Termite turn tool opinion wanted

Hello Pete,

The Termite tool has been around for quite a while and it works very well in limited situations. You can snap off the cutting end if you get a catch, or if you're too aggressive. Also, the length and ergonomics of the tool limit its overall use, but in some situations, it works quite well.

If you really want to hollow, there are lots of hollowing systems out there that can accommodate almost any situation you require. If you are just doing light and shallow hollowing, the Termite will fit the bill. Take care and all the best to you and yours!

Pete the termite is a good tool although I would buy the bit and make the handle. I think the shaft on the commercial version is a bit light. On the other hand, this is just a variation on a hook tool. These are easy to make. Take a look at the tool section on my site for instruction on maiking your own. There are also videos and hints on using the hook tool which will help if you want to use a Termite.

Hi Pete

The termite is a nice tool, works well, but it has a learning curve, you can take very nice cuts in the bottom of boxes or vases, it works best on end grain, here's a link to a site with additional info. It is Herman de Vries website, go to tools and tips and you will find some good info there on the termite, but also on more than just that, a good site to bookmark, right next to Darrells

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

It's a gouge mounted at 90 degrees to the handle. Used as such, it will trim endgrain at the bottom of a piece if you can get a steep enough entry angle to start peeling. Position, pull and roll it as a gouge in use. Which is the problem with using it as a hollowing tool. If you have a narrow piece, you can't get enough room to get the handle to the optimum of 70 degrees to the surface without hitting something. Limits to bottoms as a bevel-guided cutting tool, and it's a poorly designed scraper with a brittle stem as Steve says.

It's a one-trick pony at my house, since other tools do everything it can, save the very bottoms of end-grain pieces, and most of them have other advantages. For instance, a pointy gouge will plunge, cut, and eject shavings throughout the useful range of the termite when hollowing, leaving the fine-tuning to a scraper like the Sorby or Stewart.

That would be my recommendation. Fingernail or pointy gouge for initial stock removal, followed by one of the scraper types. Termite as cash permits, because it does make a touchy job easier for end-grain work like boxes, goblets and such.

Unlike some other opinions I have seen elsewhere, I find the tool easy to use and sharpen. I find it very good for hollowing. I also agree with Darrel, that it may be worthwhile to just buy the ring bit, and make the shaft and handle for the tool.

More than most tools, pe> Oneway has a tool called the Termite tool that I believe is primarily used

I think you are right. The best setup I saw for the termite by a guy that swears by his was his home grown solution.

He mounted the small bit in a piece of 3/4" cold rolled steel and then put a rubber bicycle grip on the non business end.

He mounted the large bit in a 1" thick piece of cold rolled steel with something else as the grip. With the 1" bar he was able to hollow more quickly than anything I had ever seen before or since.

Both round bars were tapered down to the profile of the bits and the overall job looked like winner.

Robert

I would also recommend making a gate or restricted tool rest as a pivot point for the tool. It really helps with hogging out the wood.

Spoken like the true descendant of the hook-tool bowlmakers. They used to lever on a pin. Makes sense, because they can't put their body in line with it for power as with the gouge.

I have one of these termite tools, I find it mostly useless - it does what it does just fine, but if the thing I am working on is shallow and has a big opening, I can use a bowl gouge and hollow much faster. If it's deep, the shaft is thin enough that it chatters and is no better than a scraper, and the little ring gets filled with wood curls - and if I have a narrow opening, there tool won't cut anywhere near the top of the vessle. I got it at about 50% off, but for me it's mostly shelf-ware

Just as a follow up to Bill I would like to add the benefit of building your own hook tool. To get a Termite I would have to drive to Lee Valley, nearest outlet, or maybe to Busy Bee which is about the same distance. In my case this is an hour's drive each way. The cost of the tool is incremented by the other goodies I would be unable to resist (temptation, temptation, temptation) and the time is encremented by talking to all the folks there. To make a hook tool with a half dozen hooks will take about an hour and cost five bucks, new hooks a few cents each. As Bill will tell you, being a fellow who builds stuff himself for the lathe, the fun is also in the making. Less time, less money, and fun. I like it. Besides, if you do not like the tool, a quick redrill, a new tip and you have an Oland.