Hope Hollowing System User Question

[John Wates]

For those of you who have Hope Hollowing Jig, have you used any non Hope Cutters on the 19MM bar?

 

[William Rogers]

I have the Hope system. bought it before he quit shipping to the US. If you are talking about the tear drop or round disc, then most should work. I bought the Hope carbide cutters, but I don’t use them. Just never got use to them. I use either the John Jordan 3/4” and 1/2” bars or the Trent Bosch 5/8” bars with the 1/4” HSS cutters. Both are good.

 

[Jerryturbett]

I use mostly the Hunter cutters and most frequently use the Rolly Monro cutter. I have had the Hope Hollowing System since they were first available and very satisfied with it.

 

[John Wates]

Jerry, thanks for your comment. Do you use the Hunter cutters in the Hope boring bar or have you been using something else to hold the cutters? Is the Rolly Monro cutter assembly also used with what bar?

William, thanks for your comment. I have been thinking long and hard about getting some Jordan bars or possibly Bosch bars. To sharpen the Bosh tools,, is it necessary to unglue them from the handles?

I turned my first hollow form with the system and was surprised how well it turned out for a first attempt. Used a camera and tv to avoid making a funnel. Not sure from this first experience about how to present the cutter to the wood, i.e., top level flat or tilted counter clock wise some. Hope's video says to tilt the cutter 5 to 10 degrees anti-clockwise, but saw a youtube presentation by Ben Simmons of the Independence Woodturners and his cuter didn't seemed to be angled. What has been your experiences using the OEM bar?

 

[John Wates]

First Hollow Form Ever! There is a little ridge visible just inside the lip in first picture. Not quite sure how to clean that up with 6MM Hope cutter and couldn't get the round scraper in that corner to smooth it out. Hole at top snuck up on me and got wider than I wanted. Original plan was to have a rounder shape, but there was a seam in the wood that I wasn't sure wouldn't split so I turned it away and this is the shape that developed. The Hope 6MM cuter worked well with this.

 

[William Rogers]

I do not unglue the cutters on the Bosch bars. I just use the platform and do the best I can, Main reason I bought the Bosch bars was he had an extreme bent bar I wanted. I am happy with either Jordan or Bosch, but the Jordan cutters are much easier to sharpen. With the Bosch cutters, it is better to have a radius CBN wheel. I have even considered putting a set screws in my Bosch bars.
Been a while, but the tilting is when using the Hunter style carbide cutter. I have Hope's version, but never got use to it. I also didn’t like it being on that thin insert. I bent his curved one with a catch. If I liked the carbide, I would get a different bar than Hopes where the cutter is attached to the bar.
The only Hope cutters I use are the disc and tear drop to clean up the inside.

I also hade his camera system. It worked for about three years and the camera finally failed. You can buy the same camera from Amazon, but that is not the greatest camera. I bought an inspection camera and fitted it into the original aluminum camera body and hooked it up to an old computer.

EDIT:
Your hope carbide cutter is different than the one I bought. I’ll get a picture of mine later. I still don’t like that style.
This is my Hope carbide cutter. Not a good design in my opinion.

 

[hockenbery]

For those of you who have Hope Hollowing Jig, have you used any non Hope Cutters on the 19MM bar?

I don’t have any of the Hope Bars.
Most often I use the Bosch bars in it with the glued in Hss cutters.
I also have a half dozen other hollowing bars. A 1.5” bar made by a freind two Denise Stewart bars and a large Jamison bar.
I learned to sharpen with tips in the bars in an Ellsworth class last century and have no difficulty sharpening the cutters in the bars.
Holding the bar makes the sharpening easier for me.
A radius edge CBN wheel makes the sharpening easier.
I also use the Bosch visualizer with the Hope system.

I also have the Jamison system too and have used it with the bosch visualizer.

There is a little ridge visible just inside the lip in first picture. Not quite sure how to clean that up with 6MM Hope cutter

It will be difficult to smooth those ridges with the small cutter. The cutter will want to follow the ridges and valleys and not fix the problem.
What you want to do is cut the ridge tops and cut air when over a valley. This takes a lot of practice.
I try not to make ridges but have found a few tiny one in photos of finished pieces…
What I do is use a teardrop scraper to smooth the surface. A work it 2-4” sections cut to near final thickness. Use the scraper to smooth to final thickness. My scrapers are on the Stewart bars no longer available. Trent Bosh has a similar scraper available.

 

[William Rogers]

I do have the Jordan holder for the cutter sharpening. Easy to use.

 

[hockenbery]

I do have the Jordan holder for the cutter sharpening. Easy to use.

That is a good system. It’s a tiny bit slower but gives great results.

 

[John Wates]

Thanks! I hadn't thought of a teardrop shaped scraper. A round one came with the system and it did a pretty good job of smoothing the lower section, but because of the shoulder angle where the form curves up to the opening I couldn't get it in contact with the ridge as the scraper radius was too big. I was afraid if I went back with the 6mm cutter would end up with a very short bowl and matching funnel. A teardrop shape looks like it would get in there using the small end quite well.

I saw on another post some one talked about using black gesso to coat the interior of a hollow form with a larger opening. Really does hide the ridges. Finished the top part with Triple E followed by Mylands friction polish. Looks so much better than I though it could. Need to turn it around and sand and finish the bottom half.

 

[Chris Lawrence]

I do have the Jordan holder for the cutter sharpening. Easy to use.

I always sharpened those cutters with a small pair of locking pliers but guess I just always look for the cheap solution. I recently switched to the hunter tip that fits the Jordan bars. Hollowed out 20 plus hollow forms so far and have not had to even rotate the bit yet.

 

[John Wates]

How does that Hunter cutter work in the Jordan #1Hook Tool and how far does it protrude from the bar? Would like to see a picture of your bar in your working setup if possible.

 

[Chris Lawrence]

Its a little longer then the original cutter by the diameter of the hunter #1 cutter on it. Here's a pic i pulled from a video i made.

 

[John Wates]

That is clever. So the tip of the cutter is about 6mm further out than standard. Do you use it with the face up or turned at an angle for any of your cuts? Does that extra distance cause any torque issues?

 

[William Rogers]

I always sharpened those cutters with a small pair of locking pliers but guess I just always look for the cheap solution. I recently switched to the hunter tip that fits the Jordan bars. Hollowed out 20 plus hollow forms so far and have not had to even rotate the bit yet.

I didn’t think to use pliers to sharpen my Jordan cutters. Sharpening on a platform I would “sharpen” the end of my fingers occasionally along with the Jordan cutter. That is why I bought his sharpening jig.

The curve cutter in post 6 is a new one I ordered after I bent the original. Never have used it. I have two other tools that have hunter cutters. I can’t tell any difference between them and the Hope carbide cutter. Maybe I should try the carbide cutters again.

 

[Chris Lawrence]

That is clever. So the tip of the cutter is about 6mm further out than standard. Do you use it with the face up or turned at an angle for any of your cuts? Does that extra distance cause any torque issues?

I use a capture ring for hollowing and do not notice any additional torque. I use it for everything. I can cut in both directions when hollowing pushing in and pulling out.