Hollowing System - Which To Buy

[Pat Harris]

I have caught the turning bug for Hollow Forms and really enjoy doing them. However, I had some trouble and catches with the deeper ones 6" plus and had to take them to my friends house and use his Jamerson System to finish the boring and hollowing. It is a large rig to operate and I was wondering what expierences, preferences and suggestions as to which hollwoing systems available, Carter, Monster, Jamerson,etc to buy. I will be using it on a Powermatic Lathe.
Pat Harris
Lexington, SC

 

[Dave W]

Pat,

I opted to go with Jamieson's system, however I opted to build mine. If you know anyone that can weld, he offers up all the details for free if you want to give it a go: https://www.lylejamieson.com/tools/tool_howto.asp The only other one I have given a try is the elbo system, I didn't care for it that much. I find my home made job to work quite smoothly and effortlessly.

 

[Bill Blasic]

Pat,
I have both Monster Tools systems, the captured and the articulated. When Randy made mine I opted to get the tail portion made for each of my lathes. I use both systems on all the lathes. Randy does not sit on his laurels and is always improving his products. He now has a new swivel tool tip for the systems that allows for better control while in the tightest hollowing areas and it works very well. I use both on the Powermatic and DVR but just use the articulated on the smaller lathes. I also really like his laser system it is far and away the best I've used.
Bill

 

[Thomas Stegall]

In my opinion;

Best Laser system on hollowing tool;

From what I have seen and used Steve Sinners system has the best laser. It can be adjusted extremely fast and easily with no tools, and the size of the laser dot is completely adjustable.

Smoothest hollowing system;

Kobra Deep Hollowing system, is made extremely well, doesn't take up any room and will bore to a dept of 15 inches. They also recently developed a boring bar that can be bent to 45 or 90 degrees once inside the form to cut around shoulders like the Frank Sudol/Hugh McKay system that now cost 4 times as much.

Deepest production hollowing system;

Probably Brian McEvoy's hollowing system

 

[Patrick Miller]

Pat,

I opted to go with Jamieson's system, however I opted to build mine. If you know anyone that can weld, he offers up all the details for free if you want to give it a go: https://www.lylejamieson.com/tools/tool_howto.asp The only other one I have given a try is the elbo system, I didn't care for it that much. I find my home made job to work quite smoothly and effortlessly.

I, too, have opted for a home made version of Lyle's system. After using the 3/4" boring bar for a few projects I opted to make a replacement out of 1-1/4" stock which I find superior, no substitute for mass when it comes to damping vibration. My friend has the Brian McEvoy system which we use for deeper hollowing 15"+. It's hard to beat if you have the room.

 

[Richard Coers]

Depends a bit on what type of forms you are going to turn. The captive systems take some readjustments if you are doing small opening, large diameter pieces. It's tougher to snake in the cutter and do back cutting. The articulated are much better for this, but not as good for deep hollowing, unless you drop the big bucks on the Kobra.

 

[hockenbery]

I use the Jamison handle with Trent Bosch bars.

 

[Pat Harris]

Big Thank You Guys

I am still researching and making a comparison table to evaluate Hollowing systems. I don't have my AAW journal Handy and was wondering if anyone knew the name of the system that is advertised I think on the back cover? I want the hollowing system to be versatile for small and large pieces with small and larger openings. I think I will need some kind of Steady Rest as well as the Laser and captive or articulating system. I think I am willing to spend more money for a really good system and quality that will last. While cheap tools in the hands of a master can make a difference, this ole turner needs all the help he can get.
Pat

 

[John Lawson]

Woodturning Design, Carter Hollow Roller System?

 

[Thomas Stegall]

I used the Carter hollowing system for a demo last week. It should probably be considered a mid-range system. It will hollow small to medium sized pieces with med-large openings to an effective depth of about 12 inches. Although nicely machined, it is not real versatile and is not compatable with any other boring bars as many other sytems are.

 

[John Beaver]

I suggest looking at the JTTurning Tools Gizmo. Similar to the Monster system but beefier. A very well made unit.

 

[Dale Canapini]

Gizmo

I have a Gizmo from JT tooling. When I was at last years symposium I was planning on picking up a system. I looked at pretty much all of them and compared them. It is very well constructed. I use mine on a robust sweet 16 and it performs wonderfully. The folks that made it spent a great deal of time on getting it right. I have purchased a few things from them now and Can state their quality is excellent. Any time I have a question on anything a phone call or e-mail takes care of it

 

[Hugh]

Dale,
About how much is the "Gizmo"? Does the price compare with the Monster?
Thanks.
Hugh

 

[Dale Canapini]

It is kind of an ala carte type of purchase. The way it is set up you have a number of options if you already have an appropriate hollowing tool you do not need theirs etc. It is not an inexpensive tool. Mine was about $675.00 with the gizmo itself, Laser "locator" and the "transformer" articulated hollowing tool with three different size cutter heads. If I already had a boring bar tool you would not need purchase theirs.

 

[Hugh]

Thanks Dale. I have been finding that using the hand held hollowing tools that I have now are not the greatest thing for my sholder. This getting older thing is interesting.
Hugh

 

[Pat Harris]

Hugh and Dale, I had heard of the Gizmo hollowing systme last year but didn't remember the name or company. So glad you have shared and reminded me. I have reviewed the JT Tool's web site and like what I see plus hearing form you guys. What is the largest / deepest vessels that can be hollowed and. . . can you attache other cutters beside the carbide ones? Now all I have to do is find someone fairly close by to see or have a hands on of the Gizmo. Living in the Columbia, SC area makes it a realtive easy drive to Atlanta, Savannah, Charolette , Raleigh, etc that I am willing to make.
Pat

 

[Dale Canapini]

Hugh sorry to hear about the shoulder trouble. A few years ago I damaged my right hand & they removed a bone at base of my thumb hollowing with out a boring setup usually leaves me with a bit of pain since all the force is absorbed by the lathe & the gizmo it makes it much easier on me.

 

[Hugh]

Dale,
Hollowing smaller vessels is OK - up to about 6-8". When I do larger diameter or taller items, there seems to be too much leverage and I can only work on them for a couple of hours at most. Then I bag them up and come back the next day. It works. I had the rotator cuff operated on a number of years ago and am glad it works as well as it does.

Still going to look into a hollowing system - always seem to be looking for something to make life easier.
Hugh

 

[Chris Dinsmore]

Harrison Specialties Hollowing System

A little know machinist offers a number of turning related tools. I recently picked up his vacuum chuck & hollowing system. Both are excellent. Great craftmanship & amazing price. Plus Kerry provides excellent customer service.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Laser-Guided-Hollowing-System-carbide-tipped-wood-turning-tool-bowl-boring-/200689343534?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eba045c2e#ht_3100wt_1177

 

[John King]

Define YOUR Requirements

Pat - The great thing about forums like this is that you can post almost any question and get answers. But you should filter the answers to find the ones relevant to YOUR situation.

My advice to you is to spend some time thinking about YOUR requirements. Make some decisions about what type of hollow forms you plan to turn - fat and squatty, tall and narrow, wide or small mouth/opening, etc. After defining YOUR requirements, filter the inputs received on this thread to find the ones relevant to YOUR needs. Some thoughts/comments may not be applicable to YOUR needs.

Everyone likes what they have - Jamison, Monstor, Oneway, Carter, Gizmo, etc. That's why they bought it. They thought it was the best hollowing system for THEIR needs.

I have a homemade Jamison look-a-like. It's simple. It was inexpensive. It meets all of MY needs.

I suggest you find some folks in a local turning club that have the various hollowing systems. Have them get in touch with you next time they are going to do some hollowing. Visit their garage/shop/studio and check out the system they use. - John

 

[Mark Mandell]

After developing a medical condition that mostly prevented me from hollowing the way I learned (by hand & Caliper), I built my own Sudol/Jamieson rig with laser guide and used it with success. The design is simple and doesn't require precision tools to complete. I found, however, that it generated a lot of vibration and noise. Over the course of a symposium or two and seeing other turner's designs, I decided to sell my rig and purchased a Kobra. The difference and precision have been amazing, both for the quality of the work and my ability to engage with it. Where the Jamieson-style rig and the others I sampled were essentially hand/wrist and finger driven, the Kobra is used with full body weight and big-muscle movement, just like hand-hollowing and general open turning. The resulting increased control of the cutter is important.

I could go on, but I'd start sounding like a commercial and probably get my comment pulled by John.

So, find someone in your area that has a Kobra, and go try it before you sink that kind of coin into the tool.