This is going to sound stupid.....

[Bill Wyko]

I'm a newbie so don't laugh.....whats a hollowing tool?:confused:

[Joash Boyton]

:D:D

A tool for hollowing out vases HF's and vessels with small openings.....it is like a sorby hollow master for example, there are many varieties

Don't worry, every body has to start somewhere:D

[Mike Ramsey]

Bill, a quick way to get your answers would be to use the search
function up on the bar above. Just type in Hollowing tool...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

BIll......If you go to some of the sites like Craft Supplies USA or Packard Wood works....you can see various kind of hollowing tools. If you look at the Hollow Forms posted here....Check out Jim Ketron, Travis Stinson, Mark Cothren, Dennis Peacock, Keith Burns and others that produce hollow forms. Basically it's turning a thin shell through a small hole. Several of the Christmas ornaments that were turned were in actuality hollow forms. There are 2 basic types of hollow form tools....free hand and captured. The free hand ones are used like a standard tool. The captured hollow form tools use a secondary tool rest that actually captures the handle of the tool which is like a capital letter D. The secondary tool rest keeps the D hand from turning and thus changing the angle of the cutting "bit" as it peels cuts inside the hollow form.

[Jim Ketron]

Here is My Homemade Captive Hollowing Rig.
I do not have the laser mounted on it in this picture.
There are many kinds of boring bars and different cutters you can use to get into some hard areas of some hollow forms.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b201/Jim_k/Hollowingrig2.jpg

Here is a few Homemade boring bars

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b201/Jim_k/100_1471.jpg

[Steve Schlumpf]

Bill, I'm not the expert here (read all the above) but a hollowing tool is nothing more than a scraper that is formed so that it can reach inside of small openings. There are a number of different styles but all do the same basic thing - remove the wood inside of a closed form.

Experts please feel free to correct me.

[Curt Fuller]

As has been said, most hollowing tools are the scraping type but there are also hook tools and ring tools like the termite that actually cut. The big diffference is the heft of the tool shaft and handle design because the tool is going to be extended way out past the tool rest when it's doing its thing. That's why you see so many adaptations for maintaining control of the tool. In my opinion, the captured systems like you see in Jim Ketron's post are the most effective.

[John Hart]

...In my opinion, the captured systems like you see in Jim Ketron's post are the most effective.

Boy...I'll say! I feel beat up. I've hollowed a different vessel every day for the past 4 or 5 days....and destroyed every one of them. :( Don't have a captive system....just Big Bertha, the Ugly Stick, and a Sorby Hollowmaster. These guys with their captive systems just rock and roll....I just get punched in the face when Bertha catches.:eek: :)