Articulating Hollower Systems.

[Syd Sellers]

I'm a new owner of one of these hollowing systems and as usual I always need more add ons. I am in the middle of turning a long neck Roman Vessel. I needed to be able to get around the shoulder so I started wanting a swan neck hollower bar. Well wouldn't you know it I had an old Sorby Multi Tip Swan Neck that I have never used. I was able to get the handle off and with a bit of adapting I had a beautiful swan neck hollowing bar for my hollower system....Saved a ton of money on this and thought maybe there are others needing the same thing.
Check it out...

 

[Pete Blair]

Hollowers

Hey Syd. It must be the air here but once I got my Kobra I removed all the handles from the hollowing tools that I had been using and have adaptors that allow me to use them with it. I also have a few tool handles that will also accept them. I really like the Easy Tool now that I can use it either handled or in the Cobra.

 

[Syd Sellers]

Hey Syd. It must be the air here but once I got my Kobra I removed all the handles from the hollowing tools that I had been using and have adaptors that allow me to use them with it. I also have a few tool handles that will also accept them. I really like the Easy Tool now that I can use it either handled or in the Cobra.

Pete, I agree, the tool tips available for the hollowing systems are a bit out of date as compared to the handled cutters available. I am heading out to the shop right now to see if I can adapt a Termite loop to my hollowing bar.

Later.

 

[Pete Blair]

Ring cutter

Hey Syd. I sometimes use my 'Termite' ring type cutter but mostly I use the handle and a repurposed drill bit in it.

 

[Syd Sellers]

How to build your own Hollower

After a few requests on how to make this hollower, I put a doc together and stuck it on my blog, so have a look.
http://www.rocky-roost-woodturnings.com/wood-turning-blog/home-made-articulating.html

If you go all the way to the bottom, you can click on the newsletter doc and it will download to your systems as a PDF...

Enjoy.

 

[Syd Sellers]

Drill bit.

Hey Syd. I sometimes use my 'Termite' ring type cutter but mostly I use the handle and a repurposed drill bit in it.

Peter, what is the advantage of using the drill bit??? I have seen a video on using a drill bit but I'm not convinced it's better than a nice sharp cutter of some sort.

How large a bit do you use???

Thanks
Syd

 

[john lucas]

Luckily many of the older swan neck kind of tools came in 3/4" shank diameter which makes them very easy to adapt to many of the captured bar systems. John Jordan's big tolls are 3/4" and I use them in my rig.
I tried the drill bit. Used properly it cuts with shearing action but it's a pain to sharpen. I gave up ring tools and hook tools for the same reason. For cutting softer green woods they are great and take out a big clean cut but it was just a hassle to sharpen them. I've gone to the Hunter carbide cutters when I need a really clean cut and just use standard square HSS cutters for most hollowing. They take me seconds to sharpen.

 

[Mark Mandell]

Tools

Folks,

Making your own "tools" [i.e. boring/hollowing bars] in whatever size and shape you need is really quite easy and will save you many kopecks; you don't have to be removing handles from redi-made stuff.

Steel bar stock, both round and square, is readily available and can be hot-bent to any shape you need using a vise and a MAPP or Presto-lite torch.

You can fit your bars with HSS (or better) cutters that are cheap and available from outfits like ENCO by drilling a hole in the working end of the bar and gluing the cutter into the bar with medium CA. Cutter stock usually (round or square) comes in 2-3" pieces that cut easily with small abrasive wheel/mandrels in a die grinder or electric drill.

If you want to go further and have a few tools, you can make holders to carry cutters like the carbide round Hunters (pictured) or square like the EZ's.

You can get bushings to allow you to secure different sized bars in your hollowing rig depending on how deep you're working in the piece. I use bars ranging from 3/8" up to 1-1/2" in diameter. Remember that the general rule is that a given sized boring bar will work in a 1-15 ratio meaning that the length over the tool rest should not exceed 15 times the diameter of the bar. If you go deeper than that, you'll get more and more vibration as the bar flexes too much to properly control the cut. Thus a 3/4" bar will get you smoothly to a depth of about 12".

 

[john lucas]

Mark I can bend up to 1/2" without heat. I can't bend 3/4" with Mapp gas it just doesn't have enough volume. I mean you can but it takes forever and uses up most of your gas. My vice also leaves dent marks all along the bend. I built a bar bending jig that lets me bend up to 1/2" pretty easily and 5/8" pretty hard without heat. This doesn't leave the dents and works but you need a lot of leverage. 3/4" bars might work but 3 feet is not enough leverage and I think it could damage my bending jig since the larger holes are 5/8".
I added 3/4" adapters to most of my 1/2" bars so they would fit my captured boring bar system as well as my arm brace.

 

[Syd Sellers]

Mark & John,
I agree, at least try to make your own tools and holders, you can get very fancy if you have the metal working tools or access to them.

Mark, nice job of imbedding the Hunter cutter, it's getting the bend just right so the cutting angle is good. A few tries required!!

John, I have made a few swan neck bars, they aren't a beautiful thing to look at but they do the job

Great satisfaction comes with completing a hollow form when you have to create your own cutters to get around that funny shaped shoulder.

I see we all are having away too much fun....

 

[Mark Mandell]

John,

Nice jig. I prefer to bend hot since I then harden and heat-treat the finished bar after I remove and "bending marks" from the riding surface.
With certain bends I plan on loosing a small section on the end that may be held in the vise.

Syd,

Since my holders fit in the 3/4" and larger boring bars, I can vary the angle of the cutter depending on the cut. I hollow end-grain so I find the straight Hunter works best on the bottom if it's near level for a scraping cut rather than a shear. I then switch to the bent holder and shear through the transition and "up" the sides with a slow pull cut. Leaves a nice smooth surface.

PS: There ain't no suchca thing as "too much fun"😀