Question: GraverMiester Question

[Steve223]

My question is for those of you that had an older gravermeister (800 to 1200 spm) and upgraded to the faster Valve(1200 to 1600 spm). How much diffrence did it make and do you think it was worth it to do?
I have the older version and im pretty happy with it but human nature being what it is im wondring if im missin out on something LOL.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Steve

 

[rhenrichs]

Gravermeister

I bought my Gravermeister 1n 1972. So I think it is what might be considered older. The hand piece that came with the Gravermeister was big and clumsy and I didn't use it much. Then I quit engraving for over 25 years and the Gravermeister was not used at all. When I decided to go back to engraving again about five years ago I upgraded the Gravermeister with a 915 handpiece and then I got the high speed pulse valve.
While the high speed valve did improve the performance of the 915 handpiece the handpiece would overheat to the point that you couldn't hold the handpiece. I fought this problem until GRS ran out of suggestions on how to solve the problem. I finally found a solution to the problem and that was a Lindsay Classic and a Artisan. I have put the low speed pulse valve back on the Meister and I use it for setting inlay material. If you would like a high speed valve, I think I know where you might be able to get used one. The one nice thing about the high speed valve they have bearings instead of a bushing that the low speed valve has.

Roger

 

[hiloboy]

I have a old Gravermeister that i use for car shows sometimes. when i don't want to hall my compresser around. i also added the high speed valve and use the 915 handpiece. i also had some heat problem with my handpiece.what i did was put 6 holes in the bottom of the can on the right when looking at the meister from the front. before i did the six it only had one holes in the can. i also took that can that i'm talking about and opened it and in side there is a valve that i opened about 3 or 4 turns. you just got to play around with it a little. after that my heat problem went away. i hope this helps

 

[Roger Bleile]

I bought my Gravermeister in 1977 and used it for 30 years with those old cylindrical handpieces. I considered getting the HS valve but when I learned that I would also need to upgrade my handpieces it motivated me to move into the 21st century instead of spending more $ on the old Meister. I suggest you do whatever it takes to test the latest GRS and Lindsay products so you can find what works best for you. Regardless of whose products you settle on you will be making a quantum leap from the old Meister.

CRB

 

[rhenrichs]

Roger
I do like the old Meister set at 400 spm for setting gold or silver wire but that's about all it's used for these days. I think that I spent somewhere around $400.00 upgrading the Meister and now it is hardly used. I agree with you that it would be better to spend your money on the purchase of current equipment.

Roger

 

[SamW]

I used the Meister for about 30 years, upgrading to the double valve along the way. I used the older LT handpiece. I really liked the upgrade as it fit my engraving style and I set the speed at the upper limit (2400) and only used lower speeds for heavy stippling or setting gold wire. The Meister remains under the bench as an emergency backup system.

 

[Steve223]

I would like to upgrade to a new machine but right now i just cant do it so the old 78 mdl Meister will have to do for another couple of years. I appercaite the advise tho.
I have 4 of the big hand peices and a smaller one that resembles the 915 but the air line comes directly out of the top instead of the side like the 915 duz, it is a QC tho. I dont have a clue what handpeice it is.
Roger what would you need to get for your highspeed valve?
Thank you all for the responses !
Steve