What speed do you hollow at?

[Tim Thiebaut]

In the past I have been running about 1700rpm while hollowing, I have had some fairly massive catchs. This morning I tried it around 500-700 on a new piece I have started and didnt have one single catch...well it started to but I was easily able to keep it from getting out of hand at this speed and I recovered from it. It is taking me a lot longer to hollow my current piece at this speed, but much easier to control.

So I was just curious, at what speed are you hollowing at?

[Roger Chandler]

Tim,

with my monster rig, I have found that the sweet spot is usually 750 - 1050 rpm. I like the way the tool reacts best at this speed range.........just my $0.02.......

[Jack Mincey]

I never turn any bowl over 1000 rpm's and usually hollow my HF's around 800 rpms unless they are large and than I slow down a bit. I'm a firm believer in turning at slower speeds. Things just go way bad at high speed when something doesn't go as planned. I would rather not have bad things happen at the lathe and keeping the speed down really helps in this department. It is just amazing how much more potential for disaster is present when one cranks the speed up on a lathe when turning larger items. It would be interesting for an engineer to give us the difference in kinetic energy one creates when they turn an 10" dia. bowl from 800rpms up to 1600rpms.

Turn Safe,
Jack

[Johnny Taylor]

I tend to hollow at around 1500 rpm with my rig, the thinking being a gentle cut at this speed should remove as much as a heavier cut at a lower speed. I guess I like to get the hollowing part done as quick as I feel safe doing so...lol

Johnny

[David E Keller]

I'm generally in the 850 to 1150 range depending on what the piece of wood is like and how it's cutting.

[Dick Wilson]

Tim, I do a fair amount of hollow turning and I rarely go over 880. I have not come across the wood yet which can't be hollowed at that speed. Yes, you could probably hollow faster at higher speeds but I always fall back to my question of the day ---WHY???? IMHO it is also much safer.

[John Hart]

Are we talking Hollow Forms? For those, I hollow around 800. 1700 sounds like a decent finish scraping speed but not for the actual hollowing...for me anyway.

[charlie knighton]

i generally hollow around 450 to 550, may speed up to 700 for finishing cuts, the last month i have increased my production, i hope my quallity will continue to improve as turn a little more, its starting to be fun again

i have always heard keep it below 1000 and you will not dent your face mask

[Steve Schlumpf]

Tim - for hollow forms I usually run somewhere around 850 to 1050 rpm. Sometimes slower - depending on the wood and sometimes a little faster for a finishing cut. Bowls are usually around the 950 to 1050 range.

[Thomas Canfield]

The correct answer(s) should relate to surface speed at cut and also the maximum diameter/size of the piece. There is a lot of difference in hollowing a 4" D x 6" H piece and a 12" D x 15" H. Also a consideration is if there is a steady rest used to help prevent a catch from being a really bad situation. I know that higher speed generally works better for the small cutters used for hollowing, but there are safety considerations to limit speed also.

[Tim Thiebaut]

Thanks for the replys everyone, from the replys here I can tell I was going way to fast, especialy considering I am useing a hand held hollower and not any sort of captured rig like most of you are useing. I didnt quite get this HF finished up today but found I had a MUCH easier time at the slower speeds then I was having before. I dont mind it taking me a little longer to have more controll over my hollowing tool. Thanks again, Tim

[Kathy Marshall]

I usually hollow in the 900-1200 range with my Jamieson captured system. Before that when I was using hand held it was probably more like 700-900 (depending on size and wood type). Catches haven't really been an issue, especially with the captured system, I think mostly because I just don't make agressive cuts when hollowing (or for bowls or spindle work for that matter). It means I don't rough out or finish turn a piece as fast as anyyone else, but about the only time I have a catch is if I let my attention wander and don't pay attention to where my tool is.

[Wally Dickerman]

As has been said, RPM's is not the important figure here. Surface speed is. A 10 inch dia. HF vs a 4 inch dia. HF should have a very different RPM to achieve the same results.

When turning say a 5 inch dia. HF I usually turn at around 1600. I'm an experienced turner and that's the speed that I'm accustomed to. When I'm teaching beginning HF's I have the student turn at a much lower speed.

I once attended a demo by Cindy Drozda. She turned one of her 3 or 4 inch dia. HF's using 3 different centers, so much of it was off balance. She was turning at 3100 RPM's. I really think that was a foolish thing to do in front of perhaps 100 people, many of whom must have been beginners. I found it hard to believe that she was doing that so I walked behind her to check the digital readout. Yep, 3100.

[Jim Burr]

500-800 seems to work on my 1014. 800 allows the cutter to actually cut rather than scrape. Whatever speed you choose...turn safe!

[Don Alexander]

it takes alot less time to turn anything if you don't waste days, weeks , or even months healing up from being in a hurry just my 2 cents

[Jim Burr]

it takes alot less time to turn anything if you don't waste days, weeks , or even months healing up from being in a hurry just my 2 cents

Amen Brother!

[Jeff Nicol]

I have never even put the belt on the high speed pulley on my 3520 and only use higher speeds for final finishing of small things. If you use a good technique and sharp tools every process is fairly easy, but the wood will be the final deciding factor depending on species, figure, wet/dry, voids, knots and so one.

Since I hollow everything by hand without any captured system or articulating system (YET) the cutters and tools I use are all made by me for me and in some woods I can rough hollow a 14" deep 6" across vase in 15-20 minutes in wet wood, but time alive and all in one piece is better to have than more turnings finished.

Happy Memorial day all.
Jeff

[Toney Robertson]

As has been said, RPM's is not the important figure here. Surface speed is. A 10 inch dia. HF vs a 4 inch dia. HF should have a very different RPM to achieve the same results.

When turning say a 5 inch dia. HF I usually turn at around 1600. I'm an experienced turner and that's the speed that I'm accustomed to. When I'm teaching beginning HF's I have the student turn at a much lower speed.

I once attended a demo by Cindy Drozda. She turned one of her 3 or 4 inch dia. HF's using 3 different centers, so much of it was off balance. She was turning at 3100 RPM's. I really think that was a foolish thing to do in front of perhaps 100 people, many of whom must have been beginners. I found it hard to believe that she was doing that so I walked behind her to check the digital readout. Yep, 3100.

Wally, I have thought the same thing many times when I have seen or heard of demonstrators exhibiting as such high speeds. It is fine if they do that in their own shop but to do it with students is not wise IMO. Even with a disclaimer you know those same students go home and try it too, with possible bad consequences.

I know in my own experience, I had a friend watching me in the shop one day. I had a small bowl on the lathe and was doing a finish cut so it was going faster than normal. I don't have a read out on the lathe but probably 1200-1400 or so. I did not even know he had a lathe until the next time I saw him and he told me that he had been inspired, went home, got his lathe out of storage, put on a spindle piece, cranked it up and had a BAD catch. It jerked the gouge out of his hands and the piece off the lathe. He put his lathe back in storage. Now, if he had been hurt I would have felt terrible, not only because he is a friend but also because I would have felt partially responsible.

[John Hart]

...I know in my own experience, I had a friend watching me in the shop one day. I had a small bowl on the lathe and was doing a finish cut so it was going faster than normal. I don't have a read out on the lathe but probably 1200-1400 or so. I did not even know he had a lathe until the next time I saw him and he told me that he had been inspired, went home, got his lathe out of storage, put on a spindle piece, cranked it up and had a BAD catch. It jerked the gouge out of his hands and the piece off the lathe. He put his lathe back in storage. Now, if he had been hurt I would have felt terrible, not only because he is a friend but also because I would have felt partially responsible.

Excellent story and example.

[Nate Davey]

With my homemade, hand held hollowers I feel comfortable hollowing at about 800-1000 rpm, maybe a little faster for the smaller ones I've done. I'm a beginner at hollowing.