Kudos to Hollow Formers

[Brian Kent]

I was trying to make a ball-shaped bowl 6" wide, 5" high, with a less than 2" opening. This is very dry sycamore. The tool has to be sharp and at just the right angle to avoid a rough chatter.

I am amazed at how many leverage and physics forces are at work in this little piece. Most recently, the side of the scraper caught the edge and turned all the weak spots into cracks. I am super-glueing the cracks to finish it as is, with walls about 3" thick .

All that is to say, I am really impressed by the skills you folks have, who can turn a thin-walled hollow form.

Kudos and respect!

[charlie knighton]

turning should be fun, enjoy your learning curve

[Brian Kent]

Oh, I am having a blast. I am just amazed at what y'all can do. Half the fun of learning is seeing something impossible and then doing it!

[Brian Kent]

Glued it back together and finished it. The walls are actually 3/4" thick, not 3". I was exaggerating.

[robert baccus]

pant's on fire?

[Brian Kent]

OK. Full confession, Robert. It didn't crack APART. The cracks just opened a little.

[Steve Peterson]

Glued it back together and finished it. The walls are actually 3/4" thick, not 3". I was exaggerating.

I was wondering how you were able to have 3" thick walls with a hollow center on a 6" diameter bowl.

Steve

[Brian Kent]

Practice, Steve.

[Matt Owen]

The best help for me was using tools that can do the job. I just got beat up by the jarring of the tool when I first started hollowing. That was with hand held tools. I made myself a captive hollower like the Monster and haven't looked back. The laser is a huge help as well.

Maybe this is cheating, but it gets the job done and I'm having fun with it. That's all that matters to me. :-)

[Brian Kent]

I am looking forward to trying systems out over the next several months or years. There is a great wood turner's organization here - San Diego Wood Turners - with lots of folks willing to tutor. I figure considering costs, I should try out at least four hollowing systems before buying one, and at least 12 lathes before upgrading.

[robert baccus]

That's the spirit!

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Be careful. I resisted going down the HF route for many years, fearing the stiff prices of hollowing gear. I happened on a tool score on CL. I got 10 turning tools, an inflatable drum lathe sanding thing, and a moisture meter for 110 bucks. 2 of those were hollowing tools. I figured well, for dirt cheap, I can start hollowing! Well, 4 additional hand held tools later, I finally really fell into the BIG vortex and now I have 2 captured systems also. SO, the bottom line of all this is to skip hand held, try any of the captured rigs. I think they all work, and they all have limits. YES a captured rig and a laser is "cheating", but after getting beaten by the hand held tools, I get results instead of getting tired and beaten. With a laser, you don't have to learn the hard way, is it thin enough? Is it consistent? Where is the bottom?Good luck!