Hollowing tools?

[John Miliunas]

Fine. After seeing all the beautiful HF's around here lately, I'm getting this weird "urge" to try it!:rolleyes: I certainly can NOT afford the Jamieson type of rigs, nor do I have the means (or skills) to build one of my own. So, looking for opinions on a couple others, which look kind of interesting, but which may still be affordable. Namely, the following two: 1) Crown "Beaver" deep hollowing tool. 2) Oneway Termite .

Anybody use either of these??? Also, in the case of the Beaver, how does one go about sharpening the thing? I note that the Oneway comes with its own sharpening jig and stone.

In either case, both appear that they may be more docile to the novice and still do the job. Opinions, user feedback, other suggestions are welcome! I appreciate any help I can get on this one!:) :cool:

[Andy Hoyt]

John - Consider a hook tool which you can make yourself in lieu of a fancy store bought version. Here's a link (http://www.alanlacer.com/articles/basic_hook_tool.html) to a How To on the topic by Alan Lacer.

Alan demo'd making one for my club last September and then used it. It really gobbles wood. Most importantly, it's easy to sharpen.

Works best on end grain, but you can bend the drill rod to most any angle desired to make it most helpful on HFs.

[John Shuk]

John,
I have the Oneway termite and love it. It isn't quite the same as a hollowing rig tho. It is made for hollowing end grain but you won't be able to get and "enclosed form" which is to my mind what a hollow form really is. It is more made for boxes or cups and such. I find it works very well and sharpening is ingenious to say the least. I've made a few end grain bowls as well and it just chews thru the wood like crazy. It leaves a nice surface as well. Good luck.
John

[John Hart]

Keep in mind John, you've got a Bertha coming your way pretty soon. Just got the steel yesterday....Now all I need is a little time. Got any?

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi John

I have a whole pile of hollowing tools that range from a freebie I made myself many years ago up to a laser guided torque arrested rig that is worth almost $500. For speed and versatility I use my Ellsworth style hollowing tools made from some scrap wood, a bar of mild steel from the harware store, and a HSS tool bit glued into the end.

<img src="http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/hollowingtool02.jpg">

Here is a shot of the tools with some of the handle. You do not need something this fancy, but I was playing with the Legacy. The handles are about 30" long or so for leverage. Of course, you can make them as long as you want, since there is no tailstock to get in your way! ;) The ferrules are string whipped around the end of the handle and soaked in CA glue.

<img src="http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/hollowingtool01.jpg">

Here is a closeup of the tips. The bottom one is for regular boring out, the angled one is for most hollowing around the "corner", and the sharply angled one is for getting right around the tight corner just under the lip (if there is one). The colored lines are reference marks to keep the angled ones pointed in the right direction. The tips are held in place with CA glue. I got them from Woodcraft, but I don't think they sell them anymore, so you might have to hunt around a bit to find some, or make your own out of HSS stock. Total investment was about $50.00 or less for the three tools.

Good luck with it. The Vega is a GREAT lathe for hollowing! :D Except for using the laser rig, it gets preference over the Poolewood since it is so fast and easy to configure.

Bill

[John Miliunas]

Hey, I like the way you guys think!!!!:D Ways to save a buck are always a good thing!!! :D
John S., the idea of getting through end grain so easily is still very enticing! Thanks for the report.:)
John H., I've certainly got more time than $$$, but if you're serious about "Bertha", you'll need to let me know!!!:D
Andy, that's an interesting link, but I think Bill G. may have a "solution" a bit more my speed!:D
Bill, you are, after all, the master here! I really like your approach to this. I am, however, really, really surprised that the CA takes care of gluing duties on something which takes that much torque!!!:eek: What thickness of round bar stock are you using there? Also, how deep into the handle is it embedded? Sorry for the 3rd degree, but this is virgin territory for your truly!:o

Thanks much, gents!:) :cool:

[Greg Heppeard]

Keep in mind John, you've got a Bertha coming your way pretty soon. Just got the steel yesterday....Now all I need is a little time. Got any?
OK John, what's a Bertha? If it goes deep, I might be able to use one...I've had my eye on the Sorby Texas Bowl Gouge but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

[Blake McCully]

John,
Gotta pipe up here. What you may want to try for your first HFs are some small ones. Bill's tools, on a smaller scale would work fine. I found that a real important part of doing HFs is to get the feel and the sound of what's going on since you are basically doing it blind. Now, with this said, I'm not an HF expert but I have done a number of small ones. I'm not yet ready to tackle anything big yet, course don't have any tools to do the either:rolleyes: .

I hope this helps. Looking forward to your HFs. I know, I haven't posted many of mine. Just can't seem to get behind the camera all that much:confused: .

[John Hart]

OK John, what's a Bertha? If it goes deep, I might be able to use one...I've had my eye on the Sorby Texas Bowl Gouge but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Hey Greg....Bertha is a tool I made a couple weeks ago. Here's the thread. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=26673

I made a smaller hollowing tool over the summer that we all affectionately call "The Ugly Stick" but it was really too short and I couldn't make anything taller than 6 or 7 inches without being beat to death. Bertha solved that little dilemma for a little while.....that is...until my Secret Santa sent me a Hollowmaster!!!!!:D

[Carole Valentine]

Bill, I am assuming that the steel rods have been drilled out to accept the bits. Do you just do that on a regular drill press? How the heck does the drill bit get a bite on that round slick steel??? I obviously know zero about metal work, but would like to make some mini-hollowing tools. I have ordered some 3/16" HSS drill blanks to make bits from, but my next problem is figuring out how to mount them in a round steel shaft. I am surprised that CA glue holds them!

[Bill Stevener]

Hi John,

You may wish to check this old post. It may or may not help. No rocket science involved, and they work great. Very easy to change and adjust the cutting tips for angle and depth, as well as, have a stash of various shapes and sharpened ones on hand.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=197440#post197440

Hope this helps some,

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[John Miliunas]

Hi John,

You may wish to check this old post. It may or may not help. No rocket science involved, and they work great. Very easy to change and adjust the cutting tips for angle and depth, as well as, have a stash of various shapes and sharpened ones on hand.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=197440#post197440

Hope this helps some,

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

And yet another one with skills, which I don't possess!:rolleyes: I guess I need to search around for a site with some "how-to" guide(s) on "Making your own Hollowing Tools"!!!:D As you may have gathered, I'm not much of a steel guy, either!:rolleyes: :) :cool:

[Cecil Arnold]

Carole, sent you a PM on drilling round stock.

[Bill Stevener]

No idea as to who may have said it first, BUT.

If at First you Don't Succeed, Try, Try - Try Again.

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Hi John,

Here is a link to a site that uses concrete nails for the hook tool with pretty good instructions. http://aroundthewoods.com/tools.shtml

I have not tried this yet but it is on my list of things to try.

Good luck
Roger

[John Hart]

....I'm not much of a steel guy, either!:rolleyes: :) :cool:

I AM a Man of Steel (yuk yuk) and I'll tell ya John...There's no difference between wood and steel....Same stuff.....except that steel is harder....Well,...A lot harder....and it's a different color.... and it's made of iron....a little coal in there.....not much grain either....It's heavier too! Oh... and you can't bend it with steam. You know...the same...only different. hmmm :rolleyes:

[John Miliunas]

Hey Roger, that's a kickin' site! Thanks!!!:D :cool:

[John Miliunas]

I AM a Man of Steel (yuk yuk) and I'll tell ya John...There's no difference between wood and steel....Same stuff.....except that steel is harder....Well,...A lot harder....and it's a different color.... and it's made of iron....a little coal in there.....not much grain either....It's heavier too! Oh... and you can't bend it with steam. You know...the same...only different. hmmm :rolleyes:

Yeah and, you can't joint it, plane it, route it and yes, the grain pattern is rather boring!:rolleyes: :) :cool:

[Raymond Overman]

John,

You may have already made up your mind but for the money, John Jordan's small set of hollowing tools are a good start I think if you don't want to go through the hassle of making your own and don't want to spend the money on a large setup. I've used the Sorby tools and have not been impressed. That being said, I've made my own straight boring bar for less than $20 and am working on a set of small (Christmas ornament) tools. The straight boring bar is easy to make as a homemade tool.

I still like the Jordan bent tools though. They seem to be balanced so you have more torque control when you get into the form without having a capture rig.

Oh, and you can get the bits for making your own tools from Packard I think.

[Ron Ainge]

John
The HF's that i have posted on this forum lately was turned with tools very similar to the ones that Bill displayed. I have two sizes that I work with, one for x-mas bulbs and one for projects up to about 8 inches deep. I also have some Sorby hollowing tools but I find my self going back to the home made one first. I have a friend that makes them and he sell the sets at a price I was happy with. If you are interested let me know and I will ask him to contact you.

[John Miliunas]

John
The HF's that i have posted on this forum lately was turned with tools very similar to the ones that Bill displayed. I have two sizes that I work with, one for x-mas bulbs and one for projects up to about 8 inches deep. I also have some Sorby hollowing tools but I find my self going back to the home made one first. I have a friend that makes them and he sell the sets at a price I was happy with. If you are interested let me know and I will ask him to contact you.

Thanks, Ron!! PM'd you...:) :cool:

[Jim Becker]

I'm partial to boring bar type hollowing systems (straight followed by curved) and specifically captive systems. That said, it's good to learn with hand-held tools first to understand the process. The Sorby and/or Stewart tools are nice for this and the business ends can later be used in many of the captive systems.

I now use the Jamison system with both Lyle Jamison's tips and Trent Bosch's tooling. The reason I like the captive systems is that they take away the strain and tension that you have with hand-held tools, expecially in difficult forms or materials, and let you concentrate on the "art". hand-held tools on larger hollowforms are also very tiring and potentially, umm...hard to control as you proceed with aching arms.

BTW, I have a very small "home made" angled hollowing tool simlar to those in the pictures above that I use for very small hollowforms. It's Bob Rosand's design and is really nice for that kind of work as well as refining things near the rim of larger things.

[Bill Grumbine]

I am, however, really, really surprised that the CA takes care of gluing duties on something which takes that much torque!!!:eek: What thickness of round bar stock are you using there? Also, how deep into the handle is it embedded? Sorry for the 3rd degree, but this is virgin territory for your truly!:o

Thanks much, gents!:) :cool:

Hi John

Sorry to be so long in getting back to you. There have been big doin's here, obligatory stuff that I had to go to. CA glue does a pretty good job, but the shanks of the cutters are pretty well embedded in the shafts. How far that is I do not recall, but I guess I could just say, all the way. :p The bits I have came with little round shanks on them. The shafts themselves are 1/2" for the big ones and 3/8" for the smaller one.

Carole, all you need is a vise to clamp the metal shaft, and a punch to put a dimple in the wood where you want to start the hole. A jobber (typical) drill bit will follow it very nicely. If you want to make some mini hollowing tools, you can do it even faster by finding some old Allen wrenches you do not need and grinding them to the shape you want. Put handles on them and you are ready to go!

Bill