On Thu, 8 Jan 2009 09:39:50 -0800 (PST), robo hippy
wrote:


Mac, I have had the Eliminator for over a year and love it. It is an
excellent tool for end grain cutting.

Good to hear.. I'm trying to find a place to order the Mega Eliminator that will
enclose a receipt for under $100, so the mail service will bring it down..
It raises the cost of the tool a bunch if I have to spend $40 in gas and most of
a day to go pick it up at the border..

The only thing that I don't like about the Eliminator is that you use the discs
and then toss them. They aren't made to be resharpened. I like the way
the Super Cut cutter comes off and you put it on a mandril to sharpen it.

I haven't had a lot of success sharpening the HSS discs..
After a day of Ironwood, they're pretty bad and my sharpening skills say it's
more cost effective to buy 4 or 5 $12 discs at a time and just change them..
That's one reason that the carbide appeals to me..

Back to the Eliminator, I don't think of it as a roughing
tool, more of a finish cut tool. I love the flats cut on the bottom of
the tool to keep it in a shear mode (45 degrees) which is the same
angle I kept the Super Cut set to.
I rough out most of them with a 3/8" Oland tool..
I've never set the Supercut to 45 degrees, seems pretty aggressive.. But I use
it for some roughing...
The flats on the Eliminator appeal to me for not only shear cutting, but to be
able to change direction of the cut without completely reconfiguring the
Supercut..
(I do use the Termite a LOT, though)

All of the Eliminators also are straight shafted, and taper at the ends. You can do simple hollow forms with
them, but can't do the shoulders that you can with the goose neck tools can. I have heard that they are making a goose neck one. You may
also want to check out the Monster System. Really excellent for hollowing. It really is MUCH easier to use as long as you aren't going
too deep. I don't like their cutters too much as they are rather bulky compared to the McNaughton ones. The longer, 3/4 inch ones are too
long of a lever to work well with that tool, but the smaller 1/2 inch ones do fine. Same with the Eliminators.

I do very little of what I'd consider "hollowing", Reed... Some "globe" or
"closed" bowls, but mostly bowls and vases, plus a lot of what I consider "free
form" because I just use whatever ironwood is left on the lathe when it stops
fragmenting.. Free form seems to sell a lot better than creative mistakes..

Thanks, Reed... I want the Mega and wish I had it last month, so I guess I'll
order it and an extra cutter, even if we have to take a trip to the States to
pick it up..



robo hippy

On Jan 7, 1:46*pm, Gerald Ross wrote:
Woody wrote:
I'm attempting my first hollow vessel. I've completed the outside to my
satisfaction and am in the process of hollowing it out. I drilled out
the center and used a bowl gouge to get the initial hollowing complete.

I'm now trying to hollow the sides out with a smaller Sorby swan neck
tool, but am getting what seems to be excessive chatter. I'm keeping the
straight part of the tool on the toolrest.

I'm convinced the tool is sharp enough and I'm hollowing from the bottom
of the vessel to the side and from the top to the side (all downhill) so
I don't believe the chatter is from going in the wrong direction. My
impression is that with light passes, the chatter goes away, but it will
take me *forever* to get the bulk of the walls thinned.

What is/are your preferred tool(s) for hollowing vessels and, in
particular, for the "bulk hollowing" after you've set the vessel depth
and done any initial bowl gouge work.

~Mark.

* I bought some curved 1/4" tool steel cutters (I believe from
Packard). Drilled a hole in the end of a 3/4" steel bar (from Lowe's)
to accept the cutter and placed a couple of setscrews in the side to
hold it. I slipped the other end of the steel bar into a piece of
galvanized pipe, again held with set screws with a "T" on the pipe for
a hand hold to prevent twisting. Altogether cost about 15-20 dollars
and works for me. As you can see, I'm on a budget.

Darrel Feltmate has a similar tool on his web site,
aroundthewoods.com, except his is swan necked and uses a straight tool
and his handle has two elbows instead of a "T".

If this is too confusing from the description I can send you a couple
of pictures if you leave your email address.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

Social Security: World's biggest Ponzi Scheme.


mac

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