Second hand piece

LVCIAN

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I'm considering picking up a second hand piece.
I have the 901 and I do everything with it.

Mostly work in non ferrous materials, though I'm hoping to get into guns and knives soon enough.

I'm trying to debate the finer points of the monarch versus the magnum and I'm talking myself in circles.

Any advice?
 

Brian Marshall

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Those are light impact and heavy impact respectively.

Choose the the one you will have the most use for right now.... get the other one later...


Personally, having used both - you can go pretty light with the 901, but you can't get the power behind the magnum any other way in the realm of GRS tools.


Brian
 

Sam

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I use the 901 for all of my work. The Magnum spends most of its life in a drawer. The Monarch is good but a tricked out 901 can do it all. For stippling and Maestro EX is fantastic.
 

Sam

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...except for western brightcut. You can walk the dog with a Magnum.
 

LVCIAN

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I use the 901 for all of my work. The Magnum spends most of its life in a drawer. The Monarch is good but a tricked out 901 can do it all. For stippling and Maestro EX is fantastic.

Out of curiosity, how have you tricked yours out?
I currently, have the standard anvil in mine, with the medium pad and cap for the palm control.

I really like it. Unfortunately new hand pieces and parts are just a little to expensive to want to experiment with.
 

Sam

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Out of curiosity, how have you tricked yours out?
I currently, have the standard anvil in mine, with the medium pad and cap for the palm control.

I really like it. Unfortunately new hand pieces and parts are just a little to expensive to want to experiment with.

It was on the GRS site but I don't see it now since they updated it. I will find it and get back to you.
 

Sam

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Sam.
I am considering buying the Maestro EX . What makes it so good about stippling?

Power, its shape (not a mushroom handle), and the speed it stipples. I find it stipples deeper and denser at twice the speed of a 901, but keep in mind that my 901 is setup for lighter duty and fine detail. I run the Maestro EX @ 5,200 SPM for stippling.
 

Andrew Biggs

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Yes, The Maestro is great for stippling. In fact it's good for anything like beading where you want the tool to be at roughly 90 degrees to the work. It's certainly easier to hold upright than your traditional mushroom shaped tools.

Archie........Watched the video and laughed all the way through it. It's not a comparison or any such thing. It's a piece of marketing that is plain out silly and misleading. If I engraved as slow as he is demonstrating I'd be out of business. It's a bit like asking a car company to do a review of another car company. I thought we were over that kind of thing :)

Cheers
Andrew
 

dlilazteca

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I initially started with a classic, and bought a graversmith and the large maestro just for stippling, but after some years i only have grs equipment now, i use the 901 and the maestro only for stippling, at the speed that Sam recommends, it creates a very uniform stipple, and the ergonomics behind it is key, you hold it like a pencil, i hated holding the mushroom handle with one finger in top, your finger gets tired and the angle in which your wrists sits is also very tiring, all that goes away with the maestro.

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Karlspinks

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Sorry. I have another question. What makes the ex maestro better for stippling over the normal version and the mx.

I would consider one as I get pains in my hands when stippling.
 

dlilazteca

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Sorry. I have another question. What makes the ex maestro better for stippling over the normal version and the mx.

I would consider one as I get pains in my hands when stippling.
I work on firearms, so it just moves metal with ease the first time, love it for inlay also.



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dlilazteca

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me too !!!

i use mine the same way out of the box...

bit scared to fiddle around as no knowledge of what i am doing, but would love a tiny bit of instruction if there is some available
Of what i can remember, I read it some time ago, was in the palm control, on the 901 he cut a grove leading into the hole in the back with a 120, its supposed to give you a finer startup for detailed work, the piston area, you know where you insert the collet was made shorter, i believe it was done for better fit in the hand. Thats all I can remember, but i would veryify this with Sam before doing it.

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Karlspinks

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I actually can't believe the difference the smaller spring makes to me. Adjusting the psi down and using it literally will help me loads. I remember when I first got my gravermax posting it was too powerful.

Not sure why I haven't tested it sooner. As for modification goes. The link didnt show much that is not in the instructions unless I'm missing something?? . But at least it made my try the smaller spring.

Edit: on a side note does anyone have a maestro near London, England I can try?? Want to try before I buy as they are close to £400 here!
 
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