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Anyone used the Carter Products Perfect Hollower?

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Rich, I have not used the Perfect Hollower, and I don't recall playing with it at the symposium, so I can't give you any first hand feedback. But I am curious about your thinking on this, and your comparisons to the Simple Hollowing System and the Elbo 2, being the obvious competitors.

(I'm not trying to criticize here, just genuinely curious about the pro's & con's as you see them).
 
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I have not used that one. Looking at it only having one arm makes me think it will be hard to keep the correct tool angle. I bought the Simple Hollowing System for around the same price and it has two arms which lets me keep the angle I need.06644B68-28D9-46DD-A729-84EFC9EC33B9.jpeg46667873-130F-49D8-A67F-650F2F85BFA8.jpeg06D5D700-81D1-4D03-B036-E6AC35A166DC.jpeg
 
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@Rusty Nesmith , The Perfect has two arms like the Simple, but they are separated vertically. I'm curious how well that works when hollowing, though I do understand that it allows the Perfect to mount an optional sphere cutting jig.
 
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@Rusty Nesmith , The Perfect has two arms like the Simple, but they are separated vertically. I'm curious how well that works when hollowing, though I do understand that it allows the Perfect to mount an optional sphere cutting jig.
Looking at the picture I didn’t realize the bottom arm moved. Not sure how stable that will be.
 
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Rusty, I feel like there’s a toolrest missing from your setup. Wouldn’t it be more stable if you had the toolrest near the mouth of your turning to support the tool where it enters the work?
 
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Rusty, I feel like there’s a toolrest missing from your setup. Wouldn’t it be more stable if you had the toolrest near the mouth of your turning to support the tool where it enters the work?
Yes I use a tool rest. Those are the only pictures I have of my hollowing system. I took them because somebody wanted to see how the laser cleared my steady rest so I left the tool rest out of the way.
 
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Got it! Thanks for the clarification. I don’t yet have an articulated hollowing rig, but am in the “thinking about it” stage, and wanted to be sure I had the setup understood.
 

RichColvin

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Mark,

I have the Carter Hollower XL, so I wanted to look at this for smaller pieces. The Hollower XL is nice, but it is a bear to setup.

I also already have the Carter sphere jig, so I am thinking this would be a low cost alternative.

Rich
 
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Wowser - that's a lot of hardware - hollowing ain't that hard. My concern is I'd have to read the instructions.
Is the goal fast results without the learning curve?
 
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You might want to look at Trent Bosch's Stabilizer system. I think it is heavier duty than either one of those that you mentioned. I could not find the size of the cutting bar for the Carter system. Bosch has two different sizes for the cutting bar--5/8" system is $325 and the 3/4" is $425. The laser setup is $185. His system does not come with any cutting bars but you can buy a straight and curved set for $120 (5/8") or $140 (3/4"). I have used his system for many years and really enjoy it. He has some videos on his website (trentboschtools.com) that are really helpful. Good luck on your decision making process.
 

RichColvin

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I bit the bullet. Haven’t used it yet, but it seems very well built.
 
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In reality the sole purpose of a hollowing system is to take the twisting torque of the cutter out of the turners hands and to put it into the bed and/or other parts of the lathe. Any of these systems will work being articulated or captured. The most important part is the base or attachment to the lathe that is accepting the torque. In a articulated system along with the base are the bearings used in the joints for ease of use. Also the capability of adding a laser is nice. Lastly for me I want it built out of steel not that aluminum won't be OK but I like the feel of a steel build.
 

RichColvin

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Thanks, I am going to contact Carter Products about the arm add on for perfect sphere. Makes sense for me because I already own that unit.
That’s why I bought one. I was able to get the laser arm from them without the laser. That’s how I hold the camera.
 

RichColvin

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David, it is not. What I used is :
  • Camera : Swann Microcam 720p Security Camera, 1 megapixel resolution. $25 @ Micro Center.
    • The camera uses a BNC Connector (a BNC cable and power plug come with the kit)
    • The camera attached to the arm where my laser had been attached. I hold it in place by a small hose clamp. A small block of wood between the camera body and the hose clamp keeps it from pivoting on it's axis (from vibration in the woodturning process).
  • Adapter (to convert the BNC cable from the camera to the VGA cable for the monitor): VGA video PC converter adapter with BNC $18 @ Amazon
  • Standard VGA cable (usually has blue ends) - I already had an unused one
  • Computer Monitor - I already had an unused one
There are a few other threads on this forum which will give more information. And some of the parts I used are not available any longer, replaced by newer, better ones. But the overall idea is the same.
 
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