First Hollowing Attempt

Re: First Hollowing Attempt

David Galloway

>As I just began hollowing, I can only give you the insight of just doing it. It really is not that difficult, the design of the vessel being the most important and challenging. Once you learn how to hollow, you will know why they call it a "boring" bar, cause it is!

Have fun. Remember it's only wood and it grows on trees.

David Galloway

Re: First Hollowing Attempt

Dick Hines

>Glad you got your hollowing rig. I have had one on order since Jan6. I have a PM 3520 and The guy at Wood Craft ended up contacting Kelton direct to get me one. Wood Craft has discontinued the large rigs.

I used a friends last month and just loved it. Post some of your work.

Re: First Hollowing Attempt

sroxberg

>I will post either my work, or a picture of the fireplace. As usual I don't have a seperate finishing room so I can't create dust while some finish dries.

My wife may loose her laundry room as a drying room for the week at this rate.

I bought the mini hollowing kit, mini laser, and the small tool set and a diamond hone.

Hopefully it will work well.

Are there any books on hollowing? I've seen dozens on making bowls?

Re: First Hollowing Attempt

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>Though several books touch on it, there are no outstanding tutorials that I have encountered, and I have a pretty large library.

There are, however, several excellent videos on the subject. For the tools you have, you may find the one by Jamieson to be the most helpful, though I find the Ellsworth (either Video #3 or his hollowing tools video--which cover much the same content) and Jordan ones to be quite good as well. I don't think the Stott's one is up to the standard of the others.

If you must have a print resource, then Robert Chapman's book and John Hunnex's second book (which may now be out of print) do deal with hollowing more extensively than the others.

Generally you can obtain these from either Packard or Craft Supplies.

Also consider web based resources. For example, my reviews of the Kelton tools discuss their use, as does my tips for using the Proform, the most recent version of which can be found at the web page More Woodturning has set up to eventually have all my past articles

http://www.fholder.com/Woodturning/lyn.html.

Re: First Hollowing Attempt

sroxberg

>Thanks Lyn, I have read your articles and they are great. Happy to hear I wasn't missing a book on the subject. I'll probably end up with a preforme as well if I enjoy this.

Re: First Hollowing Attempt

Brad Vietje

>Have you done any hollowing by hand ?

Regardless, I'd strongly suggest setting up the rig and working on an open bowl or two first, so you can really see what's happening as you get a feel for how the hollowing progresses. You'll also get a better appreciation for ridges and bumps on the inside, and visually relate how big they are to how big they feel. You can also relate the sounds you hear to how thin the wall is, the danger signs of knots, splits, and voids, etc... The laser can certainly help you get a nice, even wall thickness, but you should still develop a sense of what is actually happening in there so you don't use too much force, or proceed when stopping might be more prudent.

You can also get a real tutorial on adjusting the position of the laser beam in relation to the tip, and how that affects your measurement as you progress around a curve. Hint: you'll need to re-adjust it often following a curve, especially on thinner vessels.

Safe Spinning,

Brad Vietje

Thetford, VT

Re: First Hollowing Attempt

GeeSeaWhy

>I use the Keltons for most of my hollow work, but without the rig or laser. From that perspective, here are a few suggestions.

I'll second Brad's suggestion - try the tools on a bowl first. Hollow out the bowl as if it were a hollow form with a giant opening.

The tools are scrapers. Keep the tool rest above centre and the tool tip at or above centre.

Use the straight tool for most of the work - you can get some vicious catches from the curved ones.

Tall and skinny is much easier than short and fat.

The Kelton tools can remove material fast. Initially you will have to stop every 2-3 cuts to clear out the shavings. Fail to do this and the tool will get totally jammed.

I find it difficult to get a smooth finish with the Keltons. Don't worry about it on your first attempt. Use the practice bowls to see how good you can expect to get.

HTH

Graeme