Pendant motors vs micromotors

[ps_bond]

At the price, let's hope it is a great piece of kit! It's going to have to work for its living.

[Dennis]

It will be worth it for the sheer pleasure of using it. What's more it has all the features I said you couldn't get with the models generally on offer: interchangeable hand pieces, variable-speed foot control and a brushless motor. I'd be surprised if your flexshaft didn't end up in the back of a cupboard. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

I've now been using the micromotor for a week - I haven't used the hammer handpiece so far, but that's only a matter of time. I've got the controller mounted just under the bench edge; I might move it slightly to make the controls more accessible. Having it under the bench means a) I'm not dragging the handpiece cable across the bench knocking everything for 6 and b) it leaves me more space (always in short supply). In use, it's definitely much more convenient than the flex shaft for the fiddly stuff; being able to limit the speed is nice in setting - a lot of the time I want to run the burrs *very* slowly. Running flat out is interesting - if you find an edge while using 3M bristle brushes at the high speeds they quickly get a bit smaller... It's not a desperately high torque output, which means I have bogged down some .8mm drills while using them; not too much of a problem, but slightly irritating.

The flexshaft still has a lot of uses - I can't chuck anything other than 3/32" in the micromotor giving rise to the primary one (used the flexshaft to sharpen one of my scribers yesterday, for example). It's higher torque, which is sometimes needed; I can bolt the #30 handpiece to the bench so I can use it hands-free (is it still a handpiece then?). Other than those, the micromotor does seem to have the edge.

[Dennis]

The torque problem is well known to technicians who trim acrylic with those large pink stones, hence the reference to it in my first reply. Theirs do quite often have brackets for mounting under the bench, and some have variable knee control. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

On the other hand, when the drill bit did bind the micromotor didn't immediately shear the bit, so there are upsides. Using it flat out for material removal with burrs is quite effective - there's no skipping - so it should be interesting for mokume patterning.