Monster 1" Boring Bar

[Fred Belknap]

I tried the new 1" boring bar I got for the Monster Hollowing system. I am disappointed in it performance. It is advertised 12" long but 1.5" is the mount in the articulating arm. The add says 8"+ but at that you would have the length of the cutter + an 1.5" to hold on to. I managed to do a vase at about 9" by using a hollow gate sticking down in the vase as a toolrest. Lots of vibration. At least the regular bar comes with an extension. Anyone else tried this bigger bar, if so how did it work for you??:(

[Bill Hensley]

Fred I had a similar experience after having a local shop make one for me. I can get a little deeper but the vibration returned. I believe the problem is on the back end, it just flexes too much. My current solution is to wrap ankle weights around the head joint to try to counter balance the cutting end. It works pretty good to dampen the vibration. I'll keep experimenting until I find a real solution.

[Russell Eaton]

Fred, I used the 1" bar but only on the captive system. I had a lot of vibration with the articulated system. I was able to do a 13" vase of Holy and had little problem at all. On a side note, I bought my articulated system used and had to tighten the bolts a little and that helped a lot. Russell

[Allan Ferguson]

Just had to tighten one of the bolts on my monster system to take out vibration. Things smoothed right up.

[Ken Glass]

Fred,
I opted to have a 1" x 16" Stainless bar, and a 1" x 20" goose neck bar made for my Monster Articulating rig at a friends machine shop. With it, I turned a 14" vase with little or no trouble. I found that having more bar length gave me much more hand control in guiding the tool and keeping down chatter.

[John Waver]

Ken, you have a pic of those bars? I'd like to see those.

[Fred Belknap]

Thanks guys for the info and advise. I tried the connections and one was a little loose. After I tightened them the arm was a little stiff. I like the idea of making a longer bar for the Monster system. I don't know any machine shops around here locally, may be some I don't know about. I guess I will just eat the bar form Monster. I have been thinking of going with the captive system, probably not Monster system, maybe Jamison.

[Ken Glass]

John,
I'll take a picture and post it tomorrow morning.

Fred,
I trade turnings for machine work with the owners wife, and it works out well for us all. I think, if I remember, I traded a 10" Purple heart Platter with inlay around the rim for both the stainless bars. I thought it was a good trade....

[Gary Max]

I agree with Kens thought----- you need to increase the size and lenght of the complete system for it to work right. Having a longer tool rest also helps.
:DI have built several of the bigger bars.