Mini Hollowing tools - how to make them?

[Roger Chandler]

I would like for some of you experienced turners..........[think Curt, Bernie and others ] to show some pics of the mini hollowing tools they use for making ornaments.

I have heard that some grind allen wrenches [other items?] and mount them in a handle or in vice grip pliers. Could some pics be posted of your tools, especially showing your grind on the tip?

This would greatly help me................thanks in advance all you ornament makers!

[Jeff Fagen]

I've for the most part been using a Sorby 3/8 detail gouge.My allen wrench tool does'nt work so hot.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Roger I started out with a couple of allen wrench tools. I now use these tools for hollowing my ornaments. http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merc...&Category_Code= They work extremely well. I also have one of Bob Rosands tools which run around $20. You can find them at www.rrosand.com under buy tools. It also works quite well.

[Scott Hackler]

Roger, I don't have any pictures right now, but the allen wrench tool is very handy for small Christmas Ornaments and such. Basically you will need to bend the 90 degree out more and sharpen the end like a small scraper (flatten the top side before rounding the end). The wrench will NOT like being bent and a good bench vise and a BIG set of pump pliers will help a lot. I turned a long Cherry pen blank into a handle, drilled a hole in the end and CA to hold it. Works well and it was basically free! The other tool I use almost everytime is home made as well. I made it at our club workshop our of 1/4" drill rod. Its got a bend in the end and it was hammered and shaped before tempering. It is also very hand and free.

The only other ones I DO use on a regular basis for small hollowing are a Bengamin's Best small holloowing set. They were cheap and hold an edge decently. There are 3 tools in that set.

[Scott Hackler]

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/LCHOL3.html

These are the ones I bought. They look a lot like the Packard ones Bernie posted but they are 1/3 the price.

[Paul Heely]

I'll post pictures later, but I've been using a small hollowing tool I made. It's the same basic construction as the Ellsworth tools. I used a 6" piece of O-1 1/4" steel for the shaft and drilled a 3/16" hole in the end at a 45* angle. I rounded the end of a 3/16" steel cutter bit and super glued it in to the shaft. I still use the straight tool like Bernie posted from Packard for the initial hollowing, but much prefer the one I made for the rest of the ornament. Best part of the one I made is the price, about $4 for everything.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Scott PSI didn't have those when I bought mine. If they would have I definitely would have bought those. Roger definitely look at the PSI version.

[John Beaver]

Roger,

I mount mine in handles and constantly modify them to fit specific needs, as you can see in the bent one.
Sometimes I use them as tiny gouges, other times as scrapers in small hollow forms.
For hollowing I would grind them just like you would a tip in a larger hollowing tool,
Basically I start by rounding over the bottom half and flattening the top down. The hexagonal shape does make for some weird tips, but often that's useful.


Left to Right. Flat top, Rounded Bottom, Bent tool

[Paul Heely]

As promised here are soem pictures of the tools I've been using to hollow my ornaments. These are in addition to a straight tool, the same one that Bernie linked to above.

Left to Right
An allen wrench mounted in a shop turned handle.
Closeup of the end. I ground a good bit of the allen wrench away to get it this shape.
A piece of 1/4" drill rod with a 3/16" cutter super glued in the end at a 45* angle.
Closeup of the cutter shape
IMG_2360.jpgIMG_2361.jpgIMG_2363.jpgIMG_2362.jpg

[Curt Fuller]

I don't have a picture handy, but my ornament hollower is almost exactly like the one pictured in the first two photos of Paul Heely's post. Just a 1/4" allen wrench with most of the short side ground off and a rounded scraper ground on the end. I've never used anything else to compare it to but I like how it works for me.

[Ryan Baker]

I have a variety of small tools that are shaped pretty close to the pictures above. Grind a flat on the top side. The flat area needs to end up being the widest part of the tip. Grind the tip round (or another shape if desired), beveling it back 10-20 degrees like pretty much any scraper.

Allen wrenches can be useful for undercutting tools where you need to reach back around the corner. Be careful about letting them extend out too far, because they create a lot of twist in use (no swan neck shape to counteract the torque). Allen wrenches aren't my favorite for tools.

Another thing that works well is to buy an inexpensive screwdriver set, cut off the tips, and grind basically the same shape on the end (this is for straight tools obviously). They are inexpensive, have comfortable handles, and have a veriety of diameters and lengths. They hold an edge pretty well too.

Drill rod is very useful for making hollowing tools as well. It can easily be shaped into whatever size, shape, bend, etc. needed. And it is easy to harden and temper so that it will cut well and hold an edge. Carbide lathe tool bits in Ellesworth-style tools are another useful option.

Bottom line is to use whatever works and fits. If you don't have a tool that works, make something else. Pretty soon you will have a drawer full of them, especially if you like to use small openings. Tool making is just a part of doing hollow form work.

[Chris Burgess]

Ijust picked up the Sorby Micro Hollower for $45 only used it once and it seems to work well. I like it becasue I can pick up replacemnt scrapers for $15 and the Handle takes many more tools than just the hollowing. I can put a micro spiraler on it nd some gouges.

[Jack Mincey]

Made this one out of an old allen wrench. The angle on the deer horn takes care of any torque that one gets from hollowing with such a small tool. Cost to me was $0.00 since I had the horn, allen wrench, and glue. I was able to hollow out the hickory nuts using it as well as the balls for the ornaments.

[Scott Hackler]

Holy Smokes Jack! How did you manage to bend that allen wrench that much? Also... I had forgot about the super nice ornaments you've done. Great work.

[Jack Mincey]

Thanks Scott, I bent the allen wrench by heating it to red hot with a acetylene touch and quenched it in oil after I shaped it. It holds an edge well enough to hollow several ornament balls between touching up with a diamond hone. Quench the allen wrench in oil outside sense it will catch the oil on fire, and a board to place over the container helps to smother out the flame when done!
Jack