Replacing My Ram

[GaryC]

My 12 year-old Ram microcarver finally burned out and I'm shopping for a replacement. I'd like to stay in the $250 - $600 price range and would like to upgrade. I've looked at ads and tried to find reviews without much luck. Can anyone give me some recommendations? I do birds, walking sticks, and human figures. Mostly basswood, but other woods when I can find them. Gary

[susieq]

I recommend one of the high torque, brushless units.... I was reading the other day that Ram had come out with one.... I think it was Ram. Either Ram or Mastercarver. Those things are nice. The first one I was aware of, was the big Foredom 1050 and I did buy one. But I had a friend who's a Foredom Rep and I didn't have to pay full price. Those things are expensive.

You certainly want to keep the high RPMS when you get one of these too.... they do make some that run slower but that wouldn't be good for us power carvers....LOL Check around. I think Canyon Dental in Arizona, has a nice selection too. The Marathon is nearly identical to the Foredom...same factory in Korea.... Canyon is great to deal with....so is Foredom.

I wish I could remember where I saw the new Ram unit advertised...but it really looked interesting.... If it comes to me, I'll post a link to it.

[susieq]

Gary, here is the link to Canyon Dental. I bought a Marathon Handy 700 from them. They are great to deal with. The unit I bought was just under $700 but I see they offer another unit with the brushless, high torque handpiece for under $600.

These brushless units are sealed up pretty good so that dust won't get into them as easily as the traditional handpieces we've been using all these years. They're more powerful too.....but they're still micro motors so we can't abuse them. If this unit has the same handpiece as the unit I purchased, it's rated for 55,000 RPMs. For something that falls into the price range you indicated, this would be a good unit. Give them a look.....

Electric Micromotor Handpieces

Oh, and I had a problem with my handpiece that was of my own making, I suspect. I called Canyon and within 24 hours, they had UPS at my door with a paid shipping label to send it to be repaired. Even Foredom didn't do that for me..... I love the folks at Foredom but they had me send my piece in both times, on my nickel, even though the second time I had to send it back, it was because they hadn't fixed it properly the first time. They didn't charge me for the second time around but they didn't offer to pay the shipping back to them, either. I insure my handpieces for retail value because I can't afford to be replacing an expensive piece of equipment if something happened in shipping.....

[torpidhummer]

Susie is very right,Canyon Dental Supply is an excellent choice,I have had a Marathon 700 that I have been using for almost 3 years. I use my micro unit for over four hours a day.However I didn't purchase mine from Canyon Dental Supply,I'm thinking of updating my unit with another and I will definetly buy through Canyon Dental Supply.
Oscar

[susieq]

Absolutely..... Oscar bought his unit through an unauthorized dealer and then couldn't get info on where to get it repaired. The seller wouldn't even respond to his requests for help. If you go with a Marathon unit, be sure to use an authorized dealer. Canyon is an authorized dealer.

[GaryC]

Thanks Susieq and Oacar for the information on the Marathon - a brand I had no heard of, and on Canyon Dental (I was once the Deputy Superintendent at Grand Canyon NP, so there's an emotional attraction there...lol). I've sent an inquiry to them already. I assume these machines accept 1/8 and 3/32 bits.

Gary

[susieq]

They do....they come with a 3/32 collet in them. That is the only size collet I use in a micro motor, except for one that I have a 1/16 collet in. Changing collets in Micro motors is a pain in the @#$#%$ anyhow....LOL.

[Doug Ridley]

Gary, there is a Ram on Ebay for $150.00 plus $22.00 shipping.
You also might check on other micromotors on Ebay. I have bought some good deals in the past.

[Chrisrayburn]

I use collet adaptors in my Ram an foredom micromotors really fast an easy