Kel McNaughton Hollowing Tool

[jim barter]

Hi / I recently purchased the Kel McNaughton Hollowing Tool and wonder if others have had good luck.I have the standard and large set of chisels but cannot seem to get an even thickness on the bowl towards the bottom.I'm good for say the first inch to inch and half but then with the curves I get the bottom at least twice a thick.Is anyone else having this problem? Also I cannot see how you could get to a 4 inch center unless you have the small set.Another question.I have a Rockwell beaver that has the outboard shaft 3/4 inch but threads on counter clockwise.You cannot rough out the interrior of the bowl with the McNaughton tool without it spinning off the lathe.I plan to make a clockwise threaded adapter with a set screw to secure to the shaft.This will thread onto the shaft counter clockwise ,set the set screw and then the exterior thread will be clockwise.Does this seem like a good approch or can anyone give me a better idea other than changing lathes.I think its a great tool for time saving but most important saving figured wood.I have some Manitoba Maple and the red color is fantastic.I can't wait till around Christmas when the wood should be dry enough.I have bowls roughed right now to a max of 11 inches .This is why I need to figure out how to turn outboard with out the faceplate coming off the lathe.I have some logs approx 20 inches that I want to rough out.
Any help with the questions will be appreciated.
Thanks JIM

[Jim Ketron]

Hello Jim I don't have one but Bill Grumbine from here on the forum uses one he has some info on using one and has a contact E-mail if anyone has Questions on
the Kel McNaughton tool. He has a good webpage a lot of info!
Hope this helps!
http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/bowlcoring.html
Jim

[Fred LeBail]

Hey Jim ,
Hey, NBer, I am headed your way on Monday, maybe we can figure it out! If not maybe we can find some "bird's eye maple" to fool around with.
I'll call on Monday to set up a time.
Thanks Fred ( yea Father's name was Albert)

[Jim Becker]

Hollowing to an even thickness is something to practice and learn...it's not the tool, regardless of manufacture, that causes thicker bottoms! We all have that problem from the start and even many experienced turners struggle with this very thing. I can think of only one time that I've managed to reach that goal and I swear it was accidental!

Even thickness when hollowing pretty much requires a consistant method to measure it. There are all kind of fancy calipers you can purchase, but David Ellsworth shows how to use a simple one made from a piece of soft wire. I forget the exact material, but it's about 3/16" in diameter, bends relatively easy and has a little "spring" to it. You can reshape it to fit the purpose but still have it stay the way you set it as the thickness fluctuates.

But even then, bottoms really do require you to visualize the final shape of your piece as you hollow the bottom. The visualization is necessary because you likely have had to leave a little more "meat" on the outside to accomodate your mounting method on many shapes...the true bottom will not appear until you finish off the bottom of the outside later on. Draw some pencil lines on the outside to indicate the expected "real" outside bottom of the piece as well as your desired inside bottom. Keep measuring the depth with a straight stick or pencil (using only one eye!) until you get to about where you need to be before your final finishing cuts. This really does require practice, but once you get the hang of it, you should get a lot closer with your efforts.

Of course, the bottom line is...better thicker than "double ended"! Going through can be a real bummer! Been there. Done that. More than once.
--------

Now that I've typed all that and edited it twice, I've come to realize that you're talking about the CORING system. (the term "hollowing" is normally used for a different set of Kelton tools) I believe Bill Grumbine is the resident "expert" on the KMcN coring product and the setup is the key to success with that tool. You need to have the pivot point set "just right" to avoid problems.

[Rob Littleton]

Hollowing to an even thickness is something to practice and learn...it's not the tool, regardless of manufacture, that causes thicker bottoms! We all have that problem from the start and even many experienced turners struggle with this very thing. I can think of only one time that I've managed to reach that goal and I swear it was accidental!

Even thickness when hollowing pretty much requires a consistant method to measure it. There are all kind of fancy calipers you can purchase, but David Ellsworth shows how to use a simple one made from a piece of soft wire. I forget the exact material, but it's about 3/16" in diameter, bends relatively easy and has a little "spring" to it. You can reshape it to fit the purpose but still have it stay the way you set it as the thickness fluctuates.

But even then, bottoms really do require you to visualize the final shape of your piece as you hollow the bottom. The visualization is necessary because you likely have had to leave a little more "meat" on the outside to accomodate your mounting method on many shapes...the true bottom will not appear until you finish off the bottom of the outside later on. Draw some pencil lines on the outside to indicate the expected "real" outside bottom of the piece as well as your desired inside bottom. Keep measuring the depth with a straight stick or pencil (using only one eye!) until you get to about where you need to be before your final finishing cuts. This really does require practice, but once you get the hang of it, you should get a lot closer with your efforts.

Of course, the bottom line is...better thicker than "double ended"! Going through can be a real bummer! Been there. Done that. More than once.
--------

Now that I've typed all that and edited it twice, I've come to realize that you're talking about the CORING system. (the term "hollowing" is normally used for a different set of Kelton tools) I believe Bill Grumbine is the resident "expert" on the KMcN coring product and the setup is the key to success with that tool. You need to have the pivot point set "just right" to avoid problems.

Bill Grumbine is the resident "expert" on the KMcN coring product but you sure know about bottoms......a side of you I never knew :-)

[Jim Becker]

Bill Grumbine is the resident "expert" on the KMcN coring product but you sure know about bottoms......a side of you I never knew :-)

Any response I can think of would be wiped clean by Ken or Aaron...

[Rob Littleton]

Any response I can think of would be wiped clean by Ken or Aaron...

ROFLMAO..........good come back :-)

[jim barter]

Hi Fred / Good to hear your coming to Nasonworth.Give me a call 506 461 0414 on my cell and we'll meet up.Like you said its a small world.I was to your Dads house about 15-20 years ago and my kids had a ride onthe train he built.I did not know him personally but Whitman always thought he was avery talented man
Jim
Thanks for the infoJimBecker,Rob and Jim ketron.I have been to his site