Homebrew articulated arm.

[Thom Sturgill]

With retirement looming (about 4 months) I have been working on some tools for the arsenal. Here are pictures of the articulated arm hollower that I built. This uses the same boring bar and base as the captured system that I showed earlier. The base is steel, but the arm is made from aluminum stock. I used roller blade bearings for the joints and it works smooth.
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The first image includes the 'proof of the pudding' - my first hollow form from the new system. Pecan and cocobolo 3 1/2" diameter and 5 1/2" tall. The second shows part of the only real purchases for the system so far - from VM woodworks I bought this and a handle and from Lyle Jameison I bought a carbide cutter to fit it. I also have one of Don Pencil's 'Scorpion' sets coming to complete the system.
I will be taking them to a club get together this weekend so that the other members can get a taste of stress free hollowing!!

[Richard Madden]

Looks good, Thom, and it appears to get the job done. There's some real satisfaction making your own tools...tools that do just as well as the store bought. Then, there is the $avings!!

[Bill Bolen]

Looks like a first rate system! The hf sure proves that it works well also. Congtrats...Bill...

[Jon Lanier]

Way to go, I wish I had that kind of ingenuity and talent.

[Chris Colman]

Your homemade arm looks good. Stress free is right. How did we ever live without some mechanical help?

Your HF is beautiful. Nice shape and great wood combination.

Look forward to seeing more like that.

[Roger Chandler]

That is a nice hollowing system! It has a lot of similarities to my new Monster rig. Are you going to put a laser on it? It is a great difference than doing hollowing with hand tools alone, is it not? Thanks for showing us your work here...........very nice indeed!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Looks like a nice system Thom. You did a great job with it on the HF. Really nicely done. Congrats on your upcoming retirement Thom. You are going to wonder how you had time for a full time job.:D:rolleyes:;) Doesn't seem like I have been retired for over a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice work! Really nice looking hollow form also! Proves your system works well! Have fun with it!

[Baxter Smith]

Great looking hollowform. Your hollowing system must work as good as it looks!

[John Keeton]

Thom, very nice work on the system - and, the form! It does appear you have an arm for a laser, and I assume you have one on there. Looks like you may have the laser stand portable so it can be moved to the captured system.

So...your signature line begs the question...are you going to move back to NC in 4 months????

[Roland Martin]

Very nice job on the hollowing system, Thom. Thanks for posting your results.

[Thom Sturgill]

So...your signature line begs the question...are you going to move back to NC in 4 months????

John, that's the plan. We are looking at Winston-Salem. I need to be close to a VA facility (and turning clubs). My wife wants to be near bookstores.

Roger, it does have a laser system, the upright post holds the cross-bar and moves between systems. It has a bit more vibration than I like, so I have to work on some dampers. The vertical is an aluminium post with a dowel glued in (similar to what Lyle uses, but smaller diameter) and a cutoff bolt epoxied in the bottom. I bought a laser 'module' on line and a small switch/battery box (that originally fed a blinking light) from Radio Shack and spliced a wire between them. The wire runs through the aluminum tube that is the horizontal arm.

[Bill Hensley]

Thom you did very well on both.

Let me know when you get to WS. There are some very talented turners in the area and the turning club meets in Greensboro, Piedmont Triad Woodturners (http://www.ptwoodturners.org/).

[bob svoboda]

Great job on both the system and the HF! NC is beautiful country with lots of interesting trees.

[Thom Sturgill]

Thom you did very well on both.

Let me know when you get to WS. There are some very talented turners in the area and the turning club meets in Greensboro, Piedmont Triad Woodturners (http://www.ptwoodturners.org/).

Bill, I've been to the club's site and I was at the 2009 symposium, so I know there are some talented turners in the area! I will be up for two weeks at the end of March (unfortunately, not in time for the club meeting) and plan on spending about a week in WS looking at properties and neighborhoods. Looking online I'm sure I can find something that I can afford that will allow me to set up shop. Just hope I don't have to do too much repairs as that takes a lot of energy and I 'm running short of that...

[charlie knighton]

congratulations, looks like a robust system