Show me your homemade hollowing laser arm set ups

[Ricc Havens]

Hey guys, Looking for ideas on a stable bracket for a laser set up for my homemade captured "jamieson" style hollowing system. The "D" handle I have is made from 3/4" welded steel bar. (I don't weld and the guy who made it for me has since moved out of the area so I don't have him available to make one for me..

Interested in ideas that will be sturdy and simple to make and attach to the "D" handle to hold the upright aluminum tube for the laser. So any photos, descriptions, how-to videos, etc. are greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Ricc
Elkhart, IN

[Ricc Havens]

Bump for the weekend crowd.

[Chris A Lawrence]

Here is mine it is welded and made out of 5/8 threaded rod, rod couplers and 3/4 mild steel tubing. The vertical rod can be threaded up and down same with the horizontal rod. Maybe you can adapt it to your needs of not welding it. One suggestion is to ditch the laser and go with a camera. I use a cheap micro usb endoscope cam i got off amazon. I plug it into my android tablet and tap a piece of transparency paper over the screen to draw the cutting tool with a sharpie.

[Ricc Havens]

Thanks Chris! I have thought of the camera option but I don't have the funds at this time even for a cheap no name brand tablet or laptop to use as a screen. I seem to be blessed with the "klutz" gene and with my luck I would knock it off whatever I had set up as a screen holder :) :)

[Peter Christensen]

A member in our club used a little door peephole type camera and plugged it into a TV with the supplied cables. Big screen, little screen probably an old tube set would work.

[Dwight Rutherford]

Ricc,

I used a laser on my Jaimeson rig for about 10 years, switched over to a camera 3 years ago. Here are some thoughts about the difference.

When using the laser, the red dot is only showing where the tip of the cutter is. This means one has to re-position the cutter often as you are hollowing through the interior curve of the form.
When using the camera set-up you see an accurate picture of the entire cutter so adjustment of the cutter is not nearly as frequent.

The lasers typically used are the inexpensive office type pointers and need to replaced frequently due to short battery life.
Additionally because of the constant vibration caused by the hollowing process they often fail.
The camera set up is useing a remote power source that doesn’t fail nor is the camera affected by vibration.

Cost of the laser is low but mitigated by the frequent battery and laser replacement.
Cost of a CCTV camera $20, 7” back up monitor $28, power source $7, total $55. This is in my opinion money well spent.

[Ricc Havens]

Thanks Dwight. I will have to give it some thought. the laser O have is a cheapie off ebay that has lasted me 5yrs with no issues. and, I use rechargeable AA as I have plenty around the house for other things. So I haven't had a big issue with costs over time. But the backup monitor is an interesting idea.

THANKS!

[Ricc Havens]

thanks for the idea Peter!!

[Hayes Rutherford]

This and a couple of larger versions using the same machined brass laser pointer have served me well. The cameras and monitors are so inexpensive now might have to try that route.

[Ricc Havens]

That's a sharp looking set up! Thanks!

[Keith Mombourquette]

I use a camera instead of a laser, but this should work equally as well for both. I used 3/4" square aluminum tubing. The wooden block at the top is just under 1 1/2" thick and has 3/4" channels for the aluminum to slide in. The 1/4" bolt holes are positioned so that tightening the knobs locks both pieces of tubing to lock in both vertical and horizontal positions.
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[Ricc Havens]

Thanks Keith! I like your set up sitht he video too! One of these days I hope to do that.

Ricc