Homemade Articulated Hollowing Tool Question

[Doug W Swanson]

Hey all,
Since I'm itching to try some hollowing (and I'm on a limited tool budget) I was going to make an articulated hollowing tool similar to the Steel Snake by Eddie Castelin:

http://eddiecastelin.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/steelsnake.54183757.pdf

This looks like a good set up but I think I'd rather have the tool be mounted in the main bar and not in the square tube that's welded on the side. I know Eddie uses the square tube for ease of building but I should be able to get a hole drilled in the main piece by a friend that has a metal shop.

Any recommendations for hollowing tools to mount in the Steel Snake?

I've got a couple of Sorby tools I could use but I'm just wondering if Kelton or Hunter type tools would be better. Or maybe it would be better if the main piece could hold multiple size tools. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Eric Gourieux]

Doug,
Here is my home made hollowing snake. I, too, have a buddy with a metal shop. He helped me with the assembly of the snake. All but one of the tools is home made, too. They are very easy to make, if you have a vise and a grinder. I use either a scraper or one of a variety of carbide tips. These tools can also be mounted in my Sorby handle for hand hollowing. My snake attaches to the tailstock and is secured with a through-screw (not pictured).
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The stability of the square tool is nice for some tools, but I also like the ability to roll a round tool to adjust my cutting angle.

[Bob Wolfe]

The carbide cutters are fine for giving you a nice finish cut, but you don't want to do much hollowing with them because it will be a very slow process. You can do a lot with just straight bars with 1/4" and 3/16" HSS square cutters and bars with the cutter coming out at an angle (like the Ellsworth hollowing tools). I would rather have cutters that I can replace when they get ground away then having to replace the entire bar. I built my rig out of 1" square steel solid bar and have been very happy with it. I still need to get (or make) hook tool for mine like Eric's. Good luck with your build.

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[neil mackay]

looks like you would have not trouble turning concrete with this one :) Its darn solid.

[Harry Robinette]

Doug
Try seaching Home Made Monster cutters.I think thats what I called it. It's probable about 4 pages back. I built them for my hpme made hollower and the work great.

[Doug W Swanson]

Thanks for the answers.

So should the hole I drill for the replaceable bars be 1/2" then? Does that seem to be the standard size?

[Bob Wolfe]

Doug, I would say you should drill for the largest size boring bar that you think you might use, then you can use sleeves or bushings when you use small diameter bars. Another possibility is to grind down the end of the larger diameter bars to fit the hole you drilled. I would not grind down a 3/4" bar to 1/2", but grinding down to 5/8" would be OK. I really don't think there is a "standard size" with these guys. Everything depends on your hollowing needs. I went with 5/8" hole with mine.