My version of Capt. Eddies Steel Snake

[Bill Bolen]

This is my version of Capt. Eddie’s steel snake. It’s an articulated hollowing rig. Commercially available from $250 to $400( the Elbo tool and the monster articulated hollower). My final cost is $38.73. Fun factor 10! This thing works just a smooth as I had hoped. Due to cost and never having done one of these I opted to start out using bronze oil impregnate flanged bearings. I would have preferred ball bearings or thrust bearings but the cost was more than I had planned on hence the bronze bearings. I may have to replace them as they might wear out more quickly that a ball bearing arrangement and will do so if wear becomes a factor. For now though I’m turning!!. A bag of 10 bronze bearings from ENCO was the second highest cost with the rig. The bag of 10 was $12.60. A 3-foot long piece of 1” solid square stock had the highest cost to me at $20.00. The remainder of the dollars spent was for a few nuts and bolts that were not residing in my hardware bin. I used a #2 Morse taper that came with my Beall Buffing system to mount the rig to the tailstock. A draw bolt pulls the Morse taper in quite tight and I have had no rotation of the rig from its mount. Thank you Capt. Eddie!!! I never would have tried this if you hadn’t made the post showing us how you did it.
The bit holders are all home made too. I stumbled onto a “how to” at the around the woods site about making an Oland tool. Basically that’s all these bit holders are. Just an Oland with no wood handle. Thanks to Darrell for the tutorial on Oland tools. Now to take it apart, clean and file down all the ends and edges, trim some bolts to eliminate a few too many washers buff it and re-assemble.
And just one more thank you. Thanks to Fred Morton, a turner from down under who posted pic’s of his homemade rig and offered some great advice and needed measurements.. Oops, almost forgot to thank Steve Schlumpf and Bernie Weishapl for their willingness to share and answer my many questions. Thanks to all who helped me out!…Bill…

[Bill Bolen]

Needed a second post to show a close up of the bearings and the tailstock mount!...Bill...

[Bernie Weishapl]

Way to go Bill. That is a good looking unit and looks like it works well. Well done. I just wish I had time to build tools. Oh well maybe when I retire.

[Paul Gallian]

Please educate me. How is this better than holding the same tool in your hand and letting your arm do the articulating.

What am I missing here?

Paul

[Fred Conte]

Bill nicely done! :cool: I have been researching the same info and hope to build something similar.

Why did you use solid square stock versus square tubing? Is the monster articulated hollower made from solid stock?

Again, great job!

Fred

[Bill Bolen]

Yes I believe it is and he uses ball bearings too I think. Hollow tube would allow too much vibration..
Paul: If you have a steady hand and good eyes a hand-held hollower would work well..however I wear trifocals and have a shaky arthritic hand so this is a huge help for me. Very precise bit placement and I don't go through the sides with this. It will be even better when I come up with a mount for a laser...Bill...

[Scott Hubl]

Looks Good Bill.
Nice job well done.

Are those considered bearings or Bushings?:confused:

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice work Bill! Looks pretty solid to me! Looking forward to seeing the results with your new rig!

Paul - the main advantage of using a captured or articulating system is to save wear and tear on the turner. You can hollow just fine using hand held tools but every little catch and all the resistance during the cut is translated directly into your arms and shoulders. Doesn't take very long before you get tired and fairly sore - which can take some of the fun out of turning!

[Jon Lanier]

Well Bill, I don't think I can officially comment on how good that thang is until you send me one just like it, so I can trial it out for about 20 years. Yep, that oughta do it. :rolleyes:

[Steve Trauthwein]

Bill,

Great looking tool! It would appear from your photo that the articulation of the arm causes the cutting tool to be one inch higher at the rear than it would be cutting at the center. How do you compensate for this without binding the arm?

Regards, Steve

[robert hainstock]

For those interested in trying to build one of these, any number of router suppliers will supply 1/4 ID X 3/8 in OD router bearings for $5.00 a piece. more money ? Yes, certainly longer life.
Nice tool Bill. :)
Bob

[Bill Bolen]

Steve: yes you are right, the arms were shifted too high and after seeing Fred's picture of his rig I did the same simple thing as he did. I used a stack of washers to shim the amr down until it was level all the way across. his link. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=80501 see last picture.
Robert: I fully agree ball bearings would have been better but I could not find them on the net with 5/8 OD and 3/8 ID for less than $12 each. That would have added almost $90 to the cost and that was out of reach at this time. If you have a source for this size that is cheaper please let me know! I would love to switch bearings...Bill..

[Dick Strauss]

William,
That is a very nice looking rig. Well done sir!

By the way, you could add one more segment or take one away to get you back on center without having to shim with washers.

[Paul Gallian]

Thank to those that replied to my question.

The answers make sense and adds to experience.

Paul

[Don Eddard]

...What am I missing here?

Paul
It saves a lot of wear and tear on your arm, especially torque-wise. A person can walk to the store, or drive a car. They both get you there. This is a similar situation. The guided/captive hollowing tools are a lot less stressful on the body to operate.

[Skip Spaulding]

Great looking tool, well done and at a more than great price!

[Allen Neighbors]

Par excellence, mon ami!! Zehr gut!!
Looks like you have a winner! I think you can probably make at least 40 or 50 hollow forms before you'll notice any wear on those bushings. :)

[Fred Morton]

Bill, great job on the hollowing tool. This type of tool is a lot easier on the body than freehand hollowing. As well as the fantastic cost-saving, there is also a great deal of satisfaction in making it yourself.

I wish you well with your turning.

Fredo :)

[Fred Conte]

Bill in considering bearings for the articulated joints would roller blade bearings work? They're abundant and cheap!

Fred

[TYLER WOOD]

I've been away too long. Who's captain Eddie, and where the heck did you find the dimensions for the steel snake. I am VERY VERY interrested in finding out how to make one. I have weak wrists due to breaking them a couple times, and something like this may get me to be able to do hf's. Thanks!!!

[Bill Bolen]

Here is the link to Capt. Eddies instructions http://www.bayouwoodturners.com/december2007/steelsnake.pdf
And this is to his site http://www.bayouwoodturners.com/capsnotebook.htm

He has a good tip about squaring your drill press. Plumb and square holes are critical.
Fred: I don't know much about bearings hence my troubles finding what I needed! From some of the answeres I got while gathering materials to build this "thrust" bearings seem to be the preferred method, but I really don't know.
Tyler: It is easy to do if you have a drill press avaliable. The main thing is to maintain tight tolerences and keep it as perfect to square as you can. I've been playing with this and it makes a huge difference making hollow forms. You stand right up front where you need to be rather than at the end of a long handle boring tool. It also takes most all the strain off of your body from the torque of the tool. If you are after a commercial version look at the monster tool site. he has had great reveiws here and had I the $$ I would have been one of Randy's customers! But this is my story and I'm stick'in to it!...Bill...

[Bill Bolen]

Fred! Thanks again my friend! Your help and especially your pic's were of tremendous help to me figuring things out!..Bill..

[Jim Kountz]

Hey Bill, I know this is an older thread but when I tried the links above they were broken. Any idea where I may get the .pdf file for Capt. Eddies Steel Snake Hollowing Rig??

[Steve Mawson]

Bill,
Very nice work on the rig. Great Christmas present to yourself. Really like the price.

[Bill Bolen]

Jim...looks like the sight may be gone. I got re directed to bayouwoodturners.org but it is just a parking spot with no info. There is a less detailed how to over at the woodturners resource sit under the TPT banner at the top..Bill...

[Richard Madison]

So Bill, how is your home grown snake doing? Would predict that the plain bushings are still just fine. ??

[neil mackay]

I fully agree ball bearings would have been better but I could not find them on the net with 5/8 OD and 3/8 ID for less than $12 each. That would have added almost $90 to the cost and that was out of reach at this time. If you have a source for this size that is cheaper please let me know! I would love to switch bearings...Bill..
[/QUOTE]


http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/CTGY/3-8inch


Here you go I have found this site to be one of if not the cheapest online. 3/8 ID bearings around $3.00, if you buy 10 the price drops further

[Bill Bolen]

Richard, I added a full set of thrust bearings at each joint and the movement is totally fluid now. Those ball bearing joints ended up being a great $30 improvement...Bill..

[Jim Kountz]

Im looking at some thrust bearings and found some I think should work ok for this application. My question is the fit of a 3/8" bolt in a 10mm hole. My calculator says a 3/8" hole is actually 9.525mm so I know the bolt will go through but how loose/tight are we talking? Anyone have any words of wisdom on this?
Heres the link to the bearing in question:
http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/ThrustBallBearings/Kit7593

[Bill Bolen]

Jim, when I made mine I drilled 5/8" holes for all the joints. I lined the holes with oil impregenated sleeve bearings from enco. The inside diameter of the sleeve bearing was 3/8". Thru these holes I used a 3/8" bolt. Gives a fit with no slop. These are the bearings I used to fit the 3/8" bolt. Hope this help...Bill...
http://www.qbcbearings.com/BuyRFQ/ThrustB_Bearing_TPS_I.htm