Pendant motor or micro motor?

[Lucy J]

I was going to purchase a pendant motor soon having 'made do' with a Dremel for years (even though I used a pendant motor years ago which I preferred) but now I'm wondering whether I should buy a micro motor instead for a few ££s more? Just wondered if a micro motor is better than a pendant motor in terms of being more user friendly and effective, or whether it doesn't make that much difference. Obviously I just want to use it for the usual things - mainly removing sprues from castings, polishing and sanding as well as some wax carving maybe. I'd be interested in your views before I buy anything! Thank you.

[Dennis]

For the pendant motors the Milbro and the Foredom are favourites, Lucy. They need a hook to hang from, but are easy to add a hammer handpiece for texturing and stone setting later. Some handpiece4s have collets for shank sizes other than the standard 2.3mm.

Micro motors are more compact and sit on the bench. The motor is in the hand piece and they mostly take only standard shanks. Additional hammer handpieces are not on offer except for the dearest ones and are a very expensive option.They are chosen for their sophistication and lightness, and they can start at under £100 for the marathon from China.

Here is a recent Thread discussing this:http://www.cooksongold.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9135 Dennis.

[Lucy J]

Thank you for your recommendations and link to the previous thread Dennis. I thought a micromotor was a step up from a pendant motor, but maybe that's not the case necessarily. I might be better off with a pendant anyway in terms of versatility without having to spend a huge amount of money. I seem to change my pendant wheels a lot and seem to have collected a variety of size shanks so it would be a bit annoying to have to change the collets over a lot, so I could do with a handpiece that could accommodate a larger variety of shanks in one if such a thing exists! I'll have a look around. The Foredom isn't as pricey as I thought it might be - I remember looking at the Milbro and Foredom motors a few years ago which seemed to be more pricey and I felt like I couldn't justify buying one of them, as been as I wouldn't be using it everyday.

[Dennis]

Well as far as I know, to accommodative different shanks, you either need to have different collets, or have a handpiece with an adjustable chuck, operated by a key.

Unless you enjoy fiddling with machinery it might be preferable to standardise your shanks for a quick release handpiece. That's how it is for me anyhow. Hope you will find something just right for you. Regards, Dennis.

[CJ57]

I love my Foredom micromotor and it's auto release. It light weight to use and move about but as I've said before I really needed the hammer handpiece and it was a present. It would cost the same again to buy so I'd probably be cheaper buying a pendant with cheaper versatility or do without as I always have.

[enigma]

I only have the pendant motor so can't compare as Ive never tried a micro motor.
The main thing for me was that you can add the hammer handpiece for not too much more with the pendant motor.
I like it a lot and pretty much use it every day, sometimes for several hours.
You can buy most items with the right size collet for a Foredom so its not really a problem that it has one size.
You can get a quick change handpiece so its easy to change from one tool to another of the same shank size.