Now what is the best articulated system?

[Rick Bailey]

Vince....I sure hope they reconsider opening. I had planned to purchase several cutters, scrapers and a captured system from them and another boring bar. I have the articulated system now, and with my bigger lathe, I could use a new post that fits inside the base to extend the reach on my 22" swing lathe.

I believe there are a lot of turners who would get a monster system if they felt the company would be able to continue support and parts.

Me too,

Seeing I just bought Allan Trouts two Monster systems from him,
I would like to be able to get a few more things from them myself.
I hope they reconsider.

[Jon Nuckles]

I have also been considering adding the captured system to my articulated. Hope they continue.

[Rick Bailey]

Just maybe.
Stay tuned.

[Brice Rogers]

Attachment 333592 Home made version, cost $50, with laser $8 more. Works great.

Nice set up, Tom. Is the arm square tubing or is it solid? Have you ever had any issue with the end going into the tail stock rattling loose? Is this based somewhat on the Eddie Castelin snake hollower ? I'm getting ready to start assembling a Capt. Eddie hollower and will be changing the base mount. I'm going to do something a bit more similar to Harrison Tool's base.

[Roger Chandler]

Steve posted in the other thread that Monster will be resuming business! Great news, indeed!

[tony tomlinson]

Hi Brian

I took delivery of the TMI Products articulated, post mount system 2 weeks ago and have been very pleased with the system. Built with some stout heavy steel components, a 3/4" hollowing bar, an excellent laser set up (no jiggle, no wiggle, no vibration) a HSS cutter and a carbide cutter included - all for $329.00 including shipping. I'm certainly not an authority but this system does a great job for me. They have sime excellent videos on line, and their customer service for my stupid questions was top rate

[Brian Kent]

It's not that I can't make up my mind. I make it up often. It's just that each time I make up my mind a different direction.

I would love to try out a couple of systems to see how comfortable and cumbersome they are. In the long run that is as important to me as hollowing depth and price.

Are there any wood turning shows coming up in the San Diego area?

[Alan Trout]

Brian,

If hollowing depth and price are your biggest concerns really your best option is a captive system. That will save you a bunch of money and frustration. I built my system out of frustration because none of the affordable articulated systems work well much past 6 to 8 inches on hard materials. Plastic, dry hardwood etc. is a challenge with a typical articulated system. You can do the same thing with a Monster or Jamieson captive system but there is a bit more work in the setup. Its just not as slick to use. If you want a articulated/multi axis system to go deep you are easily looking at spending more than 1K. You can go with bigger bars but at some point the limiting factor in a arm type articulated system is the hinge points in the arm. That will start flexing and the bar size becomes a non issue. There is just no getting around that without expensive bearings and or fabrication. The way that I would hollow before I built my system was, I would use the articulated system for the top and the shoulder of the vessel and then use the captive system for the depth because of the rigidity.

Good luck with you search I hope you find something that works for you.

Alan

[Brice Rogers]

Brian, I understand where you are coming from - - you are ready to pay a fair price for what you want but you want to get the best that you can afford within your budget; and you don't want to buy something (a discretionary expense) with which you won't be satisfied. I've been in this same train of thought several times.

But consider the "Harry Truman" 51-49 logic: if there are two choices that roughly equal but one - - perhaps - - is slightly better, it really doesn't matter which one you choose as they are both basically the same. Both are reasonable decisions with good merits.

Me? I'm a fabricator. I'm starting to build a Captain Eddie Castelin snake hollower (google it). But I'm one of those individuals who is as comfortable working with metal as I am with wood.

Also, I keep in mind that when I watched the well-known Mike Jackoffsky hollowing demo (he is really quite an artist !! ), he showed how to successfully hollow without any apparatus. So, if I add a hollower, I'll probably do at least okay.

Good luck on your decision. Let us know what you decide and why.

[Brian Kent]

Thanks guys. I appreciate your encouragement and perspective.
I really do this with every bigger purchase, thinking through things dozens of times from different angles. Then I make a decision for the best overall balance of needs and I'm happy with it.

Mike Jackovsky actually lives less than 10 miles from my house. I was sorry to miss his recent workshop at our San Diego Woodturners Club.

[Rick Bailey]

Here's one Brian,
Look at the top of the page.
Turning forum announcements.
Not SD but you can fly to Santa Rosa from SD .

[John Sincerbeaux]

My hollowing rig evolved from hand-held to a TB Stabilizer to a "Hybrid" system. Like Alan Trout says... an articulated system starts flexing when they get loaded up. I bought the TB stabilizer because it is so stout. But it was really never designed as a stand-alone rig. That is why it is called a stabilizer. It is a perfect fit for my VB 36 because it incorporates a toolrest and mounts to the VB's "beam".
However I wanted a rock solid rig that could handle large HF's so I designed a "captive" system that could be mounted on the VB's tailstock support post. I had a machinist make the components and the double 1" boring bar all in SS. I still use the Stabilizer but combined with the captive trap. I call it my "Hybrid" rig.
I also upgraded from a laser to the TB "Visualizer".
I regularly hollow 24" logs......effortlessly. image.jpg

[David Delo]

That's a very nice set-up you've got there John. Can see why you like it.

[Mark Levitski]

The Gizmo is very very good. One does not need the tooling if you already have hollowing tools that are hand held. It accepts any tool just like any handle with grub screws (set screws) on the market. The laser is a nice addition, but needs occasional adjustment, as is well known, as tool presentation changes with the curvature.

I recommend Gizmo for sure. Has resale value ( for a reason) in the very least. Wanna buy mine? Sorry, I like it to much.

Mark
heartwoodcreations.net

[Russell Stanton]

My sentiments exactly. I have the Gizmo and love it now that I fully understand it, thanks to a class at John Campbell school with Rudy Lopez., I used it with the transformer and also with a conventional hollowing cutter bar that was 3/4" dia and had a scraper cutter mounted in the tip