On 8 May 2007 22:25:33 -0700, "
wrote:

Hi Darrell

Why would you do it just the way I also do it ?????, look and listen,
while deaf and blind in a way.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Huh. Interesting thread- it's not all that often I get to learn a new
word!

Closing your eyes is a good way to do lots of things- when I was
working as a sawyer and training new guys to cut single pieces by
hand, I suggested that they close their eyes and use their finger tips
to align the ends of the cut peice and the one they are trying to
match- there is a perceptable difference between the sensitivity of
your fingertips that way. Cutting off one or more senses tends to
focus the others, at least in most people.

While I can see Leo's statement about being "deaf and blind in a way."
having some merit, I'd have to say that what I use is "proprioception"
and hearing- it may be a matter of the hollowing tools I use, but I've
found that the best way to tell what kind of cut I'm making is by
listening to the wood shear away from the interior wall- different
cuts make different noises. That intangible location of the tool tip
is just there, but it's noticably there- I can hollow things awfully
thin, and never poke through the side or bottom.

On another hollowing related note, I had some luck with a new
hollowing tool I ground when I turned a vase last sunday- Basically,
I used a bit of M2 punch tooling that was .5" diameter, ground three
sides flat (the "top", the bottom, and one side.) to about 1" back,
and then ground a large radius on the side. Basically, it is a
scraper that has a profile similar to the tip of a butterknife, with
the sharpened bit on the curved edge.

It was not all that great when I was using on the toolrest, but oddly
enough, I decided to slide the handle into a 3' section of black pipe
and try it out freehand, and I was able to get the walls of the inside
smooth enough to finish without sanding. The bottom was another story
entirely, but end grain is always a challenge to cut. Getting the
walls that smooth was a real victory!