Is there an easier way to rough out interior endgrain?

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A set of large Forstner bits and a drill chuck mounted in the tailstock. Brief search finds Forstners up to 4-1/2 inches, and they are a lot faster than fussing with a boring bar setup. There may well be bigger ones available, the search was not extensive. With a hole of up to 4-1/2 inches to start from, any further hollowing could be done sidegrain rather than endgrain, and would thus be easier cutting. Be careful when working with such large bits...

Otherwise, sure, you can use a boring bar as for metal on wood. Tedious, but it would put the strain on the machinery, rather than on you. Would be slightly less tedious with a power feed, as on a metalworking lathe.

Hi Arch

Maybe you have to get yourself a good old metal lathe, you surely could clamp a boring bar onto on of those. I (we) know at least one goofy that uses a metal lathe to turn wood, :-))

Then again, a milling/turning combo machine might be in your future ??????? TIC ;->

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Arch wrote:

I'm thinking that forstners are maybe too short. I've got the obligatory set of them and I don't think the shanks are much more than three inches or so. They'd do fine for shallow objects - I've used them for that - but I've never seen Long forstners, say 6-12 inches.

When I turn hollow forms I start by first shaping the outside then drilling the center.

For drill> Rough hollowing and cleaning out large end grain blanks is getting to be

Someone (Craft Supplies?) sells a Morse taper extender. Could you drill to the depth of the Forstner, put the extender between the drill chuck and the tailstock, and drill another 5 inches or so?

Do you hand feed the auger bit or put it in the tail stock. I thought augers were self feeding especially if doing it by hand.

Bruce

william kossack wrote:

I do use incremental sizes up to 1 1/2" of both spade and forstner bits along with a stout extender to open the hole and set the depth before using arm rest and an inserted _cutting_ bit.

Most bit shaft extenders are flimsy and the more robust spindle extenders extend the chuck which if the hole is big enough for it to enter you _may_ not need the extender. Or as Yogi said, "If you don't have it, that's why you need it!".

I would think in a home shop set up, the torque on 5 to 6 in. and larger augers, saw tooths. spades and Forstners that cut the entire radius as they progress into dry end grain would likely overstress the bit and its shaft, the chuck and its Jarno & Morse tapers and generate excessive heat. I may be wrong, but I wonder if anyone here drills out deep 5+" holes in hard dry end grain without the tedium of going thru the sizes.

I think the size of the vase's orifice would limit the useful size of a drill bit, while a boring bar bit could be extended or swivelled to make the blank's internal diameter greater than the entry.

Eh Leo, does my 9" Sheldon qualify? ;)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Arch, what size hole are you making? You didn't say. Is this for hollow forms, end grain bowls, wide mouth vessels, or what? How deep do you need to go, and how wide is the mouth? -mike

One problem with longer drills is the bit can get choked with shavings.

As a result I will drill about half way up the shaft of the bit then remove material with a gouge to open up the hole. Then I'll drill some more. I've done vases as deep as 12 inches using an auger and a bit extender. The trick is to take it slow watch for heating of the bit and don't over drill past your planned bottom. I suppose you could use a series of different sizes to solve this problem but I find I don't like taking the time to change bits and a gouge against the side grain inside a 1 inch wide hole removes material very effectively.

Arch wrote:

Hi Mike, I had no specific size or form in mind except at least as deep and closed in hard end grain that an armbrace with perhaps a 12" X 3/4" shaft would be called for. I've long used this set up and have used various add ons (extra tool rests, restraining rests, swivelling cups, side handles and 'Y's welded to the shanks) for supporting and controlling long heavy tool shanks.

Being a tinkerer, I wondered about the utility of adapting a cheap version of a machinist's boring bar set up & technique to a wood lathe to substitute for the armbrace/long heavy shank method. I wasn't musing about the hole for the boring bar, just thinking of another way to get rid of a lot of closed in waste wood.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

So turn bowls or something for a break.

Fastest rough hollowing I've found is a pointy gouge. You could use a metal-spinner's rest with the pin to _really_ hog on it if you care to. You do have one of those, or a pivoting gate for that hollower, right? If not, try it. Experiment by putting a C-clamp on the rest to bear against. Seems to take a lot of strange stress off the AV joint.

George suggests in good natured humor that I turn bowls or something for a break, but that doesn't answer the op subject. I do turn bowls, but not for a break. I do that by canoeing & reading. I was merely wondering out loud about trying a different turning technique. I think there is a place on rcw for wondering, but maybe not.

Reporting my usually impractical or silly tinkerings is perhaps tiresome or even counterproductive in a largely Q&A forum and it's certainly not comparable, but I'm glad that David Ellsworth didn't give up on making small mouth hollow forms or Roy Child abandon deepening his round shaft gouge flutes or many turners didn't reject sweeping their short bevels back. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

What about spoon bits?

Hi Arch

I get the feeling that you are not willing to use your nice little sheldon for that, but yes you could, just keep the sizes within the range the lathe can handle.

However as a mental exercise in finding a possible way of using your x-y, yes I think you could use the x-y vice, you would have to fabricate some kind of base that you can clamp down to the lathe and have your vice fastened to that, the hight would have to be kept in mind, so that the boring bars toolbit could be set at centre hight+. And to take away the problem of the "sloppy" fit of the vise, I would use the regular tool rest right close to the wood to be turned, however with a small opening you would need a hollowing bar with a articulating end on it so you can compensate for the inability of swinging the boring bar as when you hold it freehand.

O yes and you would need some overhead crane to get it all mounted ;-))

Have fun and take care Arch Leo Van Der Loo

Arch wrote:

They had to. The manufacturers had gone to a form of gouge that no woodturner had ever seen before, made possible by new machining technology. Lots cheaper than the old "long and strong" gouges. As I recall, about a third the price originally, and "High Speed Steel" to boot! The turners had to adjust to the new shape. The ears were a gimme, as they had been drawn back for clearance for years on the inside gouges, but the gouge didn't have enough consistent bevel depth to make an inside cut the way a forged gouge could, so the Irish started, as usual, to go to extremes....

Notice the return of the standard pattern - interim name "Continental"- gouges? Cropping up everywhere. They sure make easy work of peeling wood without contortions or catches, but of course, they were developed by woodturners, not engineers. I see in Woodworkers' Supply that the straight chisel has made a return. I'll be ordering one of the larger ones next time. Been using smaller made by regrinding scrapers as beading/planing tool for years. What's next, someone going to realize that a skew works best with a single bevel and bring back the original?

Edison's 1% and 99% also describes the ratio of successful tinkerings to unsuccessful.

Good thought provoking post, George.

Edison's 1% success made him rich & famous. I live in the hope my <

0.001% will do the same for me, but more likely I'll end up dependent on social security and my only fame due to the kindness of the strange.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter