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Micro grinder help

Joined
Jul 10, 2017
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Windermere, British Columbia
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looking to buy a micro for our woodturnings. Wife really interested also. Anyone offer any guidance if you have one or similar products with recommendations. My wife also has had her wrists done for carpal tunnel. So minimal vibrations.
 
The amount of vibration in the hand piece has a strong relation to price.
NSK has a reputation for quality ( and high price ). I don't know that model, but I am sure that it is nice.
The best thing would be a hands on session.
I have a micro-pro and a Ram OZ.
The micropro is very affordable, but I notice more vibration than the Ram OZ which costs about 3X more.
It makes a significant difference in a days or even a few hours work.
I can use the Ram all day compared to a shorter time with the micro-pro.
The NSK handpieces I have used have been very smooth running, but I could not justify the higher cost ( almost 2x the Ram OZ ) as a hobbiest.

The micro-pro may be a useful purchase is you are not 100% sure about the investment in micromotor carving.
The price of admission is lower for the handpiece, the cost of the bits is the same and they can be used with any other handpiece.
If it turns out that you want a better handpiece, you can keep the micro-pro as a spare, for sanding, or what have you.
 
Wow! $1600! (1rpm-50,000rpm)

The micro-pro may be a useful purchase is you are not 100% sure about the investment in micromotor carving.

I have the Micro-Pro from Mastercarver ~$200 (0-46,000rpm). I find it very smooth and comfortable for long periods of carving time but have little experience with other units. I agree with Mark’s comment above.
 
What are you planning on carving. If you want to do piercing then you need to invest in a high speed grinder that runns 400,000 rpm. If your going to do small detail carving then the micro grinders that run 50,000 to 100,000 are better. I use a Dremel for most of my detail carving and a Foredom for heaver stock removal. The micro grinders are smaller, and vibrate less than the Dremel but remove less wood. The 400K grinders will take very light cuts and are best at piercing. They have virtually no vibration however. For Carpal tunnel it's gripping the tool the tool that causes the problem. You need something large enough to be able to grip it lightly. That's where the micro grinders come in. The hand piece is much larger than a pen so it's easier to hold in a relaxed grip. The Dremel gets a little tiring because it's too large. I often use a flex shaft on the Dremel or Foredom. It has smaller gripping size than the dremel but still large enough to grip easily. The downside is you have to deal with the flex shaft which can get in the way or reduce flexibility of movement.
 
The NSK Espert 500. I opened a couple of webpages and saw that range. I just closed a page that listed a hand-piece all by itself at $1115!

https://www.ramotrading.com/collect...ts/nsk-espert-500-standard-set-50krpm-140watt

Glenn, I guess I understated the range I saw. The least I see now is $1680.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Nsk...7k2ujbAhVH6IMKHW-fCVIQsxgIKA&biw=1139&bih=629
Nice prices eh! That’s the base model the 500t which is the torque handset is 1800 to start, They are not cheap but from what I see zero vibration almost and last a lifetime. And a nice size handset for carpal tunnel.
 
The master carver is the one Graeme Priddle and mellissa use in there shop and demos. We have those up here for 250.00 . Which is right on par with the exchange rate of 1.25 . But never used one. How is the vibration on the handset?
I do not notice vibration unless you try to take a big bite and with these they are not designed to handle a deep fast cut. For those deep and fast cuts I use my Wecheer which others have spoken on dealing with the cable.
 
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