I could not buy it so I made it.

[Alan Trout]

Here is a project I have been working on rather than making pieces. While there was a bit of turning involved it was not wood. Along with a bit of milling, welding along the way. I have maybe 60+ hours is design and building of the project with a few more hours to go. Basically while I like all of my hollowing equipment there were limits with all of them. While I am sure this has its limits it is much better than anything I have ever tried.

What I wanted was a hollowing rig that was super stable, ridged, nimble, fluid, and would work as well on a 4" vessel as a 24" vessel. I think I have built what I am looking for from test pieces I have done. This is a X, Y, axis hollowing rig set on linear guides used for machines. They are different from a standard linear bearing as the bar is the race and each block has 4 rows of ball bearings. There is no slope anywhere and take a tremendous amount of load in several directions without binding. It is just as smooth with or without load. The spindle and hub that hold the boring bar carrier have deep grove ball bearings with tapered roller bearings so the hub can have pre-load and no slop whatsoever. The boring bar height is fully adjustable from about a 15" swing lathe all the way to a 30" swing lathe. and is capable of 24" of depth. The only limiting factor is the rigidity of the boring bar. There is no slop at all in the guide ways and is just as ridged from one end to the other. The unit is use feels like it is on air and has the feel of hand hollowing except it is fully supported. I am still working on my own laser as It needs to be a bit bigger and I am also going to build my own fully adjustable tool rest. I am also making the y axis a bit longer. It has been fine so far but can see potential limitations with larger pieces so I have ordered another way bar which will replace the shorter one.

It will accept any boring bar with a 3/4" 5/8" or 1/2" shank with adapters. In the photo is a Kelton 1/2" bar which is really like on forms smaller than about 8".

This should really help with my production and give me some versatility without to many limitations. It has been a lot of work but I think it will pay for itself in the long run.

Thanks, for looking

Alan

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[John Keeton]

Alan, you are a multi-talented individual!! Impressive design, and well executed. Looks like you thought this through.

In use, is it a two handed operation - with one hand on the handle and the other (left?) hand on the bar for "feel"?

[David DeCristoforo]

OK This is one of those things that simply cannot be replied to without the use of forbidden expletives. It's "......." Awesome (expletive deleted)!!! I want one...

[Michelle Rich]

good golly..that's wonderful..you are quite a machinist!

[Alan Trout]

It has a handle so I guess you would say two hand one to guide the other the apply the cutting pressure or force. And thanks for the compliments.

Alan

[Alan Trout]

Thanks guys I appreciate it.

[Randy Gleckler]

That is awesome, I'm jealous and I love it. I agree with David, I want one.

[Paul Heely]

Nice work! I'm jealous that you have access to the shop to produce such things. I keep trying to convince my employer that we need a small machine shop. Can't wait to see what you produce with this thing.

[John Spitters]

Very well built !!
The only issue I can see is that you will need to make certain that you get no build up of pitch / gunk etc. on the race bars. The whole set up may appear to be a bit large as in space taken on the lathe bed but other than that excellent work, especially for something designed for deeper hollowing.

John

[Alan Zenreich]

Alan,

I like the cross slide. I wonder how it will perform in the presence of wood shavings and dust, please let us know your results.

[Rob Cunningham]

Beautiful machining Alan. That's a great idea using the linear slides.
One question- Are the white blocks (Teflon?) under the laser arm just for additional support and vibration dampening?

[Tim Rinehart]

Alan, an exceedingly clever approach. I'll be interested to hear how you like it over time. I keep thinking about other variations besides traditional Jamieson or articulated arm approaches. Hollow roller is pretty neat and Scott Hackler has one now to run thru paces.
Please keep us posted...I for one am intrigued by this design if as fluid as you describe.
The only thing I'd comment on, I don't see alot of room for movement in the Y direction (assuming X as parallel to bed travel). I often have difficulty with when doing the shoulder area of a HF that doesn't have much angle down from opening and having to really swing my back rest around alot to get the tool in and then at right approach. May just be I'm not seeing it in this setup too.

[David Reed]

Unlike DD, I will not delete the expletives - that is freekin' awesome! You really engaged in some serious planning and production to complete this. As others have stated, update us on it's performance.
I have on my (long) list a much less sophisticated hollowing tool to build but really like the workmanship on this.
Very nice

[Alan Trout]

This is being sent from my blackberry so please excuse mistskes. The bearing blocks have seals that wipe the bars. These things are intended for a rough enviroment. I still blow off the bars with compressed air. I am extending the Y axis I ordered a 30" bar for it. Those things are crazy expensive just the bar is $145. The lser on ther right now is from my monster. I am still building my design. But all of a sudden work has got busy so that is being put off a couple of weeks. It also works on a short bed lathe as the base is so ridged you can hng it way off the bed. On my shortbed woodfst I will build a support arm. so you do not need a long bed.

I litterly had dreams about possible problems with the design. but I thinks I have most figired out or addressed Well see.

Thanks,

Alan

[Hilel Salomon]

Holy Mackerel!!!!!!! I'm impressed, and feeling something that I simply never feel: jealous.

Hilel

[Jeff Fagen]

When are you going into production and quiting your day job?:)

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

I never get jealous. I'm just going to wait until you are out for dinner, then I'm going to STEAL it. Can you make an adapter so it fits my lathe. Just leave it in clear sight with a dish of cookies next to it. I get hungry when I steal something. By the way, how do you get to your house from Bangor, PA.
Great engineering and building. I hope all your work performs exactly as you imagined it.
faust

[Scott Hackler]

Thats really cool, but I have searched the entire thread a couple times and can't find the "Add to Cart" button! :)

[Reid Strand]

Looking at this, I feel inadequate, but who am I to complain? Any chance there will be some sort of video of it in action?

[Bill Bolen]

My jaw dropped back when you posted your stand for the DVR....with this I am speechless. That hollower looks to be heavy duty enough to hollow anything your mind decides the lathe could handle. Very impressive bit of design and construction. I've seen a lot of "factory made" accessories that are nowhere near this for a quality look. Congrats and am looking forward to future follow ups.

[Alan Trout]

Thanks for all the compliments. I really appreciate it. I really did this out of necessity, I need to help my production rate. I am going into the slow time of the year for my daily business so I will get more turning time over the next 4 months or so. I had talked with Ray at the Del Mano in August and he said they were really interested in having my Acorn cap pieces. Those are very time consuming so I figured I should have the equipment to make the best use of my time and the most pieces I can.

I Plan on doing a video. I should be able to do it over the next month or so. I want to get everything tweaked and doing exactly as I expect. I really need to sit down and figure what my true production cost was. I bought a lot of material at the by the foot price which really makes the steel expensive and there could be a lot of savings in production cost there. plus buying screws, set screw etc. in volume would cut down on cost. The way bars and bearing blocks of course are the biggest expense in the project which was about $430. I am not saying that I would produce it but would like to see what it would cost if I did. I tried to do it as modular as possible. so just by simply changing clamp blocks and the bottom guide blocks it can be adapted to pretty much any lathe. That way if I am doing demos I can use it on almost any machine. It is heavy. I would guess probably about 50lb. but when you use it, it is very light to the touch and does not feel heavy at all and incredibly controllable.

Again Thanks,

Alan

[Jon Lanier]

I can't afford one either, and I have a feeling I couldn't afford this one. That is just an amazing feat of engineering! What a talent.

[Rick Markham]

Alan, Stunning work! Adding the handle where you did is a super nice touch. It's one of the things that is a fantastic feature on my favorite rig, it really helps make all your movements fluid and precise. That's really a fantastic setup, I can't wait to see what you make with it :) Did you design your own cutterheads? If so, would you be so kind to take some photos. You will have to excuse me, I have an obsession with cutterheads and tooling... as well as every other woodworking tool LOL

[Russell Eaton]

Alan that is a sweet looking tool. I must confess that I am a toolaholic, and like what you have made. Looks like your time was well spent.

[Alan Trout]

Rick,

I have very few turning tools but I am a boring bar junkie, I have several different styles. The ones I have made are generally a Jamison style of bar. I have the JT bars which I like for certain things and for my smaller forms I really like the Kelton bars. On my midsize stuff I lean towards the Trent Bosch, John Jordan style bars. They seem to work really well for what I do. The one thing I really like is carbide cutters. The reason is the resin and pigments I use is really hard on high speed steel and the carbide really cuts down on the sharpening time. I have some ideas for other bars but it will be a while before I get a chance to build any. I need to get making pieces for a while rather than making tools.

Thanks,

Alan

[Randy Privett]

Alan.

Really nice. Similar concept to what I've been working on for a while now, maybe you saw the YouTube on it. I don't know about posting linc's here, but with a little searching it can be found. Nice laser!:D210587

[Bob Bergstrom]

Alan you are truly one versatile person. Artist, marksman ,and now engineer. Beautiful construction. Looks like it would turn a tree trunk. Thanks for sharing all you do.

[Alan Trout]

Randy,

I agree it is a nice laser You did good:) I really appreciate the compliments I just need a bigger/longer one for this monster (Pardon The Pun). I was telling Bill Blasic what I had been working on and he mentioned that you had been working on a similar concept but I never saw it. Definitely similar concept with a different approach. Its funny great minds can think the same:D

Bob, Thanks for the compliments. Not many know of my shooting exploits, If all I had to do was turn and shoot skeet I would be a happy man. Now back to work inspecting a 75 room motel.


Thanks,

Alan

[Rich Aldrich]

Alan - Nice work. I have used these linear bearings on designs for te paper machine when I worked at the paper mill. They work very well.

[Baxter Smith]

Very impressive work on the lathe stand Alan, but this is a whole new level of machine work and design!

[Ryan Baker]

Nice work Alan. I wish I still had access to a machine shop. Those are fun projects to work on.