question for those of you who have seen all the hollowing systems

[curtis rosche]

for those of you who have looked at the different hollowing systems. is there a hollowing system out there that "follows" a patern for hollowing the inside?

[charlie knighton]

i believe you should use the same principles of turning a bowl, that is turn the top of the inside of the hollow form to finish thickness and continue down, that way the mass of the turning is working with you

i have certainly not seen all hollowing systems, but i did see Nick Cook demostrate the elbo tool and burning techingue

[curtis rosche]

what i mean is a hollowing system that has a kind of "follower pin" like a duplicater. i have an idea to revolutionize the hollowing world. but i just wanna make sure no one has done it yet

[charlie knighton]

there are computers that use a cad program to make hf on lathes

[Scott Conners]

I imagine it'd be fairly easy to adapt a large captured system with a laser to follow a pattern. Using the laser arm to follow the pattern, the hard part would probably be securing and aligning the pattern, especially if you want thin walls.

[Reed Gray]

Curtis,
This did come up once on another forum. I don't know if any one has done it, but it could be done. If you have ever heard of Michael Mouse (his handle on forums), he pointed out that you could take a pattern of your hollow form, and attach it to your lathe off the headstock, right over your hollow form, and rig a pointer over the pattern. It would do the same thing as a laser pointer. I have seen a feeler guage, which is a bent wire on the hollowing tool that can be set to any depth, and is free floating on the outside of your form till you get down to desired wall thickness. It is part of a small hollowing set from Sorby. Works fine on smaller pieces. Doesn't work so well on larger pieces.
robo hippy

[Burt Alcantara]

Lyle Jamieson has some information about this. Not sure if it's on the web site but I think it is on his DVD. I believe he calls it template turning. As described, it could be applied to any captured system.

Burt

[Alec Moseley]

Jamieson uses a pattern on a platform directly above the workpiece, following its outline with his laser attachment. May not be what you're asking about, which sounds sort of like a device similar to a duplicating attachment for spindle turning, but you may want to check out his "template" system.