Shop pencil cup

[Phillip Key]

I've been itching to turn something for a month or so, but a shortages of wood and time have kept me from it. This afternoon, I told myself I was going to get out in the shop an turn something even if it was just practice cuts on whatever scrap I could find.

I came across a chunk of oak with a pretty good sized crack running all the way through it and decided I'd turn a cup for pencils/pens/markers in the shop, unless the wood flew apart at the crack. I turned it round, glopped some epoxy in the cracks and hollowed away.

Hollowing was pretty tough in the very dry, hard wood without a proper hollowing tool. My back and shoulder are a little bit sore from the effort, but its the good kind of sore ;)

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_uK9tiXhcHCs/S8EvpF5S6-I/AAAAAAAAA_M/9OpOCuc5ekA/s400/iPhone%20045.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_uK9tiXhcHCs/S8EvpkI8oKI/AAAAAAAAA_U/h2SX9_BejWU/s400/iPhone%20047.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_uK9tiXhcHCs/S8Evp67ZBrI/AAAAAAAAA_c/27rhzCgKepM/s400/iPhone%20049.JPG

The last photo shows the cup next to my "hollowing system" :p

[David E Keller]

Congrats on the shop time... Not a bad idea. I've got pencils and pens scattered all over the place, so maybe I'll give something like this a go.

BTW, nice cup.

[Rich Aldrich]

Nice job and good idea. I think my shop needs a couple of these. Maybe I can find a pencil.

[Steve Mawson]

Good idea, turned out well.

[Phillip Key]

Can anyone recommend a good beginner level tool for hollowing? I'd like to be able to do fairly deep, fairly straight sided stuff like this and, eventually, try my hand at a nice real hollow form like so many of you folks do so well. It needs to be fairly inexpensive and suitable for my little Jet lathe. I don't see myself upgrading to one of the big boys anytime soon.

[John Keeton]

Phillip, I don't have much experience in hollowing, particularly through a small entry. But, the tool I use is from Jeff Nicol, and has served me well. There are a bunch of various systems, and I think there was a recent thread on which hollowing tools folks used. You may want to do a search. Good luck, and great job on the cup, BTW - particularly with the tools at hand!

[Jim Underwood]

For hollowing through a small hole, there's a myriad of tools out there. I have not a clue what to tell you to get.

ON the other hand, for projects such as this one and turned boxes that aren't very deep, I just use a 3/8 spindle gouge. I use it like like a drill in the center of the piece with the flute turned to 10-O-clock, then sweep the tip to the outside edge. That's right, just jam it into the center and hog it out. (I've seen Stuart Mortimer agressively drill a deep hole this way.) It hollows out pretty quickly, and if it's sharp, leaves a decent finish as long as you take light cuts at the end.

For cutting recesses for box lids or inside chucking, I use a skew like a scraper.... That sharp tip can make a decent cut on end grain.

How did you use the parting tool on it? How well did it work?

Is that gouge a spindle gouge or a bowl gouge? I imagine if it's the bowl gouge it got pretty "grabby" if you got that wing over into the outside edge...

[Frank Van Atta]

I have a lot of hollowing tools, but use a spindle gouge more than anything else.

[Richard Madison]

Nice work Phillip. We must need lots of pens and pencils, as we have four or five pencil cups in the house and four more in the shop. Every so often one of them sells or is given away and I get to make another one.

If you have basic metal working ability I can send a photo of my first (and still best) boring bar I made maybe 10-15 years ago. It uses 3/16" metal cutting tool bits, about $3 each.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Phillip - nice save on the Oak! Good looking and functional pencil cup! I am sure you will get lots of use out of it!

A good hollowing tool to start off with is the Sorby multi-tip. The bar is flat on one side which helps keep the cutting tip from rolling with the forces. Here is one version - and I just grabbed this vendor as a source - not endorsing them, so shop around:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2004248/16035/Sorby-Midi-Multi-Tip-Hollow-Tool.aspx

[Phillip Key]

For hollowing through a small hole, there's a myriad of tools out there. I have not a clue what to tell you to get.

ON the other hand, for projects such as this one and turned boxes that aren't very deep, I just use a 3/8 spindle gouge. I use it like like a drill in the center of the piece with the flute turned to 10-O-clock, then sweep the tip to the outside edge. That's right, just jam it into the center and hog it out. (I've seen Stuart Mortimer agressively drill a deep hole this way.) It hollows out pretty quickly, and if it's sharp, leaves a decent finish as long as you take light cuts at the end.

For cutting recesses for box lids or inside chucking, I use a skew like a scraper.... That sharp tip can make a decent cut on end grain.

How did you use the parting tool on it? How well did it work?

Is that gouge a spindle gouge or a bowl gouge? I imagine if it's the bowl gouge it got pretty "grabby" if you got that wing over into the outside edge...

It's got a pretty deep flute, so I guess it would be classified as a bowl gouge? It did get a bit grabby. I was nervous about hollowing it out, so I left the center in it as long as I could, which made it more difficult, really. If I do another one, I'll try taking the tail stock off from the beginning and doing it the way you suggested.

I used the parting tool to square up the corners of the bottom and make the bottom flat, so basically I used it as a scraper. It was okay at first, but as the cup got deeper, it got pretty bouncy.


Nice work Phillip. We must need lots of pens and pencils, as we have four or five pencil cups in the house and four more in the shop. Every so often one of them sells or is given away and I get to make another one.

If you have basic metal working ability I can send a photo of my first (and still best) boring bar I made maybe 10-15 years ago. It uses 3/16" metal cutting tool bits, about $3 each.

That'd be great. I don't have much metalworking experience, but my dad does.


Phillip, I don't have much experience in hollowing, particularly through a small entry. But, the tool I use is from Jeff Nicol, and has served me well. There are a bunch of various systems, and I think there was a recent thread on which hollowing tools folks used. You may want to do a search. Good luck, and great job on the cup, BTW - particularly with the tools at hand!

Thanks John. I'll do a search later today when I have time to research. My birthday's coming up in a few months, and I think my gift to myself might be a couple of decent tools. :D


Phillip - nice save on the Oak! Good looking and functional pencil cup! I am sure you will get lots of use out of it!

A good hollowing tool to start off with is the Sorby multi-tip. The bar is flat on one side which helps keep the cutting tip from rolling with the forces. Here is one version - and I just grabbed this vendor as a source - not endorsing them, so shop around:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200...llow-Tool.aspx

Thanks Steve. I thought one of the multi-tip tools would be good, but I didn't have any idea which one to look at.

[Mike Peace]

For end grain things with a large opening like lidded boxes and pencil pots, I typically use a 3/8 or 1/2" spindle gouge for the bulk of the hollowing and then finish up with a 1/2" scraper to get the side walls straight and clean up the bottom. Both of the scrapers I use are from a HF set of 8 tools. One is rounded and one is square. Thw square one was reground from a round one. Penn State has a 1/2" round nose scraper for $12.50. Can't get much cheaper than that.

[Richard Madison]

Phillip, If you're a "tool snob" this boring bar is not for you. It is very ugly, very cheap to make, and very, very effective. From left to right, 3/16" metal cutting tool bit, 1/2" square bar stock, 1/2" steel pipe, and piece of an old hoe handle. For small openings you can score the tool bit and break it into two or three shorter pieces. The slot in the square bar was cut with an abrasive cutoff saw. Drilled and tapped for 1/4-20 allan set screw, other end ground somewhat round to fit inside the 1/2" pipe. Pipe was drilled and tapped for two more set screws. O.A. length is 26". My tool bits are round nose, ground at ~75 degree included angle with the heel ground a bit more to shorten the bevel. The fellow I got the square bar from had none in stock to sell, so just gave me two short pieces which I welded together to make the bar in the pictures. Had some scrap 1/2" pipe in my junk pile (which my wife calls the "salvage yard").

Edit: Forgot to mention that the tool bit can be positioned at a variety of angles, either left or right.

[Mike Minto]

I have a shop pencil cup, myself; made from a cherry vase gone bad :rolleyes:.