Articulating hollower measurements

[Frank Sornson]

I'm in the process of making an articulating hollower, and I'm wondering what the length of each section should be. There is a great write-up here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?164569 ,which I am designing this after, but this was set up for a mini lathe. I have a Jet 16-42, and I'm wondering what the length of the arms should be. Does some have the measurements of a monster?

[Doug W Swanson]

I'm not sure if there is a science to the lengths of the sections but I based mine off of the Steel Snake:

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

Hope this helps....

[Frank Sornson]

There was also this link: http://woodchux2.webs.com/hollowingtool.htm that suggest 8". If I don't hear any different I will go with that measurement.

[Phil Rose]

When I made mine I generally followed the length dimensions from the woodchuck plans, but beefed it up a bit on the width of the steel. I found the laser mount quite a bit shaky so upped the diameter of the vertical post and milled for the top to create something similar to the Monster laser. I found a laser on Amazon, mounted at one end of a long square tube, and ran wires to a battery pack at the other end. Been very happy with the results, and learned about about working steel (and generated an interest in purchasing a milling machine ... On the list now)

[Fred Belknap]

Frank I was in the shop and remembered to measure mine. The arm attached to the post is 9" and the one attached to the tool is 8".

[Thomas Canfield]

Frank,

I made a wood prototype of all pieces including pivot post and base and tested the movement on my lathe. It was a simple thing to do, and it caused me to make some changes. A friend then made steel
to match. The lenght of the 2 swing arms/bar should be equal in my opinion, and the actual tool holder long enough for the insert hole , swivel, and any mounting thread for lazer fixture. I had the swivel post base made with 3 sets of mounting holes to allow mounting the post off the center of the ways to allow working in a larger diameter piece through a small opening, but have not used that feature to date.