End grain hollowing

[Brian Brown]

Has anyone ever used the termite tool or something similar for endgrain hollowing? Does it work? Is it easy? Is there something better? Does it work on non-end grain? I use a midi lathe, and don't see me with an articulated arm type hollowing system any time soon. Here is a pic from Woodcraft's website.

[Reed Gray]

I have never used the termite, but have heard that it tends to clog up fairly easily, but that could be more from trying to take out too much at once. There are 2 different types of the carbide disc cutters (Hunter and Eliminator) and they both work well. There are a host of other cutters. I like the Kelton cutters. Some work in a scraping mode like the Kelton, and they won't work as well on flat grain, leaving a bit more tear out than the disc cutters which cut on a shear angle. Scrapers work well on end grain, especially if you keep them sharp. The articulated systems make fine control of your tool very easy.
robo hippy

[Mitchell Cholewinski]

Brian
I use a little termite and love it. There are 3 different rings for this tool . The small one and the medium one come with the tool The largest cutter is pretty big and I wouldn't use it on a mini lathe. This tool eats endgrain and leaves a great surface. Cutting endgrain on a mini lathe is great because you don't go much deeper than 4 or 5 inches. Keep the tool rest close as possible. You will be keeping it back further than other tool because of the set screw. Don't get careless and let the tool over hang the tool rest or you will regret it. Most important thing you need to know is never put the tool flat on the toolrest. Lay the tool where when it touches the wood it touches at 7o"clock Have a hole drilled in the center of the bowl and use this to start your cut and go from right to left and up the side of the bowl . Don't force the tool, cut lightly and keep the cutter sharp with the little stone supplied. Grind only when this no longer gets it sharp.I like mine so much I made a seperate tool for the 3 cutters. I posted these tools but not on this forum.Here is what my tools look like that I made. The termites are on the left.

[Mitchell Cholewinski]

Brian Brown
I tried to send the picture of the tools I made but was told I already sent it to someone once. If you want to see my two Termite tools I made, go to page two,your on page one now, and under the thread Tools I made, click on that and there are two pictures the left side picture they are 2nd and 3rd tools on the left These are made for hollowing and won't be beat by too many other systems, if used properly. Mitch

[Norm Zax]

Ive also heard much positive review on the Termite, mainly for smaller projects, and am waiting for the arrival of mine from Hartville Tool. It was on sale there a few weeks ago. As to technique, I was told both sides cut but have a different curvature. Thus, you deepen the center hole with one side, turn over and enlarge the hole with the other side, and back to the first again...
Norm

[Jim Becker]

The Termite is as good as any of the hollowing tool setups, more or less. They all require you to learn the technique that the particular cutter requires and once you do that, you should get good results.

[Mike Golka]

Another vote for the termite, I find mine dose an excellent job on end grain. As stated Mike C. Keep the cutting edge almost vertical. It does work on non end grain as well.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Brian I have the termite tool and also the Hunter tool. I prefer the hunter tool. The termite tool like Reed said clogs at time and can be a pain. The hunter tool you don't need to sharpen. Just turn the small disc when it fails to cut properly. I hollowed about 6 vases and still haven't turned the disc. It also seems to give me a smoother cut.

[Jeff Nicol]

Here is what I use to do my end grain work and any other type of hollowing that I need. It is a "TWIST" on the OLAND tool that works great with a piece of 1/4" HSS stock as the cutter. I was using in to so end grain and I was not happy with the speed of cutting. So I dug around and came up with a 5/16" drill bit that was broken off and ground it so that it worked for my needs. The pictures show the grind but here is an explanation. I ground the main working edge longer and with a good bevel to ride along the wood . The end where the flute of the drill bit is, has a steeper bevel and a smaller cutting surface. It works pushing in like a drill and to get the cut started and it perfoms wonderfuly for inside out (bottom to rim) cuts! It never clogs and is easy to sharpen and drill bits are cheap and last a long time!

So good luck on choosing your endgrain cutter. I have never used the TERMITE, but with my creation I may never have to!

Jeff

[Richard Madison]

Brian,

I mostly use a home made boring bar with 3/16" HSS tool bit ($3) mounted in a slot cut in 1/2" square bar stock, secured w/ set screw. Slot is deep enough that tool bit angle can be varied considerably. Used to think it was just scraping but have realizd that it is riding the bevel much of the time, so almost cutting. Sometimes make clean-up cuts with Hunter bit in another home made tool.

[Brian Brown]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I saw a vid on you tube with someone using the termite, and it looked easy and seemed to work well, but I hadn't seen much opinion written here. It is a bit less costly than the hunter, but the hunter seems easier to "sharpen". I'll have to see if Woodcraft has one of each to try... if I can ever get to a Woodcraft.

[Kim Ford]

I use the termite tool and love it.

I have not used the Hunter.

[Rasmus Petersen]

Jeff : ???? how about a action or present to wood closeup ?? i cant quite seem to figure out how the tool works ??

[Mitchell Cholewinski]

Brian
The Hunter is a great tool but it's more for smoothing up your work than it is for heavy hollowing. You get very smooth surface with the Hunter. Myself I have one but like I say I think strickly for hollowing you get more done faster with the termite and the surface is very good when your finished.Like Bernie said though you don't sharpen the Hunter.In fact I found out you don't need to sharpen the termite on the router as often as most turners do. Just use the small stone or a diamond stone a couple time during your hollowing of a bowl Lot of turners are a little afraid of this tool because they don't use it right. Perfect the proper way to address the spinning wood with the termite and you will never have any problems. Like I said, I like mine so much I made two more one for each cutter. Mitch

[Jeff Nicol]

Rasmus, I will take some pics of it addressing the wood and start a ne thread so it is not lost. It is sort of like a shallow small gouge at the point where the drill bit flute is, and on the side where it is ground longer it is like a small curved skew. So when cutting in I start with the small bevel and when I get in some I turn it counter clockwise to bring it out and use the long side. When My wife gets home tomorrow I will see if I can shoot a little video and post it on youtube.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Scott Conners]

Jeff, I LOVE the idea of a drillbit as a cutting tip, I foresee some new tools in my very near future! =) I'd also love any more pictures/video/info you can give on your grind too.