901 handpiece piston issue

[Christopher Malouf]

It looks as though I've beat this thing into submission twice in almost two years. The coating on the piston wears off and the piston tends to stick or hang up in the tool thus requiring more frequent cleaning.

I've got two inline filters and water bowls between an oil-less compressor and the 901. I'll probably add a water vapor filter (which is even finer) here soon. I have some hoses which haven't appeared to yellow so the air is probably ok.

Has anybody else experienced this? GRS will replace the piston when I send it in but this is slowly sorta becoming a semi-annual thing.

Thank-you,

Chris

 

[fegarex]

Chris,
I had a 901 for probably 5 or 6 years and it is just fine. Are you cleaning the piston per instructions? I know you aren't supposed to use solvents on it. The earlier generation handpieces required more cleaning and maintenence but the 901 and newer have been trouble free for me.

 

[dclevinger]

Chris,

That is really strange. I use my 901 for everything and have to clean it every couple of months but that's it. A while back I had an issue, very little power and the hand piece would run for a few seconds after I got off the pedal. Tore the 901 and Gravermax apart trying to find the problem and as it turns out, the regulator on my compressor went bad. It wasn't letting enough air through even with the pressure cranked way up. Maybe someone else has a better idea of what it might be. Good luck man.

David

 

[Sam]

I have one of the first 901 handpieces (a prototype, actually), and I've put a jillion hours on it with no problems whatsoever except for routine cleaning. I do clean mine about once a week.

 

[Christopher Malouf]

Hmmm ... (scratching)...

I'm following everything by the book on maintenance and cleaning Rex. Just a piece of paper to clean the piston and inside the chamber. I even think paper can be too aggressive.

David, I've changed both regulators including the one on the GraverMax. A lot of water in the compressor can make the pressure do some strange things too. I've been told that I'm "A.R." about my tools but aren't we all!!

Performance deteriorates faster after hard 'n heavy usage. I didn't have any problems until I did a bunch of motorcycle parts (both times this has happened).

It almost sounds like it is directly related to the amount of air that goes though it which leads me to believe it is the compressor BUT the piston tends to wear in one particular spot more. I've always suspected the rear of the chamber or something strange with the hand piece. It's quite possible that I got the only slightly defective one ever produced.

I won't get banned from the forum if I mention the Airgraver as a possible replacement?

 

[CJ Allan]

Chris,
I know exactly what you mean about the "heavy" usage doin MC parts.....

I've recently upgraded my tools from wore out gravermax, to the new Lindsay Airgraver.
and I couldn't be happier...
All the difference in the world........and I'm not one to be impressed by very much anymore.......

Much simpler system, and with the tungstun piston..........WOW !!

Werkz fer Me.......

Now I gotta get the CO2 setup, along with a new Ray Latourno block, and I'll in hog heaven. ......so ta speak.......

You asked............
"I won't get banned from the forum if I mention the Airgraver as a possible replacement?"

Why would you get banned for mentioning a good tool. ..........??
That kinda confused me.

Hope this helps a little

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Chris

Sounds to me that you might want to contact GRS and see what the problem is and see if they'll replace the entire handpeice.

Ban you?............you mean ex-communicate you, publicly flog you, put you in stocks for a month, burn your house down, salt the land and send your family away to a far flung convent ..................No Chris none of that will happen to you.

This forum is all about the engraving (and other stuff) and tools are only a very small part of it. What tools you purchase or use is your business and decision to make................... and dosn't matter to the forum.

Hammer & Chisel, Burin, GRS, Lindsay, NGraver, home made, etc are all represented here...............we're a very multi tool forum.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Christopher I had the same problem. When I first got my gravermax I was cutting everything in sight. I was very heavy handed and was exploring and learning. I'm sure I used it beyond it's capability to the point of abuse. I wore the piston so bad it wouldn't even run. I got a new piston and it's worked fine since, that's been about 2 years now. I did notice I had to increase the pressure to the hand piece a bit after installing the new piston. I would think for large parts like your engraving the Magnum hand piece would serve you better. I personally don't have one but it looks like it would take a beating. Maybe someone that has one can give you more info.

 

[jimzim75]

Well, my 901s are working well, with no problems. I just got a band new Magnum and it's leaking around
the piston. Unless this is normal for a Magnum, it's going back on Monday to be exchanged for a new one.
I can't imagine it's what it supposed to do that, because my 710s don't do that.

I suppose they didn't check it on a GraverMac before it left GRS. I messured the bore and piston, and
bore is .5275 The piston is .527 and therefore a standard diameter. So I would say the bore is to large
and would not be fixed by a new piston.

So back it goes for an exchange.

 

[Christopher Malouf]

Andrew, you crack me up ... you forgot to mention runnin' me out town on a rail. If (or when) I make the switch ... will I be forced to "confess"? "Cardinal Fang .... fetch the soft cushion!!" ? Haha!!

Yep, I asked GRS for a new handpiece ... back in day "ot-6". I sent it in and JB (a genius by the way) fit it with a new piston and sent it back. It was great until I beat on it with this last project.

CJ ... Thank-you for responding. That's a huge help. Steve Lindsay and I spoke for a bit about using his handpiece for extensive heavy duty work and mentioned he was lookin forward to how well it was going to perform for you. Not only is the piston replaceable but the sleeve is too. Workin on my bike is the first bunch of MC stuff I've done in two years. I got away from it because I thought it was just too hard on my tools and I wanted to focus on jewelry. Bikes have always been my first love and I need to be able to switch from jewelry to MCs to gun stuff and back.

I didn't really think I was gonna get banned, but GRS and Airgravers have become big rivals. I think I'm gonna hedge my bet and keep my GRS stuff but keep it at the gunshop where I just do firearm receiver cutting and get the Airgraver for my home shop.

I just finished cutting one of the heat shields for my Bubs upsweep exhaust yesterday (yep, I'm the only guy that ever bought those pipes before Bubs discontinued them). I literally forced a 120 graver deep (puttin the pedal to the metal) and did a lot of metal displacement for the scroll background. Worked on a sterling silver pocket knife today and have noticed that the piston performance is much worse and I have even less control with fine cuts that require a light pedal.

Hi Mike, there definitely must be a limit to how far we can push the 901. David, Rex and Sam have had great success with it and no trouble for years. I dunno ... there's just a ton o' money already invested and with that, I figured I was off the "tool treadmill" of upgrades for awhile.

Speaking of upgrades ... I was seriously considering the Magnum. I think Jim got the one that was intended for me!!

Thank-you everyone.

Chris

 

[Andrew Biggs]

............you forgot to mention runnin' me out town on a rail.
Chris

Oh no, we wouldn't run you out of town either.....................although maybe a bit of tar and feathering would be in order!!!

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Hi Chris, like the other guys I've had no problems whatsoever with my 901 and I run it everyday and in fact I'm really bad at routine maintenance; I only clean it when neccessary...that's bad I know! I once had a problem with my Monarch handpiece but that was because I used it for everything from fine bulino through scrollwork of all kinds to heavy background removal (yes my Monarch could do this too but not as well as the other handpieces). After 5 years of abuse it needed broken parts replacing and now it runs as sweet as ever but I now mainly use the 901 if I'm honest.

I have an engraver friend over here in the UK who switched to Airgraver and was very happy with his change but after many hours of using it for heavy background removal it too suffered with a broken anvil. Although it still worked, it would hang up and you'd have to shake the handpiece to get it working.

So, in conclusion, I would say if you are going to give either system a lot of heavy abuse something's gonna give somewhere along the line! The Magnum should work for you if you're giving it heavy usage. It's got a huge power range and I still find it hard to believe that Lee Griffiths uses it for everything, including his game scenes!

 

[jlseymour]

Chris You will enjoy Steves Palm Control w/ the tungstun piston, running on CO2 you can take it to the job and cut where ever you setup...
I have both GRS and Lindsay's and use the Palm Control 90% of the time for the last year, I can take it from the shop to the house in my pocket...
Try it, if you don't like the PC send it back, Steve's such a great person to do business with...
I think Ray Cover will be setup at the Blade Show and at Scott's for the engrave-in with Steves Equiptment, Hope you can make one or the other...

Jerry

 

[Lee]

It's been suggested that my fondness for the magnum has to do with my being a farmer for so many years. I like big things with lots of power that go putt,putt,putt. Maybe I think I'm still on a tractor...............

 

[Sam]

Here are a couple of links to check out if you'd like to see an example of what the Magnum handpiece is capable of:

http://grstools.com/featuredphotos/archives/2007/FP38-1.html
http://grstools.com/featuredphotos/archives/2007/FP44-1.html

It's the work of Bob Finlay, and is an engraved MicroBlock vise. Bob is the most fearless engraver I know, and sculpts deeper than you can imagine. The photos don't do the work justice, but it'll give you an idea how much metal he hogs out. Quite unbelievable to see it in person.

~Sam

 

[ron p. nott]

hi Chris .. yes back in the days of my GRS equipment I had the same problems with there hand pieces I ended up with a box full of old piston and springs ,, now I use the Lindsay and I have never been happier , when you stop by my shop I will sit you down and let you know what it feels like to use a Lindsay and then you can make the decision .. ron p

 

[Christopher Malouf]

Hmmmmm .... Airgraver or Magnum ... Aigraver or Magnum? Airgraver, Magnum, Magnum .... wait ... Airgraver!!

 

[Christopher Malouf]

Hey, you guys wanna see a picture of my redneck engraving studio / bunker?

 

[KCSteve]

That's a pretty cool looking bunker!

How about some shots of the inside?

Also, do you have problems with water accumulating in the access pit from rain / snow?

 

[SharpGraver]

Nice studio Chris
Didn't they use your studio on one of those crime dramas years ago?