Robert Sorby midi multi tip hollower

[Sam Fleisher]

Picked one of these up last night at a club garage sale. It only came with one tip (which had been reground according to the owner) and no instructions,

Trying it out today I learned it's good to get the ol A-Fib twitching!

Is the distance that the cutter sticks out from the holder dependent on what you are trying to do with it or is there a distance it should be set at and only moved when it gets shorter from sharpening?

If nothing else it is teaching me I need to get moving on a captured hollower system if I want to do a form. The instructions I did find mention it's for fairly small end grain and shallow bowls. As far as bowls what is the advantage of this over a regular gouge or regular scraper for that matter? The little cutter looks like a miniature scraper to me.

 

[Doug Freeman]

Distance of the cutter setting depends on what you are doing. The less the cutting edge is offset from center the less torque is applied through the handle.

No advantage of the tool for bowls.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Picked one of these up last night at a club garage sale. It only came with one tip (which had been reground according to the owner) and no instructions,

Trying it out today I learned it's good to get the ol A-Fib twitching!

Is the distance that the cutter sticks out from the holder dependent on what you are trying to do with it or is there a distance it should be set at and only moved when it gets shorter from sharpening?

If nothing else it is teaching me I need to get moving on a captured hollower system if I want to do a form. The instructions I did find mention it's for fairly small end grain and shallow bowls. As far as bowls what is the advantage of this over a regular gouge or regular scraper for that matter? The little cutter looks like a miniature scraper to me.

Sounds a lot like my set of 2 Ellsworth hollowing tools. With hollowers like that for freehand use, it's gonna be all about leverage and finesse - with mine the bars are about 18 inches long, and I turned handles of hornbeam that are another 22 inches. The resulting tool is nearly 3 feet long - just barely clears the tailstock on my HF 12 x 36 Deepest hollow form I have dared is 7 inch deep Birch vase - I couldn't go deeper without the leverage coming close to lifting ME off my feet... and that's with the tool rest almost kissing the opening.

One of the tricks I learned about the Ellsworth and other hollowers like that (Which are quite literally just miniaturized scrapers) especially the offset one (straight bar but cutter comes out at an angle) , first I turned the handle off-axis to get a triangular shaped handle for a better grip (as well as being able to tell where the cutter was without seeing it) and secondly it goes a long way to start with the cutter pointing down and then rotate handle clockwise to bring the tool into the wood just until you can feel it start to cut/scrape or see chips...

But as noted it is about the leverage - lathe is only gonna need 8 inches or so of leverage over the fulcrum of the tool rest to quite literally be able to lift you off your feet if you are working with a 24 inch or so tool - electric motors are QUITE powerful, y'know? So the longer the handle (giving you more leverage/mechanical advantage Vs the lathe) the easier it is to get deeper - but that only works so far before you gonna have a very unwieldy 6 foot long bar to go 12 inches deep or something like that , hence the captured hollowing systems...

 

[Doug Freeman]

Something to consider with hand held hollowing tools - you dont want the cutting edge to get below center, and it can be difficult to know the handle orientation, is it level? I attach small bubble levels to all my hollowing tools, rotationally where the cutter flat is level. I have indication of edge rotation as well whether the tool is level. I by cheap levels of various types from HF and break out the bubbles.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Something to consider with hand held hollowing tools - you dont want the cutting edge to get below center, and it can be difficult to know the handle orientation, is it level? I attach small bubble levels to all my hollowing tools, rotationally where the cutter flat is level. I have indication of edge rotation as well whether the tool is level. I by cheap levels of various types from HF and break out the bubbles.

That was one of the things I found in the sparse instructions was cutting on center line. As for rotational it's made with a flat side on the shaft for the scraper cutters.

 

[Mike Shannon]

I was given one of these with one bit - the same one in your photo. I've mostly used it to cut back under the rim of small bowls with closed-form rims. I haven't found much instruction on use so there have been some moments while figuring it out . . .

When peering into the piece while cutting I'm always aware to not have my head above the short handle of this tool. One of those grabby catches and suddenly the tool handle and your head occupy the same space, as Kirk Deheer says.

 

[Michael Beswick]

It has a swan necked sister for undercutting. The flat scraper attachment produces a good finish. As said care/skill needed with the torque in both overhang and rotational planes.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

I was given one of these with one bit - the same one in your photo. I've mostly used it to cut back under the rim of small bowls with closed-form rims. I haven't found much instruction on use so there have been some moments while figuring it out . . .

When peering into the piece while cutting I'm always aware to not have my head above the short handle of this tool. One of those grabby catches and suddenly the tool handle and your head occupy the same space, as Kirk Deheer says.

That's what I figured I'll use it for, undercutting a rim and maybe some mushrooms. I didn't pay much for it (club garage sale) so if it doesn't see a lot of use it won't matter. I'm pretty sure it's not my "one tool away from greatness" candidate.