Quality and Service

[Hilel Salomon]

Tired, dizzy and worn out from the "honeydo's" I did have things cheer me up.
Suddenly the doorbell was ringing and the mailperson here brought five packages. The most impressive and satisfying were those carrying Randy's hollowing system plus his set of handles. Randy is one fantastic person. Everything in his system screams QUALITY. Now to apply this limited talent to an obviously great system. I might also add-for the budget conscious turners- that I got the Sherrill hollowing tools as well, and they look to be well worth the very low price he has on them. In the mail, was a 3M PAP system I got on Ebay, and some byrd carbide inserts I got in my efforts to make a roughing tool similar to the ciI. Having already bought the CiI tool and the Eliminator, I wanted some duplicates so I wouldn't have to drag them from Columbia to VA. I may not be using the "eliminator" correctly, but so far, I've had limited success with it. I really have benefited from the CiI. When you can't round out a blank on the bandsaw, the tool takes 90% of the work away. As for the respirator, I got concerned that my trend airshield won't always protect me from the really tiny dust, and decided that when I was working with noxious woods, I'd use a more thorough filtering system.
Anyway, I thought I'd share this with all of you.
Now to the single malt!!!
Hilel.

[David Walser]

My care package from Randy arrived yesterday. Can't wait until I'll have time to actually use the articulated hollowing system. (For some reason my wife would let me leave it set up on the kitchen counter!?)

I could not find a link to the Sherrill hollowing tools you mentioned. Any pointers?

[Hilel Salomon]

Hi David,

I wouldn't dare set up anything on the kitchen table, in the kitchen or anyplace other than my shop. Here's the site for the Sherrill stuff. It got mixed reviews, but I think-in light of all the things he includes- that it was well worth the price, even as a small hf set.
http://sitekreator.com/sherrillwoodworking/deep_hollowing_tool_set.html
I got the site from a thread looking for hollowing tools, and figured that the handle and the inserts were certainly worth the risk.
Luck, Hilel.

[Dick Strauss]

Hilel,
Congrats on the serious tool score! The Sherrill set looks like quite a bargain given all that is included. I can see that the tool bits are square and unsharpened. Do the carbide cutters come sharp? Is the face of the carbides dished out or flat?


Thanks,
Dick

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats on the tool haul Hilel. Sounds like you are good to go. You are going to love that articulating arm unit.

[Maylon Harvey]

and some byrd carbide inserts I got in my efforts to make a roughing tool similar to the ciI. Hilel.

Hi Hilel,

Which carbide inserts did you buy and from where?
Thanks

[Steve Schlumpf]

Hilel - congrats on all your new tools! You will love Randy's hollowing system! Looking forward to seeing some results of using your new articulating arm!

Curious about your new 3M system. What model did you get? I have a Trend (2 years now) and am also starting to think about upgrading. Once you have used it - and have the time - I would appreciate some feedback about what you like - or don't like - about the 3M.

Have fun with all your new tools!

[Hilel Salomon]

Attempted Answers:

Dick, I'm a little perplexed by the kit from Sherrill. It includes two triangular bits, and a few rods. I'm guessing that the rods are what is described as square high speed steel, and the round rod is the carbide one?? I'll have to do a bit more investigating and looking;

Maylon, I ordered the carbide inserts that come with the shelix cutterheads. Grizzly had a slightly lower price on them then did Holbren, but the latter had much cheaper shipping charges. W/shipping they came to about $3.75 each. I've looked at Carbide Depot and other places selling carbide inserts, but there seem to be a thousand choices. I'm going to try buying some cheap round ones, but haven't gotten around to doing so.

Steve,

I got a 3M powerflow w/hepa filter. Came to about 180 which was about 1/2 of the cheapest price I could find. 3M makes one that looks a little like the airshield, but it sells for 670 and up. I have Trend Airshields here and in VA, and like them, but they don't filter out the really, really small stuff. I still have some Bolivian Rosewood for flat work and turning, and I'm somewhat leary of depending strictly on the Trends. Their new version has a proprietary battery pack, while I've made much cheaper and better battery packs for mine. If money were no object, I would get the other 3M one, but.... all this other buying has me strapped, and I probably shouldn't even have bought the powerflow.
Hope you are well,
Hilel.