Munro Hollower and Calipers.

[Paul.J]

Decided to have a go with my newly acquired Monro Hollower yesterday and today.
Tried it on a piece of green Apple,what other colour would it have been :lol: :lol:
Things were going well with reams of wooden ribbons flying all over me,and everywhere else
Shaped the outside quite well and then onto the inside.
Again things were going well ........



....but i think i tried to get it too thin,and just went through


This is a Cherry bowl,also green where i used the Monro to take the middle out,and again it worked well


I think the tool is going to take some getting used to which means more time at the lathe and find trying to adjust the cutter a litle fidlly,but hope this will get better with use.
So after just a couple of hours use i am pleased with my new tool,and am looking forward to doing some more deeper hollowing with it.

 

[sooty]

Hey Iv'e got a bowl just like that with the bottom missing!

Hard luck
Phil

 

[Bodrighy]

The couple of times Marks let me have a quick play I have been amazed at the finish that you can get with the tool. Something else that I covet.....on the list that seems to be ever growing. Hopefully we are moving into our new house next week so I'll see what spare cash I have left afterwards to spend on 'necessities' like this. :lol:

Pete

 

[Mark Hancock]

Paul

They look a couple of good attempts. It's interesting to see you've turned the Cherry bowl cross grain and hollowed it well with the Munro. At this rate you'll have it mastered in no time.

A couple of points:
1. It's very common to go through the base of a piece - we've all done it. To avoid this in the future remember to keep stopping and checking the wall thickness with calipers. It'll help you visualize in your mind where you are inside the piece and help prevent going through the side.
2. The shield on the Munro has a tongue on the underside which allows it to move forwards and backwards when adjusting it. To allow more sideways movement of the shield I've filed a little of the sides of this tongue away with a diamond file. This way I find I can adjust the shield and hence depth of cut better. It allows me to put more or less cut onto the left or right side as I need it. (Can't remember if this applies to both the Standard and the Mini)

 

[jpt]

HI Paul

I had heard they were very good for making funnels. :lol:

Did you get the large or small one?

john

 

[Paul.J]

Mark Hancock wrote

To avoid this in the future remember to keep stopping and checking the wall thickness with calipers. It'll help you visualize in your mind where you are inside the piece and help prevent going through the side.

What sort of calipers do i need for deeper hollowing,and getting round those corners/bends :?:

And

To allow more sideways movement of the shield I've filed a little of the sides of this tongue away with a diamond file. This way I find I can adjust the shield and hence depth of cut better. It allows me to put more or less cut onto the left or right side as I need it. (Can't remember if this applies to both the Standard and the Mini)

Thanks for that tip Mark i will have a look at that meself

JPT wrote

Did you get the large or small one?

I got the large one John,as i am planning on doing some larger pieces :shock:and i'm sure that there will be quite a few bottomless pieces thrown in along the way

 

[cornucopia]

hi paul, dont worry about going through the side every now and then, its a good way to listen and learn for next time.
I use the bigger out of these two allot

 

[Paul.J]

Thanks for the link George.
So there aren't any sort like the double ended ones where you can just check the thickness all along,instead of at one point at a time. :?:

 

[Blister]

Thanks for the link George.
So there aren't any sort like the double ended ones where you can just check the thickness all along,instead of at one point at a time. :?:

Paul , do you mean the figure 8 type ? if you do I know someone who has them laser cut in 2 sizes

Let me know if this is the type you want and I will find out the price for you :wink:

 

[cornucopia]

Thanks for the link George.
So there aren't any sort like the double ended ones where you can just check the thickness all along,instead of at one point at a time. :?:

you can use these brimarc ones just like the fiqure of 8 ones, theres a screw type gauge which remains on the outside of the vessel and the gap on the screw will increase or decrease showing you the thickness.
i use these more than 8's as these fit in places 8's wont.

 

[Mark Hancock]

What sort of calipers do i need for deeper hollowing,and getting round those corners/bends :?:

Paul

I use the caliper George has shown you - the larger one. They are the best I've come across as they tend to go places the figure of 8 ones can't.
I use them slightly differently to George in that I set them so that the end inside the vessel is against the wall and the end outside is just off the surface by about a millimetre. I then judge how this gap varies. This way I'm looking at the caliper position on the vessel as I test the wall thickness rather than looking away to the gap on the screw.

 

[Paul.J]

Blister wrote

Paul , do you mean the figure 8 type ? if you do I know someone who has them laser cut in 2 sizes

Thanks Allun.
What i meant was the way the fig 8 ones work.
Obviously these won't go into a narrow vase type piece,but just wondered if there was a pair like the ones George as shown,that work like the fig 8 ones.Where you can run along the whole wall and see the thickness as you do so.
But as George and Mark have also explained the thickness calipers can be used like the fig 8 ones,so it looks like a pair of those one for me
Hope that's clear.Think i've confused meself :?
Thanks for the help

 

[duncanh]

I have some cheap figure 8 callipers which I got from one of the bargain stalls at the Harrogate show.
These work for most open forms but for closed forms or any other awkward shape I use one of several pieces of thick wire - bend the wire into an almost closed loop so that one of the legs fits into the turning. You know how far apart the tips of the legs are so can estimate how thick the wood is. As Mark does with his callipers - as you move the wire across the surface you can judge how the thickness changes.

The beauty of wire (this is 3mm(I think) steel rod from B&Q) is that you can bend it to fit into which ever shape fits best.

Duncan

 

[RATWOOD]

got a problem with my Monro Hollower
it's make's too many shavings :lol:
2 hour's of turning 8 hour's of cleaning the workshop for Sue :wink:

 

[Paul.J]

Duncanh wrote

but for closed forms or any other awkward shape I use one of several pieces of thick wire - bend the wire into an almost closed loop so that one of the legs fits into the turning. You know how far apart the tips of the legs are so can estimate how thick the wood is. As Mark does with his callipers - as you move the wire across the surface you can judge how the thickness changes.

Sorry Duncan i don't see what you mean :?

RATWOOD wrote

got a problem with my Monro Hollower
it's make's too many shavings

I have the same problem Chris

 

[TEP]

Hi Paul.

I think Duncan is talking about using a stiff wire in place of a set of callipers.

Take one length of stiff wire, file and polish the bare ends a little so as they don't scratch your work. Bend the wire to a shape similar to a calliper, leaving a gap between the ends which is just more than your expected finished wall thickness .

Then you use the formed wire as you would a set of callipers watching the gap between the end of the wire and the outside of the work. This way you can judge the thickness of your wall size.

 

[duncanh]

I never was very good at explaining myself.

This page has a couple of photos showing wire in use and the shape.

TEP- The gap in the wire doesn't need to be 'just more than your expected finished wall thickness' - it can be whatever you need it to be to get into the turning.

If the turning has no neck and is basically a open vase then the gap can be just a bit bigt bigger than the finished wall thickness.

For closed forms though I have one wire with a gap of about 3cm. If I measure 2.5cm gap with the wire in place I know that the wall is 5mm thick. I then move the wire down the wall looking for a uniform distance.

Because the wire is quite springy I can open the gap to put it into the form and it then springs back to the original gap.

Here's a pic of the current state of my wires


and a pic I quickly cobbled together showing their use..
- just go round in stages and you can switch to standard callipers as soon as they fit into the turning. The inside leg touches the inner wall at all times.

I used this technique for the following turning and there's no way standard callipers could have been used...



Duncan

 

[Paul.J]

Got it now Duncan
I was always better looking at piccys/diagrams to explain :shock:
Quite a good idea.But is it really that accurate :?:
Thanks for your help.
I wil change the title to add caipers to it,as it is useful me thinks

 

[duncanh]

For what I make accuracy to the nearest mm works fine and that's about the same as I get from standard callipers

 

[RATWOOD]

paul sue will not clean your workshop to far to come :lol: