Arbortech sphero-thing: lathe substitute for bowl-making?

[Eshmiel]

This just appeared in my email - a link to the latest Arbortech gizmo at Axminster:

https://www.axminstertools.com/arbo...bortech+now+in+stock20250208Manual+-+Targeted

It looks very new but I wonder if anyone has any experience of the thing? I ask because I have no room for a lathe or the cash to buy the lathe and tooling I'd like, to make smooth & regular big bowls rather than the sort of hand-carved greenwood bowls I've been making recently. If this Arbortech gubbins really can do what the vids portray, without issue, then I'd certainly have room for one.

Any comments and observations welcome.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's not April the first yet.

 

[Stigmorgan]

I saw this on a YouTube last week, it works really well but better on the outside than inside of a bowl, it's brilliant for making spheres. I'll see if I can find the video.

 

[Stigmorgan]

 

[Blister]

Looks to be a long time consuming job.

 

[Eshmiel]

Thanks, Stig, for the video link - worth watching to get an idea of just how precise a shape the thing can make.

It does look a longer job that the advert videos from Arbortech suggest .... but not so long as it'd take to carve those items with hand tools. Although adzing and axing out a large bowl can be faster than one might think, once the adze & axe are mastered, the result still needs a lot of perfecting. I doubt I could hand-carve a bowl of the same size as an Arbortech sphero-thingy could do it - not to the same standard of finish, at least.

If the Arbortech tool can auto-shape a regular concavity or convexity, this is the greatest difference between this new tool and their standard wood chewin' tools, which seem more oriented at carving irregular shapes "in the round". For those of us without a lathe who want to carve bowls in the same style (very smooth, regular, symmetric) as well as the the more from-the-tool, irregular and asymmetric hand carved bowls, the Arbortech spherical tool looks a good option.

A lathe and tooling to make the same thing would likely cost 4 times as much or more; and take up a great deal of room, which personally I don't have. A lathe can do a lot of other things besides bowls, of course. But I don't have a need or want to do those other things.

 

[alex robinson]

Thanks, Stig, for the video link - worth watching to get an idea of just how precise a shape the thing can make.

It does look a longer job that the advert videos from Arbortech suggest .... but not so long as it'd take to carve those items with hand tools. Although adzing and axing out a large bowl can be faster than one might think, once the adze & axe are mastered, the result still needs a lot of perfecting. I doubt I could hand-carve a bowl of the same size as an Arbortech sphero-thingy could do it - not to the same standard of finish, at least.

If the Arbortech tool can auto-shape a regular concavity or convexity, this is the greatest difference between this new tool and their standard wood chewin' tools, which seem more oriented at carving irregular shapes "in the round". For those of us without a lathe who want to carve bowls in the same style (very smooth, regular, symmetric) as well as the the more from-the-tool, irregular and asymmetric hand carved bowls, the Arbortech spherical tool looks a good option.

A lathe and tooling to make the same thing would likely cost 4 times as much or more; and take up a great deal of room, which personally I don't have. A lathe can do a lot of other things besides bowls, of course. But I don't have a need or want to do those other things.

I understand that space may be a problem (isn't it always!) but it looks to me an expensive and specialized tool. Assuming you already have the arbor tech carving unit (£300) the tool costs another £300. 5 minutes on eBay produces this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/19693663...gcasv-DSI6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

For £300 ono you get a large and capable lathe (Denford viceroy), a chuck and a set of tools.

I would be keen to hear how the power carver works. It sounds an interesting and perhaps ingenious tool, but I don't think it can be described as cheap.

 

[Eshmiel]

I understand that space may be a problem (isn't it always!) but it looks to me an expensive and specialized tool. Assuming you already have the arbor tech carving unit (£300) the tool costs another £300. 5 minutes on eBay produces this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/19693663...gcasv-DSI6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

For £300 ono you get a large and capable lathe (Denford viceroy), a chuck and a set of tools.

I would be keen to hear how the power carver works. It sounds an interesting and perhaps ingenious tool, but I don't think it can be described as cheap.

Yes - to be frank I'd buy another lathe if there was room for it. I had to sell mine when we moved to a new house as the new "shed" (a one car garage) just couldn't accommodate not only my lathe but my big bandsaw, drum sander, large belt sander, Plano-press, shavehorse, steam box and various other large tools. I had to sell summick to move and the lathe, sadly, was one-such.

A look at smaller lathes I could store outside the workshop and move on to the workbench now and then has been considered. None of the smaller ones are really suitable for the larger bowls, though; and would still be a bit of a pain to move in and out, as I already do with various other largish items that I can put on a workbench, such as a woodrat and a large portable drill press stand to hold a router for use in end-mill style.

One advantage of the Arbortech spherething is that it can be easily used outside. Despite the facility to attach a vacuum, the vids show plenty of shavings and dust all over. I already try to green woodwork outside otherwise the shed gets ankle-deep in shavings and chips, which take a while to clear off everything after a session.

**********
But I have no intent for buying the Arbortech thing just now. If my attempts at carving take off, though, perhaps I'll be using one in a year or two to make strange but huge abstract sculptures as well as large bowls you can bathe a bairn in.

 

[denmans]

This is very new and I don't have one and looks like it's more for the outside of the bowl. But I do use Arbortech: turboplane and ball gouge and corner sander for making bowls and planters of all different sizes and shapes. Basically I find them fun to use and very well made. They make make a lot of flying chips and sawdust and I use them outside. You get surrounded in a cloud of wood chips using the turboplane On one occasion some chips got inside my angle grinder and I had to take it apart. I now put some material from a pair of tights over the vents. I just use them for a bit of eccentric fun, possibly not for serious woodworkers.