[grampabatball]

Hi All, First, I want to thank the folks that started the power carving site as I have lots of questions. I have lately found my hands and fingers have strange pains so I think using some power carving tools might help. I have an older Foredom from my decoy days but I am looking at adding a micro-motor and because of it's reasonable price I am looking at the Optima II. Are there any people out there using them and what can you tell me that will help me decide if I want to buy one. Thanks for your help. Mike

[Doug Ridley]

Mike, I have one which I bought as a second unit to my Brasseler. The Brasseler, which I consider the best on the market cost me about $700 ten years ago and now sells for about $1000. As far as I'm concerned the Optima is close to the Brasseler in every respect except it doesn't quite have as much torque. I know the Ram is also a good unit but dollar for dollar I don't think you can beat the Optima. I have used it nearly every day for a coupla' years now and highly recommend it. Having said that, to the best of my knowledge, all the micromotors out there are good machines. I just don't think you can beat the Optima for the price.
Doug

[Paul_Guraedy]

Mike, I agree with all that Doug said about the Optima II; but, would add one caveat. I would probably not buy one as a replacement for one of my current micromotors.

Let me explain: I bought my Optima II in 1996 after having tried several others (at a Seminar). The price was a nice added feature, I liked the fact that it had collets to fit all shanks except 1/4 and up; but, I went with the Optima because of the shape of the handpiece. I have wide hands with short fingers. The Optima was perfect for me although it did have one drawback. The end piece that held the collet spun with the burr and could give you a good burn if you forgot about it.

This machine was used heavily and served me well until a couple of years ago. The handpiece barrel started separating from the top piece. I called to order a replacement. I was told that the handpiece might could be repaired. I decided to go ahead and order another handpiece. After receiving the new one I sent in my old one, it was repaired and I now have both.

The new one is shaped similar to all of the micromotor handpieces so I lost that advantage. As Doug noted, it does not seem to have the torque of some others; but then, I don't think torque is all that important in a micromotor. Just change to a more agressive burr. My problem is that my new handpiece came with only one collet. I think others are available; but, fairly expensive. Changing collets, with the Optima, would lose the advantage of rapid changing of bits.

One thing I can say about the Optima. The service has been fantastic on the two occasions I found it necessary.

The price is still nice. But, for a machine that is going to last 10+ years, I don't think that should be a deciding factor. I am not considering changing micromotors as two handpieces gives me a lot of flexibility and I still use the old handpiece with the wonderful shape for most of my work. If I were, I would be looking for a machine that had a handpiece that felt comfortable, was relatively small in diameter, came to a fairly narrow diameter near the working end, easily allows the change to other collets and one that had a reverse switch where you did not have to be careful not to hit it accidentally.

Reading this over, I guess it can be summed up with "The Price Is Right". Optima is a good machine that will last a long time and is about the cheapest of the good micromotors.

[grampabatball]

Thanks guys for your help. I'd be lost without this site. Thanks again. Mike