Any way to make endgrain easier?

[Judy Stone]

Hi again.
I'm now trying to learn hollowing (e.g., for lidded boxes) and finding that I don't seem to have the arm/shoulder strength to do it without significant pain and muscle cramping.

I've tried a bowl gouge, small easywood carbide cutters, and friend here lent me a bigger/heftier round carbide cutter. Do not want to keep using a forstener bit.

You were so helpful w the knee pain suggestions, thought I'd try asking about this.

Thanks so much!

Judy

 

[hockenbery]

You might consider using one of the systems designed for hollowmforms.

The jamieson system or an articulated system like the Simon Hope.
The Hope system is rather heavy. Making a back rest from plywood makes the Jamieson system a light choice

You would only need a straight bar for straight walled boxes.

A Straight Bosch tool with a hunter carbide cutter would fit either the jamieson or the Hope and some others.

 

[Mike Johnson]

What kind of wood are you having problems with?

 

[hockenbery]

This is a video of Lyle hollowing a goblet
Same technique will hollow a box.
Think of the goblet bowl as a box.

To see the hollowing Fast forward to 12:30

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4rDgDFLWG18


Lyle does it with a couple of fingers to show it does not require strength.

Other bars fit the jamieson handle.

You can drill the pilot holes with a drill bit in a handle, use a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock,
Or use a drill bit with a Morse end. The latter might be the easiest for you.

 

[John Torchick]

I find my self doing two things with a turning tool- gripping it too tight so I have to pry my fingers from the handle or too loose so I might lose it if I get a catch. I read the other posts and feel there is information worth trying. BTW, I have osteoarthritis in my hands but taking medication helps a lot.
Good turning!

 

[Mike Johnson]

Some woods depending on whether they are green or dry can be difficult to hollow end grain.
I sourced several boxes of Teak wood rounds that are a lot of fun to turn end grain with.
Sometimes you need to pick your battles, selecting a wood species that is easy to turn end
grain on might be a choice to consider first instead of selecting a very hard species of wood
and then wanting to preform the most difficult process with that material.

Using a sharp drill bit mounted in the tail stock can reduce the amount of effort required to do
some of the hollowing on a work piece.

 

[RichColvin]

I really like turning cedar and often do end grain turning. I use a Termite ring tool on the end grain, and I've found it works wonderfully.

Rich

 

[Judy Stone]

What kind of wood are you having problems with?

I was trying with dry cherry and walnut.

 

[Judy Stone]

Some woods depending on whether they are green or dry can be difficult to hollow end grain.
I sourced several boxes of Teak wood rounds that are a lot of fun to turn end grain with.
Sometimes you need to pick your battles, selecting a wood species that is easy to turn end
grain on might be a choice to consider first instead of selecting a very hard species of wood
and then wanting to preform the most difficult process with that material.

Using a sharp drill bit mounted in the tail stock can reduce the amount of effort required to do
some of the hollowing on a work piece.

Appreciate the suggestions. We have lots of cherry from the blowdowns in our yard, so that is mostly what I turn. Bonus of smelling great, too!

 

[Judy Stone]

This is a video of Lyle hollowing a goblet
Same technique will hollow a box.
Think of the goblet bowl as a box.

To see the hollowing Fast forward to 12:30

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4rDgDFLWG18


Lyle does it with a couple of fingers to show it does not require strength.

Other bars fit the jamieson handle.

You can drill the pilot holes with a drill bit in a handle, use a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock,
Or use a drill bit with a Morse end. The latter might be the easiest for you.

Thank you for those suggestions. The video was mesmerizing! I'm in Maine at the moment. When I go home, my bodger mentor has an unused hollowing system, (though I don't know who made it) that we could try. I was trying to practice hollowing, as I'm going to a course on lidded boxes soon and wanted to be able to make the best use of my time by already knowing some basics. I'll let y'all know if I pick up any neat tricks to make the process easier.

You all are so kind! Greatly appreciated.

 

[Owen Lowe]

I was trying with dry cherry and walnut.

Dry wood is going to be much slower going with quite a bit of friction and heat in the shavings.

Perhaps others have mentioned this (I only skimmed the responses but didn’t see any key words): with dry wood, especially, you might try drilling a hole to just less than the depth the finished piece will be. Size the drill so that it will accommodate whatever tool you are using for hollowing. Then hollow by inserting the tool just inside the hole and pull the tool toward the outside wall. This will cut side-grain instead of going straight into end-grain — much less effort and heat. Leave the wall thickness a bit heavy until you get down to the bottom of the drilled hole and then do clean-up blending passes from the opening to the bottom. Lastly finish the bottom to thickness.

 

[hockenbery]

Judy there are also some other options too.
There are many ways to hollow a box with a gouge.
I learned a reverse hollowing method Raffan uses you cut to the bottom of the box then turn the gouge upside down and sort of push down on the handle which makes the gouge cut from bottom center to the side wall and up the wall bevel riding to the rim with big shavings.

Another is just light cuts from a center hole to the rim with the gouge tip.

I have also used a termite and hook tool for endgrain hollowing

No strength is required for any of the above. They all have different ranges of motion.
One of the motions might work for you.

Your box instructor may have some suggestions that will,work for you.
Good luck.