Review: Hands-On – Sunday 17th November 2024

The main focus of Sunday’s Hands-On was hollowing. John started the session by introducing us to the range of hollowing tools available.

We have a good number of tools in our Club Tool Library so we can try them out in our own workshops before making a purchase. John also showed us some of his own tools.

One key takeaway was that size is important. For small projects there are hollowing tools such as the nimble Hope 6mm hollower. However, for deeper hollowing of larger pieces, hollowing tools need to have a large diameter (e.g. 5/8″) and a long tool handle in order to avoid vibration and to counter the forces exerted by the lathe. Typically, the tool handle length needs to be four to five times the distance from the tool rest to the tool tip. The Woodcut Pro Forme hollower proved to be popular by those of us who tried it out.

It was good to see most members having a go, even if for just a short time. John gave lots of good advice and explained the hollowing process very well.