Preferred hollowing tool(s)

I'm attempting my first hollow vessel. I've completed the outside to my satisfaction and am in the process of hollowing it out. I drilled out the center and used a bowl gouge to get the initial hollowing complete.

I'm now trying to hollow the sides out with a smaller Sorby swan neck tool, but am getting what seems to be excessive chatter. I'm keeping the straight part of the tool on the toolrest.

I'm convinced the tool is sharp enough and I'm hollowing from the bottom of the vessel to the side and from the top to the side (all downhill) so I don't believe the chatter is from going in the wrong direction. My impression is that with light passes, the chatter goes away, but it will take me *forever* to get the bulk of the walls thinned.

What is/are your preferred tool(s) for hollowing vessels and, in particular, for the "bulk hollowing" after you've set the vessel depth and done any initial bowl gouge work.

~Mark.

Reply to
Woody
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You didn't say how deep you were hollowing. If you have one of the tools that has a 1/4 inch shaft, then you can go 2 or so inches deep without chattering. You can go maybe 4 inches at the most, but only in the most experienced hands. Think of it this way, how far can you reach out with a gouge of scraper before it gets difficult? With a 3/4 inch shaft, you can go 6 inches or so fairly comfortably, and deeper with care and a light touch. With a 1 1/2 inch shaft, you can go maybe

18 inches. What you need depends on how deep you want to go. Another excuse to buy more tools/toys.

Of the hollowing tools out there, I have the Monster articulated hollowing system (you can web search that one) for smaller pieces (6 to 8 inches max) and a captured system for deeper ones. For cutters, I prefer the McNaughton hollowing blades. You can be pretty agressive with it, but it isn't really good for a slick clean finish cut. You don't have to adjust for different angles on your form, you just change blades. For the finish cut, I prefer one of the micro grain carbide discs, available from Hunter tools, The Eliminator, and Monster has one as well. They work at a shear/skewed angle, and give a cleaner cut. A laser pointer is a great help as well. The Monster has a great one, and the articulated system is so easy to use. Saves a lot of time checking with calipers. When I got my Monster system, I had an adapter made so I could use all my other cutters in it. With the longer shafted 3/4 inch bars, it does chatter a bit, but is great with the 1/2 inch bars.

robo hippy

Reply to
robo hippy

Geez, and I thought I'd been thorough ;-)

The Sorby I've got probably has a 1/4"-5/16" shaft. The vessel I'm hollowing is about 4" deep. Pretty narrow throat (maybe an 1") so I can probably get a 3/4" shaft through but not much more.

Thanks for the info. I'm interested in the hollowing systems, but will need to wait. Can't justify ~$400 to finish my first form. Sounds like getting a heavier bar will go some way to helping with chatter.

~Mark.

Reply to
Woody

Yo, Reed! Have you tried the Eliminator yet?

I'm about to order the Mega Eliminator and would love a recommendation, since it's $170.. I've got the Oneway Termite and the "Universal super cut tool" now, but neither are carbide and I'm thinking that's what I need for the ironwood pieces..

Let me know, ok? Once I order it, I have to go pick it up at the border.. Sort of a PITA, but doable..

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

I bought some curved 1/4" tool steel cutters (I believe from Packard). Drilled a hole in the end of a 3/4" steel bar (from Lowe's) to accept the cutter and placed a couple of setscrews in the side to hold it. I slipped the other end of the steel bar into a piece of galvanized pipe, again held with set screws with a "T" on the pipe for a hand hold to prevent twisting. Altogether cost about 15-20 dollars and works for me. As you can see, I'm on a budget.

Darrel Feltmate has a similar tool on his web site, aroundthewoods.com, except his is swan necked and uses a straight tool and his handle has two elbows instead of a "T".

If this is too confusing from the description I can send you a couple of pictures if you leave your email address.

Reply to
Gerald Ross

You can make a lot of hollowing tools yourself if you have metal skills, I don't so I buy. You can reach that depth easily with a 1/2 inch tool shaft.

Mac, I have had the Eliminator for over a year and love it. It is an excellent tool for end grain cutting. I have been doing more boxes after taking a 3 day work shop with Bonnie Klein last fall. I had to get a mini lathe to go with her threading jig. The Vortex strikes again. However, I am a professional, so that makes it okay. The only thing that I don't like about the Eliminator is that you use the discs and then toss them. They aren't made to be resharpened. I like the way the Super Cut cutter comes off and you put it on a mandril to sharpen it. I would think that you could do this with the carbide discs, but most people aren't set up to sharpen carbide though the diamond hones would work. Back to the Eliminator, I don't think of it as a roughing tool, more of a finish cut tool. I love the flats cut on the bottom of the tool to keep it in a shear mode (45 degrees) which is the same angle I kept the Super Cut set to. I think of the Kelton tools as being a roughing tool. All of the Eliminators also are straight shafted, and taper at the ends. You can do simple hollow forms with them, but can't do the shoulders that you can with the goose neck tools can. I have heard that they are making a goose neck one. You may also want to check out the Monster System. Really excellent for hollowing. It really is MUCH easier to use as long as you aren't going too deep. I don't like their cutters too much as they are rather bulky compared to the McNaughton ones. The longer, 3/4 inch ones are too long of a lever to work well with that tool, but the smaller 1/2 inch ones do fine. Same with the Eliminators.

robo hippy

On Jan 7, 1:46 pm, Gerald Ross wrote:

Reply to
robo hippy

I have used several hollowing systems in the past few years. I started out using David Ellsworth?s hollowing set. These are simply small scrapers on round shaft. Reasonably priced and pretty effective.

I also own a set of Hamlet hollowing tools. This set uses a ringed cutter. It can cut a lot of wood in a short time but it sometimes hard to control. You can get scraping tips for this system as well. The Hamlet system is more expensive.

Both of these systems, as well as lots of others on the market, allow you to hollow at various depths depending on the thickness of the shaft that supports them. The heavier the shaft the deeper that you can hollow into the wood. Otherwise you will get chatter as you describe.

Another problem with many systems is that you must turn ?blind.? In other words you cannot see exactly where you are cutting inside the vessel and as a result it is more difficult to know how thick your wall is, when to stop so you don?t cut through the wall, you are not sure how consistent your wall thickness is, etc.

More recently I have purchased a hollowing system sold by Lyle Jamison. He and others have developed systems that use a laser pointer to gauge wall thickness as you hollow your vessel. This unit also has various cutting tips that can be purchased. One of the newer types of tips for hollowing is a circular carbide cutter. It never needs sharpening and can be replaced when it finally wares out. The Jamison system is fairly expensive.

Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages. You have to find the one that works best for you. To avoid spending lots of money trying out systems it would be best if you could find turners in your area that will either demo the system they use or better yet allow you to turn using their tools. There are also articles to be found on the internet that describe the pluses and minuses of various hollowing tools.

You can see several of these systems at

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Just click on woodturning tools and browse the list.

Here is an article from the Ohio Valley Woodturners Guild that compares several hollowing systems and give links to each one that is discussed.

Stephen Russell has an article on his site about hollowing tools also:

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Good Luck, Ted

Reply to
Ted

I found a three part set of articles that I read a while back. They give a detailed survey on hollowing tools in PDF format. It would be good to look these over before you choose a new hollowing set. I have included the URL link to each of the three parts:

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I found these articles are very thorough and extremely helpful. Ted

Reply to
Ted

Good to hear.. I'm trying to find a place to order the Mega Eliminator that will enclose a receipt for under $100, so the mail service will bring it down.. It raises the cost of the tool a bunch if I have to spend $40 in gas and most of a day to go pick it up at the border..

I haven't had a lot of success sharpening the HSS discs.. After a day of Ironwood, they're pretty bad and my sharpening skills say it's more cost effective to buy 4 or 5 $12 discs at a time and just change them.. That's one reason that the carbide appeals to me..

I rough out most of them with a 3/8" Oland tool.. I've never set the Supercut to 45 degrees, seems pretty aggressive.. But I use it for some roughing... The flats on the Eliminator appeal to me for not only shear cutting, but to be able to change direction of the cut without completely reconfiguring the Supercut.. (I do use the Termite a LOT, though)

can do simple hollow forms with

have heard that they are making a goose neck one. You may

really is MUCH easier to use as long as you aren't going

to the McNaughton ones. The longer, 3/4 inch ones are too

fine. Same with the Eliminators.

I do very little of what I'd consider "hollowing", Reed... Some "globe" or "closed" bowls, but mostly bowls and vases, plus a lot of what I consider "free form" because I just use whatever ironwood is left on the lathe when it stops fragmenting.. Free form seems to sell a lot better than creative mistakes..

Thanks, Reed... I want the Mega and wish I had it last month, so I guess I'll order it and an extra cutter, even if we have to take a trip to the States to pick it up..

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Thank you *all*. Much appreciated.

I think I'm going to look at a hollower with an arm brace (either Stewart or Sorby) for now. Later, if I get really enamored with hollow forms, I'll take the plunge for the Monster.

~Mark.

Reply to
Woody

Reply to
robo hippy

Those things scare the hell outta me.... If I get a catch, (not that any of us actually do), I don't want the cutting tool fastened to my arm... Maybe I'm just getting old.. lol

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Yep.. was thinking pretty seriously about it, despite the price, but except for the re-positional carbide blade it sort of duplicates my larger Oland tools..

I still might get one, but I really haven't seen any good reviews on it, other than their comments on their web page.. The line that scares me goes something like "Transfer the abuse from your arm to the lathe"... Having to sell quite a few pieces to recover the $2,500 or so for the latest lathe, that statement sort of scares me..

Also, from the video on their page, it seems to be a great tool for conventional bowl blanks, where you cut a slab, bandsaw it round and rough it out.. I'm mostly mounting very rough pieces of ironwood on a chuck screw and tailstock and sneaking up in a bunch of corners and irregular shapes.. I think the easy rougher might do more harm that good on most of my stuff..

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Actually they're not that bad. You'd have to be awfully aggressive to catch that badly in my experience. Realistically, you're only looking at 6" to 8" over the rest so they're not for really deep vessels...

...Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Miller

Not that I've actually used my wallet crowbar and gotten one for myself, but the one time I made it to a guild of NH woodworkers turning thing, one of the guys who uses them pointed out (and demonstrated) that unless your lathe is absurdly overpowered (not a good idea) you simply stall the lathe (or slip the belt, depending) if you get a catch with one of these - the leverage is on your side of the toolrest, in a big way. IIRC he was using a "horribly underpowered" 1-1/2 HP lathe to demo on, and used a 2 or 2-1/2 HP at home.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

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