Foredom carving kits?

[ribot]

Just saw a Foredom "Jewellers kit 2230" advertised for $202.
It has 1/6 HP, reversible direction, variable speed, flex shaft and heaps of bits to go with it.
I was wondering if it is any good for wood carving?
I thought a wood carvers kit from Foredom should be in the 6 to $700 range.
I'm confused, can anyone set me straight as to which model is suitable for wood carving red gum etc.

[Whittling]

Sounds good to me. Fordom have got a superior hand piece to most other brands I've looked at. I have an Archer myself but its pretty much the same. I don't know if Fordom have seperate reciprocating hand pieces for small chisels or not, but if all you want to do is rotory work, they're supposed to be pretty good. Carbatec advertise a 1/8 horsepower Fordom for $700 and the hand piece will handle 3/32, 1/8, and 1/4 inch shafted bits. $200 sounds like a bargain.

The fact that it says 'jewlers' leads me to believe that maybe the bits and burrs that come with it are very fine so you may want to look at the max diameter bit shaft that the handpiece will accomodate. You may need to get another hand piece that accomodates larger bits if you want to do much in wood. Check to see if the hand piece can be removed/replaced. You want to be able to use bits with shafts of at least 1/8 inch... 1/4 perferably.

Carbatec also advertise seperate hand pieces for about $150 (rotory) and $100 (reciprocating). Even if you had to purchase these extras, its still a cheaper way to go.

They are limited to smaller scale work or fine detail on larger stuff, but I find them pretty useful for some things that I do. Being able to swap a reciprocating hand piece for the rotory one now and then makes them even more versitile/useful.

[ribot]

This thing has a No 30 handpiece and it doesn't say anything about interchangable.
It's currently on ebay for the next couple of hours however I'm reluctant to buy until I find out more about the different models.
I will try to locate the retailer who had them advertised for $202 retail.
Thanks for the tip on interchangable shafts and bit sizes.

[Whittling]

Its all about how many bit sizes the hand piece will accomodate. The broader the range of diameters the better. The interchangability of the hand piece for a reciprocating one is a secondary issue.

Good luck with it all.

Let us know how you go.

[Woodturnerjosh]

That seems really cheap! Are you sure it's 240volt?
That kit is listed at $289 US on the Foredom catalogue.
It's the same motor and foot control as the 5240 kit (carbatec one) but the hand piece will only open up to 4mm and comes with different accessories.
I suggest looking at Foredom's website for all the particulars

http://www.foredom.com/foundations/s...ms=K%2E2230*57

Cheers
Josh

[ribot]

Thanks Josh,
It didn't feel right so I have stayed right away from it.
I have actually purchased a "Roc" $50 hand held with extension cable to pen type hand held thing, will have to do for now.
I will do some homework at foredom site and not rush into purchasing anything until I get it right.

[Woodturnerjosh]

No worries!

I do believe that if you plan on doing a fair amount of carving the Foredom is worth the extra $$$ over the Archer unit, but I very strongly recommend giving Jim Carroll a call if you decide to buy one. He was about $200 cheaper than the big C on the the 5240 kit (at the time of printing in his march 2009 catalogue). Which reminds me, I need to order some more bits from him.
Cheers
Josh