Post #400279 by Tamapoutini on Sun, Aug 10, 2008 2:30 PM

Youre on your way SurfinT! Why would we cringe? I bought a very similar pack when first starting out. (still got half of them - personal preference may see you abandon many of the shapes, there is no right or wrong tool to use..) For example, many/most stone carvers swear by the thin 'disc-cutter' burrs you have there, whilst I almost never use them, preferring the 'needle' or 'bullet'-type shapes.

Its interesting you say theyre working well on wood because Ive always found they tend to clog up very quickly with wood and/or bone. I have found them ideal for shell however, and working the shell under water massively decreases the risk of inhaling the dangerous dust.

Perry, youve got both extremes there; supersmooth air power & highly torquey 1/3hp cable-drive. Most of the commercial carvers here use an air-powered handpiece & also run larger angle-grinder type airtools (for very large work, sculpts, bowls etc) from the compressor. Personally I find these handpieces too fast/scary and prefer the wide 'useable' speedrange of a micromotor; air is useless at low revs while the m.motor can be used as low as 1,000rpm. All have their pros and cons though.