My first attempt at Hollowing ...

[Jenx]

The hollow forms that various people put examples of, for us to enjoy are something which never cease to astound and amaze me ... I'd love to be able to get even halfways close to their stuff ....

So.. with that in mind, I thought 'no time like the present, caution to the wind and have a go' :lol: ... this is the result of my first try, through the week.
Its Elm, finished in Lemon Oil.
About 7.5" Dia x almost 3" High at the fullest extent of the height.

Man, that 'hollowing deallie' is a scary process, isn't it ? .. I think I maybe now know the "true colour" of adrenaline !
( Only have a RS200KT.. which is a nice tool.. but has its limitations, perhaps ! )

Anyways... here's the 'effort' :



( there's a bit of 'unwanted light' coming from the window 'light-source' to the right of the pic... sorry ! )








Can't wait to try some more ! .... and hopefully improve a little bit, each time.

 

[PowerTool]

Wow :shock:
Very nice,Alun - lovely smooth flowing shape,looks very nicely finished,and the bead around the rim just finishes it off perfectly

Andrew

 

[DaveL]

Now I like that, I have only turned one piece of elm and it was nice to do. Good grain in that and a nice shape.
I am resisting the call of the hollowing tools, I have a cash flow problem, yes its all flowed.

 

[Bodrighy]

Lovely piece. I find hollow forms with shoulders are the hardest to do. My own experience is also with the smaller ones. I hesitate to say 'for a first attempt' as you have made an excellent job at this IMHO. Let's wait and see what the real hollowers have to say.

Pete

 

[Paul.J]

That is a gorgeous looking piece Alun,especially for a first attempt :shock:
I love it all.The shape,the colour,the design,and the finish.
Well done

 

[wizer]

Stunningly Perfect! I'm really impressed. The attention to detail is top notch. I love the rim. Truly worth of a place in a gallery.

In short, it's bloody brilliant. Well done!

 

[Dalboy]

Better than my first attemp which I did 2 days ago. I also used the RS200KT got on with the tool just fine it was the wood it had too many checks in it

 

[pete honeyman]

How much better could it be? Looks great to me.

P

 

[Dalboy]

How much better could it be? Looks great to me.

P

It couldn't be any better great job this

 

[Doug B]

Excellent Alun.

Beautifully turned, from a lovely piece of wood.

 

[Lightweeder]

How's a person supposed to follow that It's absolutely gorgeous. So, this tool is ok to use, then :shock:

 

[stevebuk]

Alun, wow that is fantastic mate, well done on the hollowing. Would love to see more, keep it up.

 

[CHJ]

=D> =D> =D> =D> That's a beauty Alun, you don't pick the easiest bits of wood to prove you potential, don't you go getting too good at this lark though, it might slow down the migration of the Flat Worlders to this forum, don't want them to think it's all a bit too highbrow for them.

 

[boysie39]

Alun, your just a show off 8) 8). You've really hit the spot first time. Man that is cool 8) 8) 8) Really living up to your Emoticons 8) 8) 8) 8) .
That is a beauty, Lovely piece of wood and perfectly finished, Really chuffed for you. I hope this is the beggining of many other fine pieces, Well done. REgards Eugene (Boysie)

 

[cornucopia]

Great job Alun- elm isnt the easiest wood to hollow out but you've done a great job- whats next bigger forms -wet wood- smaller holes?
was the wood dry?
how did you hold it? chuck,faceplate?
did you enjoy the hollowing process?
how did you get on with the sorby system?

 

[TEP]

Can't say much more than all the above Alun. You done good! Very, very impressed.

 

[tekno.mage]

That's well impressive, Jenx. Like the shape and the detail around the rim. I've not progressed to hollowing as yet (except the insides of boxes - but they are relatively easy) and am probably using my lack of any suitable tools as a cover for fear

tekno.mage

 

[mikec]

Thats a brilliant first hollow form Alun.

Its hard to find anything that could be improved technically and the design flows nicely.

Great stuff,

Mike C

 

[duncanh]

A great looking first hollow form Jenx.
The bead on the top really adds to the piece.

I find that the trouble with hollowing is that it's very addictive.
I'm looking forward to your next one

Duncan

 

[Jenx]

Thanks all.... I am really quite astonished with the comments ! thank you all !

Just to answer specific questions ....:

Great job Alun- elm isnt the easiest wood to hollow out but you've done a great job- whats next bigger forms -wet wood- smaller holes?
was the wood dry?
how did you hold it? chuck,faceplate?
did you enjoy the hollowing process?
how did you get on with the sorby system?

I hope eventually to be able to tackle bigger forms... thats the direction I'd ultimately like to be able to take, I think. -- but thats probably some way off ! I've a lot of learning to undertake on allthe aspects of, and disciplines within turning -- still very much a beginner. I'm hoping that this year may allow time to get on a course for a couple of days, as i'm sure I'd benefit from doing that.

With that 'goal' in mind to work towards, I'd hope to gradually increase the size & scale, definately have a try at wet wood at some point, and to gradually reduce the access hole size, as time goes on !

This particular blank of elm was dry... just a 'normal' blank that I'd got from the usual supplier. I'm not 100% Sure, but I think he told me it was air-dried, as opposed to the kiln.

It was held on faceplate ring, in the chuck... really just to try and get as much distance away from the headstock as I could... just so that the length of the chuck would get me further away than the faceplate I'd have had the option of using.

I did enjoy the process... I'm no record breaker timewise on anything I turn, so just took it cautiously... and tried to remain very focused on the task in hand... I must say, I was very 'aware' of the fact that you're working 'blind' once you're past the initial entry --- and that was very much to the forefront of my mind, and to be quite honest, was quite scary, even with what is , by comparison , a relatively small block of wood. I was probably far too tense, and although it wasn't quite 'white knuckles and sweat on the brow' ... it wasn't a million miles away from it !
Almost certainly, I would have been told to relax by someone who knew what they were doing, had they been there.

The Sorby tool is only the RS200KT ... the one that comes with the teardrop scraper tip... the box hollower tip and the 'general hollower' tip ... ( not the RS2000 like Blister was selling .. with the arm-brace etc ).. so quite a 'basic & relatively limited' tool in what it could be expected to achieve, hollowing-wise, I should think. --- but it did a reasonable job on this size of blank, albeit quite slow, which is perhaps more down to me being a tortoise, than the tool :lol:

Ultimately, like some of the others here .. I'd like to get hold of a proper hollowing system, but at this point - I'm like a kid in a sweetshop with regards to taking that to a 'thats the one for me' decision.. having only seen pictures / Youtube videos of some of the options.
I'm hoping that I may be able to find some way of trying something ( perhaps on a course, if I can make that happen ), and then have at least a little bit of experience on which to base a choice.

Definately very keen to have another go ... and to continue learning.
All in all, I was pretty pleased with the first effort... seeing if we can do it again will be the real tester !

Again, thanks to everyone 8) :lol: