Best handheld hollowing tool for smaller items?

[Rob Miller]

I'm presently doing smaller objects like bud vases, goblets, etc. What recommendations do you have for handheld hollowing tools? I'd like to do objects up to perhaps 10" deep or so, mostly vases with narrow necks. What are the best options without spending hundreds on a hollowing system?

[Hugh Buttrum]

Rob,
Pick up a copy of David Ellsworth's book and it will tell you how to make your own very cheaply. It is a good book anyway and well worth owning.
Hugh

[Harry Robinette]

Just my opinion. I like and use John Jordon's hollowing tools and the small Kelton's,must say I like John's better. Also Trent Bosch makes a very nice set allot like John Jordon's. Most all hand hollowing tools are scrapers of some kind. Cutting tools for hollowing are hook or ring tools.I have both cutting types and still prefer the scraper's.
Depth takes bigger tools which all the company's have.

[charlie knighton]

small items like xmas ornaments suggest Bob Rosand http://rrosand.com/articles/19-3.shtml

10 inch deep hollow forms you need hollow system or excellent gouge skill

[Thom Sturgill]

Charlie is right. 10" is not small when it comes to hollowing as you can't get the tool rest inside unless you have a large opening and an offset rest. thus you have a lot of steel out past the rest.

I use Ellsworth's tools both the 3/8" for smaller turnings and the large tools in long handles. Also a variety of other set ups. I have an arm brace - don't particularly like it, but use the boring bars that came with it with a straight 24" handle. It is not hard to make your own boring bars, there are several designs out there. Easiest is probably to buy bits (3/26" or 1/4" bars of HSS) that have the end ground round as it is easy to drill an appropriate hole and glue them in with a little CA. Heat the end to remove the cutter. The bar itself can be soft steel, though drill rod does seem to work better, less chatter.

You can also make bars that will take a carbide cutter.

A little harder to do, is to bend a good swan neck tool. Again, John Jordan (http://www.johnjordanwoodturning.com/John_Jordan_Woodturning/Tools_and_More.html) has a nice selection of tools with removable tips both straight and bent and in three sizes, also handles and adapters to allow the smaller tools fit the handles which are for 3/4" bars. I don't own any of his yet, was hoping to pick some up at the Florida symposium this year but they scheduled the same dates as Tennessee or Kentucky and you can guess which one he went to. I have been eyeing them for several years, but not doing many hollow forms, but like doing them and expect to do many more.

[Robert Henrickson]

10" deep is not small. For true small items (max depth around 4") -- Hunter tools. If there is a distinct shoulder, this would include the swan neck types.

[Lloyd Butler]

The cheapest is likely to make your own. A piece of 1/2" cold roll steel about 12" and a 5/8" bar about 18" would allow for mounting 3-4" into a handle.

You can end drill them, tap a thread in from the top and use short length of tool steel to make a straight cutter or you can drill a hole through the side of the bar at a angle and tap into that for a side cutter. You can grind a flat shelf on the top of the bar end and tap a thread into it and use flat scrapers, The flat scrapers can be cut from kids ice skate if you have access to a used sporting good store or Thrift store. The blades can be cut off and the plastic mounts melted off and there are 4-5 holes already in the blade. Use a cut off wheel and make the shape you think you want to use and then sharpen it up. Drilling new holes in the blades is hard, but using the existing holes works great. Or you can buy carbide cutters and use those on your bars.

You want to try and remember that as a first pass safety thing, try to keep the ratio of tool extension off the tool rest to handle length about 1:5 or 1:7. So for each inch of tool extension over the tool rest try and have 5-7" of length on the other side of the tool rest, it does not all need to be handle. This will allow you to keep control of the tool as you work.

[Greg McClurg]

I use Mike Jackofsky's hollowing tools which I really like. They are worth a look.

Greg

[John Keeton]

This same topic comes up often, and for good reason. There are a host of hand held hollowing tools out there - some good, some better. And, most folks wander along, buying this set, then that set - trying to find the "best set", when in reality, they all do nearly the same thing. Eventually, they come to the realization that there is little about taking out the inside of a turning that is anything other than brutal work. After having spent $150 here, $100 there, and another $200 somewhere else, they finally decide to save their elbows and buy a captive or articulated hollowing system. Of course, by that point, the money spent on the various hollowing tools would have gone a long way toward a system, and the ride along the way would have been much more enjoyable.

The stark reality is that if you think you are going to enjoy doing vase forms and other hollowed vessels, the wise move would be to investigate the 3-4 most used systems, bite the bullet and skip the search for the best hand held tool. I do speak from experience, though I came to the realization much earlier than some. I chalk that up to the frailties of age, and my elbows and wrists telling me much quicker than they might a younger person.

[Dwight Rutherford]

The advice offered by John Keeton and others is excellent! I do mostly hollow forms and very seldom use the many hand tools I bought or made. A word of caution, if you do decide to use hand held, do not get an arm brace! In my opinion they are an accident waiting to happen. I am not the only person to get a torn rotator cup. For serious hollowing a captive system is the way to go.

[Dale Miner]

Agree 100% with John K.

Hand held tooling is fine for Xmas ornaments and other small items up to about 4" deep. A captive system will save wear and tear on your body on deeper items.

Having said that, this piece was dlne by hand with hook and hooded tools for the rough out and final turnings. It is end grain at 17.5" deep x 15" dia.

[Rob Miller]

John, I think you make a lot of sense, as do the others. I just bit the bullet and bought a bandsaw, though, so it's going to be a while before I can pitch for another expensive piece of equipment. I suppose I'll have to focus on vessels with a wider mouth for the time being unless I can come up with a super cheap hollower to use in the interim. Both time and money are limited. No sense wasting either on blind alleys.

[Paul Williams]

IMHO you want to start out with wider mouth openings anyway so you can see what the tool is doing. It is easier to learn to use a tool correctly when you can see it operate. You might even use your new hollowing tool on a bowl for the first run at it.

[Thomas Heck]

Not sure how much you want to spend, but I bought a tool from dway that does a good job and is pretty simple to use. It is less than$200.

[Rob Miller]

Not sure how much you want to spend, but I bought a tool from dway that does a good job and is pretty simple to use. It is less than$200.

What did you buy?

[John Keeton]

Rob, Dave uses this tool (http://www.d-waytools.com/tools-hollowing.html) to do his hollowing.

286439

I have seen him use it in person and it is impressive. Keep in mind that he is an experienced turner and that was certainly not his first rodeo!

[Rob Miller]

Rob, Dave uses this tool (http://www.d-waytools.com/tools-hollowing.html) to do his hollowing.

286439

I have seen him use it in person and it is impressive. Keep in mind that he is an experienced turner and that was certainly not his first rodeo!

That seems a fairly simple tool to put together, really. The wall measurement device is interesting.

[Jim Leslie]

I use the 3 small Hunter tool hollower set in a Kelton handle. Works well for me..

[Peter Blair]

I too agree 100% with John. I went through a lot of tools, starting with a Sorby then on to a Elbo and now use home made ones for miniature turnings but really like Dave's (as above) for HF that have a wider opening and are less than about 8" deep. For deeper or with smaller openings I always grab my Kobra which I now have set up to use from 3/8" diameter tools to 1".

[Dave Fritz]

Dave makes that tool in a right or left hand set up. If your lathe reverses you can turn backwards and not have to reach all the way over the ways to undercut a lip. Nice idea.

Dave Fritz

[Peter Blair]

Yes, this is one of the ones I have and find it interesting to turn in reverse. I am pretty used to hollowing with the counterclockwise rotation so I'm not sure about the benefit but I guess it does feel a little more comfortable.

[Dennis Ford]

I use hand held tools for most of my hollow forms and for the upper portion of ones that require a hollowing system. I do not agree that the process has to be "brutal". I often use an arm brace and find it makes the process more easily controlled. A note about the arm brace; it is NOT there to help control torque. The benefit of an arm brace is to put you closer to the action while having the leverage of a long handle. The cutting tip should be in line with the straight portion of the shank AND the straight portion MUST be over the too rest (when this is right there is no torque). I would not suggest an arm brace for a beginning turner, they should be doing forms small enough that an arm brace is not needed. Once anyone gets good at making the small HFs, they are not a beginner anymore.
One of the biggest mistakes that I see is using too large of a cutter. Hollowing requires that the tool is over the tool rest a long ways, the cutter needs to be small and sharp so that it does not put too much force on the handle and "beat you up". Some of my tools have 3/16" cutting tips, some have 1/8" tips, once the hollowing is done, I will VERY CAREFULLY use a larger tip for clean-up.

[Peter Lamb]

Well said Dennis. I could not agree more.