hollowing problems

[ryan kelley]

I bought the trent bosch 5/8" hollowing tools and they do a good job, but problem is the turning blind. I thought about the monster system but money being a big factor I went with the bosch tools. Now I am starting to think maybe I should have waited and bought the monster, this is no way trashing Trent Bosch Tools but merely my inexperience with hollowing blind and strain on the arms using these types of tools. Those that use the monster system is the advantage reallly there, should I look at this as another investment, if so should I sell and upgrade?

[Jack Mincey]

Ryan,
I would keep working on your free hand technique. I have a Kobra system for hollowing large forms but still prefer to hollow free hand with my 3/4" Jordan hollowing tools on anything less than 9" deep. Jordan tools are almost the same as bosch so they should work just fine. Make you opening large for the first forms you try will help. Keep the bent part of the bar past the tool rest is very important on the swan neck tools. Try to visualize where the tip is when blind turning in a form. Also keep the tool handle against your body when hollowing. Using your legs and body to move the tool gives you much more control. Just keep practicing and it will get easier. I can now hollow out a 9" form in around 30 minutes free hand where it took me more than 90 minutes just a few years ago.
Good Luck,
Jack

[Mark Levitski]

Mike Mahoney said on one of his videos that the new devices for hollowing border on cheating (I paraphrase, but you get the idea). I can understand, but I wouldn't go that far. It takes more skill to hollow by hand. This you have discovered already, Ryan, right? I think one learns better what the tool is actually doing by the direct feel for what is happening when your hand and arm is holding the tool. I can accept the strain and the learning curve that leads to less mistakes. Eventually I got way less stress and strain and also less error, so hollowing by hand is OK with me. But I still would like to put a laser on my hand tools instead of stopping all the time to measure wall thickness. It saves time when you have little and need to produce more pieces. Anyone notice my post about good laser systems? I would like to mount a good laser to my tool bars and still go at it by hand. This amounts to a bump from an entirely different thread.

My advice is to go through that learning curve and get to know what's going on at the tool/wood interface before going right to a mechanical system. Sort of like learning the traditional scrapers and gouges first rather than going the the "easy ____" tools. They might be easier but they do not advance your skills and make you a more accomplished artist/craftsman.

P.S.-- I got an armbrace (the Don Pencil Scorpion) to mount my bars to. It helped a lot.

[Thom Sturgill]

If your lathe has a sliding head, move it so that the tool rest is at the end of the lathe and stand at the end rather than on the side reaching over the bed. If not, consider riding the lathe.

[Roger Chandler]

I did the hand held hollowing thing........first a Sorby Hollowmaster........almost beat me to death! Then I got Ellsworth's hollowing tools at his demo.........learned from the master himself...........they were a step up, especially with the large, long and easy to control handles he advocated we make to use on them........still beat me up pretty good.

I went to the Monster articulated hollowing system with a laser...........compared to the others.........a world of difference. I just did an Ash wood hf and it was zero stress on my arms and wrists. I actually took note while I was doing the hollowing at how much difference there was [it has been a while since my last hollow form] and I had enjoyment, not wrist pain!

My experience............I'm just sayin'.........would I buy the monster rig again? ...........in a heartbeat!!!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

It's not the tool. Granted, a captured hollowing system with a laser is easier than hand hollowing but in all truth, you haven't even scratched the surface of the practice it takes to hand hollow a form. Make 20 or 30 then tell us how you feel. The work will seem much easier to you by then. There are plateaus you reach in the process. When you are beginning to be able to tell the thickness of the piece by the sound of the cutter you are getting close. It's not the finished product you are after. If it is you may easily become bored. It is the struggle to learn the process and the sense of accomplishment when you get it. Don't give up. Keep your handle up and your cutting edge on center and just keep making chips.
Also, if you tell us where you live, maybe someone is close enough to give you a hand getting started. That would be huge for you.
faust

[Bernie Weishapl]

I hollow out small ornaments and small vases by hand but I do use the monster on big items. I did a lot of hollowing with hand held pieces but the arthur in my hands, wrists and shoulder just won't take the beating with hand held tools. I am extremely happy with it and would buy it again.

[Bill Hensley]

Ditto what Bernie said.

[Dale Bright]

Ryan,

I hollow by hand and I have the Monster Articulated system. I usually do all of the roughing by hand and about 50% of the time I use the Monster to finish the pieces. When I bought my Monster, Randy made me a mount to fit the shaft for my McNaughton hollowing tools, that holds the Monster laser. You coud get one of these so you do not feel so blind.

Dale

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ryan - I started off hollowing by hand but always felt like I had been beat up for a few days once finished. Seriously - it took all the fun out of turning for me and had it not been for the Monster captured system, I would have stopped turning hollow forms altogether. I am not going to push getting one system over another but will say that - for me - it made all the difference in the world.

[Curt Fuller]

Ryan - I started off hollowing by hand but always felt like I had been beat up for a few days once finished. Seriously - it took all the fun out of turning for me and had it not been for the Monster captured system, I would have stopped turning hollow forms altogether. I am not going to push getting one system over another but will say that - for me - it made all the difference in the world.

I would echo what Steve has said almost to the word. I think the single biggest advantage of a "system" is that you can enjoy what you're doing instead of getting beat to a pulp. Hollowing is really a tedious, boring (pun intended) process that doesn't give much satisfaction. So why add pain and suffering to it if there's an easier way. I also hollow "blind" without the help of a laser, not so much because I'm a die hard but because I'm pretty cheap. But it does keep a little of the challenge in the process. I've also found that successful hollowing requires constant stopping to clear out the chips so it's also a good time to measure wall thickness as you go.

[ryan kelley]

I see the point of keep on keep'n on with hollowing with no aid; now that I am in a gallery and no bowls are accepted hollow forms are the only way for me to go. I need to keep things as efficient as possible with as little of a learning cuve. Now I in NO WAY want to cheapin the ART of wood turning but I also need to produce while keeping my full time job. Maybe I got myself in over my head.

[robert baccus]

I do a lot of deep hollowing with a captured homemade system ans without a death ray beam. I do not feel me cheating at all. the ray gun did make it feel like manufacturing a bit. I still make nice funnels all by myself.

[Rick Markham]

Ryan, if you NEED to produce work nothing beats an articulated system. Especially when you're new. Honestly I don't think it's cheating or cheapening the art form. If anything it frees me to concentrate on the piece, without physically getting beaten up. Just my $.02. I have a history of carpal tunnel and hand hollowing just holds no interest for me for that reason.