There is a Monster in the shop

[Ted Evans]

Well, thanks to Steve and Bernie, primarily, I spent this month’s rent money on a Monster, there is no baby food in the house but there is a Monster in the shop. HF’s both fascinate and intimidate me so I felt it best to take the weenie way out and learn on a more controlled system. This group is definitely a bad influence on us weaklings.

Now I have a question, what methods do those of you who use a system with a laser, use for setting the laser relative to the bit? Randy’s instructions seems to place it at the edge of the bit whereas, Jamieson places his approximately 3/16” off in his video. Not having a lot of time to experiment with mine so far, I tend to find it easier to use it as Jamieson describes, at least most of the time, what say you?

As many of you have stated, Randy is a great guy to do business with and is very dedicated to quality control, a great product.

Thanks for any comments and/or suggestions.

Ted

[Richard Golde]

I have the Jamison systen and like the laser 3/16 to 3/8 outside of the cutting tip. The reason is you just stop cutting when the laser drops off the hollow form. A no brainer if your thinking about everything else and you don't have to worry about uniform wall thickness. Two things to constantly remember are
1. to make the walls uniform in thickness the distance from the cutter to the laser has to be 90 degrees to the wall on a curved surface to get a uniform wall thickness.
2. make equal depth cuts from center to the edge. If you cut deeper at the edge than the center(there is a tendency to do that) the backside of the cutter can catch and it can get real ugly real fast.
Richard Golde

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ted - Congrats on your new lathe! Looking forward to the photos!

When I start out hollowing - I have the laser set right on the center portion of the cutter. I want to know where it is but am not to concerned about wall thickness until I have an area hollowed to work in. Once you get to the point that you can start taking the walls down to whatever final thickness you want - then you set the laser to that thickness - keeping in mind that in order to get an accurate indication of where the laser is - it has to be inline with the cutter and 90* to surface of the wood the cutter is making contact with. If the laser is not 90* - the thickness of the wood will vary more or less than what you intended and you may get a surprise design opportunity!

Scroll down this thread and I have a few photos that show what I am talking about and hopefully clear up my description of how to adjust the laser.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116958

[Lance kanaby]

I have a Jamieson style system with laser for hollowing, but prefer my Kelton Hollowing Rig with the Laser System. I use the 5/8" Kelton Hollowers and also have the 5/8" Woodcut Proforme Hollowers. The Kelton Rig works well on a short bed lathe.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I use the Jamieson as taught by Jamieson.

As stated by Steve..it's not important while roughing. Unfortunately....if you forget to set it............:o

[bob svoboda]

Congratulations and welcome to the Mustard club!! :D

[Jon Lanier]

Congratulations! Monter's are fun to have around. Who cares' if the kids eat.:rolleyes:

[James Combs]

Ted - ...Scroll down this thread and I have a few photos that show what I am talking about and hopefully clear up my description of how to adjust the laser.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116958

Does anyone have a photo of this rig you guys are talking about so someone can see the big picture? Maybe a link to the manufacturer's web?:confused:

Edit: Never mind I found it. https://www.lylejamieson.com/tools/lasertool.asp. Now I understand it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Yea, yea, yea Ted, yada, yada, yada Ted. Now quit whining and get turning.:eek::D;):rolleyes:

I pretty much do the same as Steve. I put the laser dead on the tip while I am roughing but as soon as I see it getting close to the edge then I set the laser to whatever wall thickness I want. Generally that is a 1/8" to 3/8". I would suggest you start with a little thicker walls such as 3/8" till you get used to using that monster. Check out Steve's link and it shows you pretty much how to set it. Generally it is set at least for me 3 to 4 different ways on the way down to the bottom. Have fun Ted. You will be amazed at how controlled the unit is and easy to use.

[Steve Schlumpf]

James - here is Randy's website. Check out the section on hollowing systems and you will see what the system looks like.

http://monster-lathe-tools.com/cart.php

[George Guadiane]

I have the Monster articulated arm and could not be happier! Except for the tool rest that I finally acquired from another source, Randy IS as good as you can get when it comes to customer service and his products have been OUTSTANDING in my experience.
As others have said, in the roughing stages, the laser isn't necessary (so long as you're paying attention).
I'm going to go with; either/both.
I tend to use both... The important thing to remember is the location of the light, relative to the actual point of cutting. I've made a couple of funnels (so far) WITH the laser because I didn't pay attention to that.

When I'm trying to get REALLY thin, along with listening, I use the laser at about zero.

Practice and undistracted attention are essential to success, no matter what.

[Bill Bolen]

You've gotten some great tips so far but you know the rule.....no pic?...didn't happen,,Bill,,

[Ted Evans]

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Ok, I finally got time to practice with my new toy, er tool. After using it a little, I am glad that I decided to go with Randy's Monster articulated system, it works very well for us less skilled. Will try to post some pictures.

These two were a piece of cake with this great system.

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Of course I am kidding, the third picture is the one I did with the Monster. Nothing special, just experimenting with the system, trying to get the feel of it. Only decided at the last to put a finish on it. The walls are 1/8 to 3/16 except at the bottom, it is about 1/4. Dims are 7.5 high, 4 wide. Walnut turned green over a period of 4 days, sanded to 400 and sprayed with pre-cat lacquer. This the first vase/HF that I have done, not counting the midgets.

148888

[John Keeton]

The proof is in the puddin' !!! Nice work on that one, and I REALLY like the mini's!!:D Nice form on all, and that finish on the walnut is very nice.

[Ted Evans]

Thanks to all for your comments and/or suggestions, they are a great help. Many of them were used on the practice Walnut vase and worked very well for me.

John, and others, I have been doing some of the miniature HF's trying to develop some skills with lines and form. A question, is it a bad practice using the small pieces as opposed to larger ones for this purpose? There are a couple of reasons why I do the small ones, I can finish them in a short time frame and, I do not waste a nice piece of wood practicing.

Again, thanks to all for your comments, I appreciate them.