Carving turnings...

[Jim Underwood]

Those of you who use rotary tools for carving turnings, what's your take on the Dremel VS the Foredom style of rotary tool? If you use a certain tool, which one do you use and why did you decide on it?

Some of the Dremel tool sets are looking quite affordable at the big box stores... (I'm mostly thinking of the 300 and 400 series.)

[Jon McElwain]

I have a dremel tool, but it is a little large for my hand and I am considering a Foredom. I have posted similar questions here and most people have said that the dremel is almost a throw away tool because it does not last very long with carving. Mine gets pretty hot when I use it for more than a few minutes. All that said, I'm looking forward to a Foredom with a hand piece and a motor that will last a long time.

[Billy Tallant]

My dad does extensive carving with the foredom tool. It is very heavy duty compared to the dremel. He carves a lot of antlers with it & it can stand up the heavy workload.

[Dan Forman]

I have both a Dremel and Foredom. The Dremel has a lot of runout, whereas the Foredom has very little. I use mine for tuning fountain pen nibs, runout is bad for that, I would imagine it wouldn't be so great for precision carving either. Foredom has a number of handpieces available, and they are more comfortable to hold than the more bulky Dremel. The variable speed foot controller is nice too. I'd recommend the cast iron foot controller over the plastic one. Overall the Foredom is much more heavy duty, and will last much longer than a Dremel.

Dan

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have had both. The Foredom is by far the best.

[Jim Underwood]

Anyone use the airpowered handpieces?

[Steve Mawson]

I have a SCM unit that I like for detail work. There is not enough power to hog out a lot of wood. You have to go slow. In hard maple it is easy to get burning along the bit, however that is good when doing certain things. I have engraved some acorns with the year and persons name for childrens tree ornaments. I also use it to sign the bottom of pieces I have turned. It will also work on glass, stone and about anything hard enough to make a design on or in. I need more practice to get better. Lots of different bits are available. Last ones I got are straight and came from my dentist after he was done with them. They fit the piece and cut wood very well.

[Bob Hallowell]

I use a foredom type tool and love it.

Bob

[Sid Matheny]

I think it depends on how much carving you plan on doing. For small jobs the Dremel will work fine using the flex shaft attachment that is easy to handle and the Dremel is hanging away with better air flow to help it stay a little cooler. I wouldn't want to use it 3 or 4 hours but it will handle shorter times well. And being able to replace the brushes helps in the life of them.

Sid

[Ron Ainge]

I used to be a deomonstrator for Dremel and the main difference between that and the Fordam is the speed. The top speed for the Dremel 400 is 35000 rpm and the other models go down to about 25000 rpm. the Fordam has a much more bulkey motor and it only turns at 18000 rpm. I have use the Dremel with the wand type of attachment quite a bit and i like it that way. I have not use the Fordom that is set up the same way so I cannot comment on that but I would say because of the size of the motor it should take more of a heavy load. Last summer I purchased a air driven rotary tool and I can say that for the work I do with it (piercing christmas ornaments and bowl edges) it is great. I wish I had it 10 years ago.

[David Newson]

Anyone use the airpowered handpieces?

hi Jim, I use the Airpowered Powercrafter tool which runs at very hi speed like the dentist use, you can use recycled dentist burrs from your friendly dentist which they kindly sterilise first before they give them to you and they are free, and they are always stay sharp as teeth are a lot harder than wood we use.

I have also got the Dremel which can also us also these burrs with the correct collet, it works ok but is a lot lot slower drive speed, regarding some previous comments about being bulky to handle well yes it is, but if you purchase a flexible drive for its as small as the powercrafter and smaller than the Foredom which incidently I have just received as an early Christmas present from the wife.

My personal take on all three tools :-
The air powered tool is the most ideal for piercing platters and small profile work etc, I personaly would not use it for carving

The Dremel can also do piercing and carving but at a lot slower speed, during piercing a platter some time back I did manage to break several cheap diamond bits that was before I went to the dentist, you can find the same pierced platter in one of my previous postings

The Fordom I have just completed a heavy carving project and it really excelled with the large burrs, the motor has got loads of torque, I will be able to post this project on smc in about 5 days time.

All three of mine have now got a specific job in my workshop, it was the Dremel that initially wetted my appetite for general carving and piercing, I then purchase the Powercrafter tool, and finally the Fordom

Hope this may be of some help.

[Jim Underwood]

Great info here...

If the last couple guys had piped up sooner (thanks though!), the wife might have gotten one for me already... She decided against it based on a comment I made. (Got a Wixie angle gauge and a chuck insert for my G3 instead.)

Not sure I won't go down and get one of the 400s anyway... along with the flexi drive thingie... I'm not going to do a buncha carving anyway. No sense in spending $300 on a Foredom if I'm not gonna use it much is there?

I'm sure there's other things I need worse though, like a smaller tool rest or a better tailstock center... Or even better, a cleaned and set up shop. Anybody hire out? ;)