Richard Bell CA
07-28-2009, 6:19 PM
Hello all:
Up to this point I have primarily turned open bowls, and am now starting into hollow forms. While I have used straight shank Sorby Multi-tip tools and long scrapers for a few tall vessels, I decided it would be worthwhile to take the time to fabricate some tools to aid in the hollow forms. Attached are a few photos of tools to date, with inspiration and information gleaned from this forum as well as other sites. I am fortunate to have limited metalworking capability in my garage, which makes life a little easier. I would welcome any comments, particularly areas for improvement and suggestions for other tools that you have found helpful in your work. I would also be happy to provide additional information/sources/photos where I can. (Note that I have not painted anything yet, I will do this after I have a chance to work with the tools and make any required modifications.)
123942
The first photo shows several tools. The four on the bottom are 3/8" and 1/2" diameter shanks, with straight and swan neck configurations in each size. All use Hunter replacement cutters, 10MM cutters for the 3/8", and 12MM cutters for the 1/2". The swan neck configurations have the cutters placed at a 40 degree angle from horizontal, and were hot formed to achieve the shape. The handles are locally harvested black locust, with ferrules made from rigid copper tubing. The four tools on the top are 3/4" diameter shanks, and are intended for use in both hand held and hollowing rig configurations. The 5th and 6th from the top are tapered to accept a 10MM hunter cutter, while the last two at the top have square HSS metal lathe cutters. The black and blue handle in the center can be used with any of the 3/4" diameter tools. It is fabricated from mechanical tubing (the black area close to the tool shank is treated with gun blue) and the blue section is a textured rubber grip.
123943
The second photo shows a typical tip with the Hunter carbide cutter. The shanks were tapered and shaped on a metal lathe, followed by cutting the pockets and tapping the screw holes on a mill-drill. I used modified 8-32 screws for both size cutters, although I had to open up the hole in the smaller cutters by a few thousanths to fit the screw.
123944123945
The next two photos show a hollowing rig that borrows heavily from the Monster setup. One major difference is in the configuration of the captive bar. I used two pieces of 1 1/4" OD mechanical tubing (0.120" wall) separated by welded 1" square spreaders ( mechanical tubing is better than pipe for this application). The tube assembly can be flipped and rotated to potentially use all four ends as attach points for cutting tools (hope that makes sense). All four ends have been drilled and tapped for 1/4-20 set screws, and two have been fitted with 1" tubing to reduce the ID down to accept 3/4" shanks. The remaining two will accept 1" shanks if I need more rigidity, although I don't see a need right now. Another advantage of this configuration is that the shank attach point does not need to be machined (easy to fabricate new tools), and can be retracted or extended to any position. One thing I am concerned about is the rigidity of the laser attachment, which I will evaluate and modify as required after some use.
123946
The last photo is an articulated arm attachment that is still in work. It uses the same tools and support as the other hollowing rig. In both cases I added a screw adjustment to provide better height control. (It is the vertically mounted siver colored capscrew on the tailstock side of the support)
Well, that's it for now. This site has been a wealth of information for me, and I appreciate the opportunity to participate.
Up to this point I have primarily turned open bowls, and am now starting into hollow forms. While I have used straight shank Sorby Multi-tip tools and long scrapers for a few tall vessels, I decided it would be worthwhile to take the time to fabricate some tools to aid in the hollow forms. Attached are a few photos of tools to date, with inspiration and information gleaned from this forum as well as other sites. I am fortunate to have limited metalworking capability in my garage, which makes life a little easier. I would welcome any comments, particularly areas for improvement and suggestions for other tools that you have found helpful in your work. I would also be happy to provide additional information/sources/photos where I can. (Note that I have not painted anything yet, I will do this after I have a chance to work with the tools and make any required modifications.)
123942
The first photo shows several tools. The four on the bottom are 3/8" and 1/2" diameter shanks, with straight and swan neck configurations in each size. All use Hunter replacement cutters, 10MM cutters for the 3/8", and 12MM cutters for the 1/2". The swan neck configurations have the cutters placed at a 40 degree angle from horizontal, and were hot formed to achieve the shape. The handles are locally harvested black locust, with ferrules made from rigid copper tubing. The four tools on the top are 3/4" diameter shanks, and are intended for use in both hand held and hollowing rig configurations. The 5th and 6th from the top are tapered to accept a 10MM hunter cutter, while the last two at the top have square HSS metal lathe cutters. The black and blue handle in the center can be used with any of the 3/4" diameter tools. It is fabricated from mechanical tubing (the black area close to the tool shank is treated with gun blue) and the blue section is a textured rubber grip.
123943
The second photo shows a typical tip with the Hunter carbide cutter. The shanks were tapered and shaped on a metal lathe, followed by cutting the pockets and tapping the screw holes on a mill-drill. I used modified 8-32 screws for both size cutters, although I had to open up the hole in the smaller cutters by a few thousanths to fit the screw.
123944123945
The next two photos show a hollowing rig that borrows heavily from the Monster setup. One major difference is in the configuration of the captive bar. I used two pieces of 1 1/4" OD mechanical tubing (0.120" wall) separated by welded 1" square spreaders ( mechanical tubing is better than pipe for this application). The tube assembly can be flipped and rotated to potentially use all four ends as attach points for cutting tools (hope that makes sense). All four ends have been drilled and tapped for 1/4-20 set screws, and two have been fitted with 1" tubing to reduce the ID down to accept 3/4" shanks. The remaining two will accept 1" shanks if I need more rigidity, although I don't see a need right now. Another advantage of this configuration is that the shank attach point does not need to be machined (easy to fabricate new tools), and can be retracted or extended to any position. One thing I am concerned about is the rigidity of the laser attachment, which I will evaluate and modify as required after some use.
123946
The last photo is an articulated arm attachment that is still in work. It uses the same tools and support as the other hollowing rig. In both cases I added a screw adjustment to provide better height control. (It is the vertically mounted siver colored capscrew on the tailstock side of the support)
Well, that's it for now. This site has been a wealth of information for me, and I appreciate the opportunity to participate.