A couple of weeks ago I was out in Arizona visiting Paul and Judy Fennell. While I was there I had a chance to use a carver that Paul wanted me to try, and now my bank account is considerably smaller . . .However, I have no regrets in purchasing this NSK Z-500 unit. It is a sweet tool - lots of torque, no vibration, very quiet, and it takes 1/8" burs along with 1/32" ones.
I was working on this project in Arizona, and have finished one of the two components.
I'll post a few pics when the piece is done. I have a working title, but I'll save that for when I post the finished pics.
have you found a cost-effective source for the /32 bits?
ReplyDeletei pick up my straight piercing bits from dental schools, but i'm always looking for different bit shapes to try...right now i mostly use the football shape for much of my work.
Try
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bursforcarving.com/
This is Paul Fennell's new website for carving burs. He's carrying the best quality burs I've tried, and I've certainly tried just about all of them.
The other places I order from include Woodcarvers Supply and Treeline. I'd go with bursforcarving first, though.
Andi-
ReplyDeleteother than the two collet sizes, many advantages of this carver over the NSK Presto handpiece?
I think you are referring to the air-driven handpiece. These are two different carvers entirely.
ReplyDeleteThe micromotor tool (NSK Z-500) runs at a max of 50K rpm, has plenty of torque and uses electricity to drive the motor. The other one, if I'm thinking of the same one you are, runs off of compressed air at a max of 400K rpm. It doesn't have much torque, but rotates so quickly to leave a very clean edge on the cuts it makes.
I use my powercrafter (similar to the Presto, except for the need for oil) for detail carving, but not for roughing out or for the final detail work.
So, with an increase torque, you don't stall this drill out as much as with the airpowered NSK Presto.
ReplyDeleteAlso, are you using both collets or does one size work better for you?
If you stall this one, you're likely to bend or break the bur because you've run into a challenge that means trouble. . .
ReplyDeleteI use both collets - the 1/8" one for burs I would normally use with my Foredom SR tool; the 3/32" one for the smaller burs I use for details.
andi -- now that you've had the nsk for a while now, how do you like it?
ReplyDeleteand what bits do find yourself using the most?
thanks
The more I use this unit, the more I like it. I use all of the burrs I normally used with my Foredom SR unit. The 1/8 " adapter works for the larger burrs such as the kutzall ones I use for roughing out. In addition to these, I use a wide variety of shapes and styles. So, in short, all of them that are useful to me. . .
ReplyDelete