Help, please: Don't know which handpiece to use

John B.

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Welcome to the Cafe. Maxgrever.
What type of engraving and on what material will you be using your Gravermax?
Whatever it is I know someone can give you good advise.

Best wishes, John B.
 

Marcus Hunt

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For an all round handpiece, in my view, you can't beat the 901 with the softer spring. To me the softer spring gives more control and finesse without sacrificing to much power. Later you may wish to add to your arsenal with the Monarch (for fine bulino type work) and then the Magnum for really shifting some steel.

Others may differ in their opinion as each engraver has a personal preference.
 

Tira

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I use the 901 for almost everything. Sometimes on very fine work I use the monarch and sometimes for very heavy the magnum, but 85%+ I use the 901.
 

Ron Smith

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I use the magnum for about everything, except when I need very very fine lines. I used to do them by hand (palm tool) until I gave my thumb away. *%&$#@-- Jointer.

I bottom the magnum out doing that flared cut sculpting stuff at times, depending on the metals I am working in. So it might be good if you are doing bright cutting to get the heavier one. If you intend to do really fine work, the others will do that until you need something heavier. Almost everyone has two handpieces, and many have three.

Find the one that suits what you are doing right now i.e. bright cutting or fineline stuff.

You will be surprised at how you can adjust one tool to do most everything. The finer points and finnesse don't usually come until later, and in the beginning you won't be able to tell much difference from one to the other except for the subtle differences in the "feel" of the tool, the size of the tool etc.

Ron S
 

Sam

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Like Marcus, I use the 901 with light spring. It handles 95% of the work I do, and I use the Monarch for shading. I also have the Magnum which I reserve for heavy cutting like Ron's flare cut engraving. / ~Sam
 

KCSteve

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When I got my initial setup Lynda from GRS recommended the Magnum - probably in part because of my rather large hands. Later I added a Monarch for fine work. If you can afford two handpieces It's a great combo.

If you can only afford one handpiece (at least for now) the 901 might be the better choice.

If you look at the power range as running from A (light) to Z (heavy), the Monarch easily handles A - say, I, maybe J. The Magnum covers from around H out to Z. The 901 covers something like E - T. These are just my arbitrary picks but basically the power ranges of the Monarch and Magnum overlap by a small amount and between them they not only cover the range of the 901, the go past it in both directions.

In the end the tool just makes a particular cut easier or harder - folks like Sam can do shading with a Magnum I can barely begin to approach with my Monarch and I'll bet Ron could get a darn fine flare cut out of a Monarch.
 

Maxgraver

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Ok!

Thanks everybody!
I'm going to purchase QC 901 for now, 'cos my 90% of work is on gold, later I'll buy monarch and magnum depending in my experience on 901.
And I want to know, what gives the soft spring to 901?

I'm glad that I a member of the Engraver's Cafe!!!
 

Dennis Sprague

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MAXGRAVER
You won't be disapointed with the 901.I use it every day at my bench, you won't believe how much metal you can move with this tool.Bezels and channel walls are easy with it. Also bright cutting around flat set stone's
Dennis
 

Marcus Hunt

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I'm not sure what you're asking about the spring Maxgraver? The 901 comes with the standard spring and the 'light spring' is an optional extra. It only costs a couple of dollars so you're not going to be spending a fortune. You just take out the standard spring that comes in the handpiece and drop the light one in. In my view it just makes the 901 that little bit more refined but it can still pack a punch if you need it to.

It's an excellent all round choice and like others say, I must use it for 90-95% of everything I do.

I personally found the Magnum too heavy for everyday use until I maaged to persuade GRS to produce a 'lite' version made from aluminium to run with Airtact. With an upgraded piston and a short barrel it's awsome! GRS only made a limited run so I don't know if they have any left but if you ever add Airtact to your system this is a great handpiece. It has a huge SPM range and doesn't sacrifice power for weight.
 
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