power carving may be the answer. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you offer also what you prefer in burrs for carving bass wood.
Colin

[Hugh-P]

Colin, if you want something dependable and will take the brundt of heavy wood removal, buy the Gesswein Model with the 30,000 RPM heavy duty model. I have had several Micro Motors and the Gesswein will do the work. PM me if you want the exact model number of the unit. Cheers

[Paul_Guraedy]

Colin, my first, and oldest (1995), micro motor is an Optima 2. It has offered good service. I bought a second handpiece about 6 years ago when I thought the first was beyond repair. Then about 4 years ago I bought a Foredom micro motor. All three have done very well for me. I have had the opportunity to use several of the "high end" micro motors and was impressed by their torque. But, this was in a trial situation and not doing an actual carving.

When I bought the Optima 2, I did so for two reasons. The price was by far the lowest; but has since come up to within range of most of the other micro motors. My principal reason was the size and shape of the handpiece. It has since changed to be almost identical to most others.

I do mostly power carving and have come to the belief that the bit/burr is more important than the rpms or torque. My micro motors are slower than many; but will still burn the wood with the smoother stones if I apply too much torque. The steel bits will remove wood at a very acceptable rate for a micro motor. I wonder, but do not know, if an advantage of one of the more expensive micro motors is being able to use more torque without overheating the handpiece??

If I want to really remove wood I put a 1/4" shaft in my Foredom flex shaft with the "big" handpiece and go for it. If I want more torque but am not "hogging", I switch to one of the smaller handpieces (on the flexshaft) and use that until I get down to the finer detail. I seldom use a stone in the flexshaft, reserving these for final finishing out with the micro motor.

In my evaluation, the micro motors offer a couple of advantages over the flex shaft:

• the first is overall convenience since it is easier to move the micromotor around.
• next is the convenience of not being tethered by the heavy flexshaft, thus making it easier to use in tight spaces.
• finally there is the pleasure of changing bits (except in my oldest Optima 2 handpiece) without having to use a shaft and wrench.

I enjoy having both the flex shaft and micro motor; but, given the advantage of having several handpieces at a much cheaper price for the flex shaft, ability to handle torque without overheating, the fact that it can do pretty much the same work as a micro motor .......if I had to give up one of the two, I would hang onto the flex shaft.

Sorry to hear about having to move on from the chainsaw. I recently had to have a pacemaker and the first thing the Doc told me is to never use my chainsaw (too much vibration). I did not carve with it; but I sure did enjoy enjoy using it here on the ranch. It's like giving up an old friend.

[squbrigg]

Well Colin old buddy, you have a few things to consider.

Perhaps a different hand piece on your Foredom to start with, for the heavier roughing out. The regular size Foredom works best for that.

A bandsaw will help you to cut out pieces prior to roughing out on the Foredom.

A Micromotor is splendid for final shaping, detailing, sanding and feathering ot texturing. I use the Foredom 1050 and it works like a dream. It is not designed for roughing out, so you may want to consider that.

Going to power carving will mean dust control too, so a Razorair unit will help you there, or something similar.

Burrs ..... they are the key to power carving and you will need to invest a small fortune, but money well spent, as the micromotor uses a different size than the full size Foredom or Dremel.

This will be a big investment Colin, but one that you will not have to do again, as most burrs last a long time.

Let me know if I can help you in any way, ok?

Bob

[Bob's Birds]

Colin,
I have been power carving for 25 years, so we will talk on the way to Haliburton on Thursday.
I have a reversible Foredom with about 4 big hand pieces and a couple of small one. I use a Geswein Power carver for all the small stuff, still using the 1st one I bought at Ocean City years ago. There is a dental repair service in Barrie that will keep all the micro carvers in good condition. ETC.' ETC' etc..........

Bob

[Colin-Partridge]

Thanks guys really appreciate your imput. Bob looking forward to our roadtrip I will pick your brain ( What is left of it LOL) on the way up on Thursday.
Give me a call on Wednesday. Hope your pool isnt as green as mine had a hard job keeping in clear this summer.
Colin

[Donna_T]

Colin,
I agree with several of the messages--two Bob's, Paul's, and Hugh's. I think the secret is to have different handpieces for the Foredom. I use a bigger handpiece for major "Roughing" , and switch to a smaller one for more control for finer details in the roughing-in process. Once this is accomplished, I totally switch to a micromotor with an even smaller handpiece. I still use a Dremel flex-shaft from time to time and my micro is a Ram.

Sorry to hear that you're going to have to give up the chain saw art, but one thing I've learned about carving and aging--we have to constantly adjust our processes to accomodate a changing physical ability. Still, it's worth it.

Donna_T