Monster Articulating Arm HF Tool

[Bernie Weishapl]

There are several of us that have the Monster Articulating Arm hollowing tool. So thought I would give some observations of mine which have been very similar to others that own them. This unit is a very well made unit and it is extremely smooth to operate. In fact sometimes if you don't pay attention it is easy to start hogging or get aggressive to the point that you can have a catch. If you take less aggressive cuts be attentive to the direction and cutting force it works fine. All that is needed is a light grip to guide the tool. I have found that when I replaced my stock tool rest with a round bar tool rest it really works a lot better. I think Steve Schlumpf said his stock tool rest would not go low enough to put the tool on center. This unit should be kept on center line or you can have problems. The laser unit on it is a good one. It works really well and I have had no problems with it. There are a couple of things that I want to bring up and I think Reed Gray did in another post is you do need a slightly larger hole with the tooling of this unit of 1" or larger. But it doesn't bother me because I like to do HF's with collars. The other thing I think you need to be aware of is that about 10" to 12" is about as deep as you would want to go with this unit. I have did 12" but with light cuts. Most of the time anything over 10" to 11" I use the Monster Captured unit.


As Steve said you can take such light and controlled cuts that you can actually get a finished surface using a straight cutter instead of a disk cutter. I have found the same thing. All in all I am extremely impressed and pleased with the unit. This is a well made, well engineered, and thought out tool. Would I buy again. Definitely.

I hope this will help some of you who are thinking about hollowing units and give you some insight to things I have seen after using this unit.

[Steve Schlumpf]

As many of you already know, I have both of Randy Privett's Monster hollowing systems - the captured and the articulating arm. I use both of them all the time and swap back and forth to meet the demands of the hollow form I am working on.

It has been stated a number of times that the articulated arm is smooth and that is seriously an understatement! There is no drag on the arm when using it and I now use the laser when positioning the cutter and getting ready to start a cut. Before I started using the laser all the time - I managed to contact the inside wall of the form sooner than I had expected (part of that real smooth operation). Course, that instantly caused a catch! So now, in addition to determining finished wall thickness, I also use the laser to highlight the cutting tip location. That laser is a great little tool and can be used for a lot of different measurements.

So, like Bernie, I am also extremely pleased with the Monster systems! Randy takes pride in what he builds and it is reflected in the quality of his work, the fit and finish of his tools and his extremely loyal customers.

For those of you in the market for hollowing tools - or other tools - I highly recommend you check out his site: http://www.monster-wood-tool.com/wst_page6.html

[Burt Alcantara]

I have two criticisms of the tool. The first is the laser adjustment. The forward/backward motion is very sticky. Once the lever is released, the laser arm falls. Getting it to lock to a specific point is difficult. The sideways motion is even harder to adjust.

I change the placement of the laser based on the direction of the outer vessel wall. Making these changes is time consuming and frustrating.

My second point is the block that holds the bar has a very sharp corner. While this is something I could grind down, it will probably look like a real hack job when I get finished with it.

However, the tool is very smooth, light on the wrists, great for us arthritic folk and surprisingly small. I've been making 3/16" walls right out of the gate with no prior experience with hollowing (unless you count a few major manually attempted disasters).

I'd go thinner but I'd worry about breaking it when I did the finishing. I'd venture to guess a novice turner could turn 1/16" on the 3rd try with this tool. It's that good!

Burt

[Steve Schlumpf]

Burt - I change the laser for the same reasons you do and the positioning does require constant updating. You mention that when you release the lever - the laser arm falls. Without seeing your setup - it sounds like you are missing the lock ring. I have a metal ring that is secured to the laser support shaft with a set screw. I adjust the ring for the height I want the laser and lock in place. When the lever is released the arm can then swing side to side but doesn't drop.

As far as front to back movement of the laser - I always attributed that to tight tolerances between the laser bar and the clamp. I do find it somewhat 'sticky' but find if I lift slight at the laser end it moves easier.

Tightening the laser in place with the lever without changing the side to side position can be challenging. I spread my left hand with little finger touching the cutter and my left thumb touching the laser - right hand moves the lever to tighten. Is there an easier way to adjust these things? I don't know but this works for me.

Laser adjustments time consuming? I guess that's just the nature of the beast. I never really thought about the amount of time it takes to adjust the laser - I was always concerned about having to stop the lathe constantly and remove all the shavings. It is during those clean-up stops that I adjust the laser - so I never noticed the extra time.

Last thing you mentioned was the block corners were sharp. No argument there - they are. I suppose you could use some 400 grit and round the corners - just never thought about it. I wear gloves when doing the actual hollowing - keeps my hands warm and helps cut down on vibration.

[BILL DONAHUE]

I agree with all of the above. Have used the Mini-Monster system for two hollowed forms and it's a breeze. Have had a few problems with the laser and it appears to have a short, but no big deal. Three weeks ago I took a class in hollowed forms at the Campbell school and used the Elbo system which is just not the same quality, either in design or form. The Elbo that I used had some play in the mechanism, it didn't fit on the tailstock all that well and it was not nearly as smooth moving as the Monster. The school had problems with several of their Elbo systems and the school's director and I delivered one of them to the blacksmith shop for repairs. I had my Monster-mini and the two HF's done on it with me, showed them to the class, and several indicated they would buy it and I think the school may, also. One really neat thing about the Monster-mini is that I have just ordered a rear assembly, painted in Powermatic mustard, that will allow me to use the system on my newest unexpected impulse purchase, a Powermatic 3520. It's really a terrific system!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Burt and Steve what I do to adjust the laser is use two hands. I do this by putting a piece of wide masking tape on the bottom of the little cutter and marking 1/4" or whatever I need from the tip. It stays there then I can use two hands to move the laser around where I need it. I also wear weight lifting gloves with the fingers open. I guess I haven't really noticed the corners either. I just got used to wear these type gloves because of the hot wood coming off the gouge on real hard woods.

Yes Burt 1/16" is good.

[Burt Alcantara]

Good point Bill. Randy will paint the pieces the color of your lathe or any other color for that matter.

Bernie & Steve. In a way I'm glad you concur with my experiences with adjusting the laser. Now I don't feel like such a klutz. Bernie, you gave me a couple of ideas for getting that extra hand to hold things while adjusting the lathe. The first thing I want to try is tying the cutter to the rest with a heavy rubber band, leaving my hands to do the adjusting.

I picked up a mag strip from WalMart. I clamped it to the bed extension and keep the cutters and hex keys on it. So far, it's working great.

Which cutters are you guys using? Jamieson likes the 3/16" cutters. I like the ability to change the angle but so far I like the fatter cutters better. Still experimenting...

This is a great thread!
Burt

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use the 3/16" one most of the time. I talked with Larry Hasiak and he goes to a 1/4" to do finishing. Then he uses a teardrop scraper to do the finial passes. I have been using the 3/16" and then going to the teardrop for finish but may try his method using the 1/4" before the disk. Burt like I said I just stick a piece of masking tape to the bottom of the cutter, mark 1/4" or 3/16" as it is resting on the tool rest and then adjust. I will give you rubber band thing a go. Thanks for the idea.

[George Guadiane]

I think one of these "Monsters" is my next "big" purchase, BUT...
I really love my Rolly Munro tool is really great, and I have gotten the hang of it, to the point that My hollowing time is down about 80%. I would LOVE to have a laser on it...
Question: Can I use that tool on this setup?

[robert hainstock]

Having the oportunity to see Steve's work inside and out I completely agree with your comments. If I were to hollow, I'd get oue in a heartbeat. The fit and finish is fantastic, as is the operation.
Bob

[Randy Privett]

I've had some complain the the laser seems to short out at times. After looking at the problem, I've found that due to the batteries being in the top of the battery box, they have a tendency to drop a little when vibration takes place, giving the indication of shorting out. The fix for this is to take someones business card that you were going to throw away; cut a small piece off of it 3/4" X 1" and put it in the bottom of the battery box. This should keep tension on the batteries and the laser shouldn't dim.

Thanks

Randy

[Burt Alcantara]

George,
Randy makes adaptors to fit up to 1" bars so I'm sure he has one that would fit the RM tool. You could keep your tool and get this great hollower at the same time.

BTW, Bihn Pho uses the Monroe hollower. I have both of his DVDs. They are awe inspiring! I highly suggest both.

Thin Wall Turning
Surface Design on Thin Wall Turning

The Surface Design DVD spun my head around about 1000 degrees.

Burt

[Burt Alcantara]

3/16" cutters are fairly easy to find and are dirt cheap. How do you cut them in half? I cut mine with a cutting wheel on my wrist-killing drill. It was a true Frankenstein job. While it works, it's butt ugly.

Suggestions?

Burt

[Dale Miner]

When I need to cut a piece of High Speed Steel in to shorter lengths, I notch the piece with the corner of my grinding wheel on all 4 sides fairly deep. The piece is then clamped in the vise with the notch lined up with the end (or top) of the jaws. An adjustable wrench is used on the protruding portion to snap the HSS at the notch. Wear safety glasses, and probably not a bad idea to wrap the HSS in a rag to catch any small shrapnel.

My grinding wheels are fairly hard, and the corners hold up pretty well. The corners of white wheels might take a beating grinding the notches.

On a 3/16 square, notching on two opposite sides is enough.


An abrasive wheel similar to what is used for exhaust pipes also works well, but does eat the cutting discs.

Later,

Dale M

[Reed Gray]

I hadn't noticed that the corners on the laser mount were a bit sharp, and went out to check, and they were. Not hard to fix. As far as the laser arm being difficult to adjust I don't think it is too bad. For out and back, the tolerences are close, and if you don't try to slide it fast, it works fine. The pointer does move foreward when you tighten it up, so I just learned to put it farther back than I want, and when I tighten it up, it moves foreward to where I want it. For the side to side swing, I found out that if I loosen it just enough so that it can move with a little pressure, it is easy to adjust, but if I loosen it enough so that it swings freely, then it is hard to adjust perfectly. I did get a bump on my head from one of the wrenches on the laser arm. I need to grind a bit off it so the handle isn't sticking out at 90 degrees. I wish there was a better way of tightening the laser parts, but having the allen wrenches welded to the nut keeps me from losing them, and having to fish around in pockets for them. Maybe a T wrench would be smaller, but may not provide enough leverage for torquing it down. I do keep the two that I need to change parts on the cutting arm on the magnet from my moffit lamp.
I already have all the McNaughton hollowing cutters, and the adapters for a 13/16 bored arm. I had Randy make me an adapter for the Monster so that I could use the KM cutters and others that I have in this system. The 3/4 inch bars fit into the system, but seem to be too long to the point that there is chatter. This system isn't made for deep hollowing. I may cut them down in length, as my D handle that they fit into supports most of the bar for deeper hollowing. I am very happy with this system, and it really makes it a lot easier to hollow.
robo hippy