Crown hollowing tool question
 

I just bought the tool yesterday, tried it out and I'm very
frustrated. If I set the gap very small (1/16-1/32) to take a fine
cut it immediately clogs. This is in kiln dried padauk and bubinga.
It seems to clog in air dried black walnut even with the gap set to
1/4 and this setting is way too agressive for me. I tried sharpening
it with a diamond hone in case it came dull out of the factory, but no
luck. Am I doing something wrong or should I just take it back?

Are you skewing the cut or cutting at right angles to the rotation? The
skewed cut clears the shaving, the other tends to pack. Also, make sure
you're cutting downhill, smaller to larger diameter. Sometimes we forget
when we're doing the close end, that downhill's still center outward.

"Larry" wrote in message
om...
I just bought the tool yesterday, tried it out and I'm very
frustrated. If I set the gap very small (1/16-1/32) to take a fine
cut it immediately clogs. This is in kiln dried padauk and bubinga.
It seems to clog in air dried black walnut even with the gap set to
1/4 and this setting is way too agressive for me. I tried sharpening
it with a diamond hone in case it came dull out of the factory, but no
luck. Am I doing something wrong or should I just take it back?

I believe that all of the 'shielded' hollowing tools can tend to jam frequently. The line
between too aggressive and jaming is tricky to find. Demonstrators of these tools make them
look easy to use by turning materials which are known to be friendly. KD padauk and bubinga
are not friendly. In fact, I'd guess that no KD wood is friendly.

Further, I think that these tools solve a non-existant problem. Using a well designed
scraping tool inside a hollow form is easy, fast and catches are infrequent if you know what
you are doing. I believe that you are better off building or spending your money on a
trapped system (the Jamieson system, for instance) and using simple tools which cut with a
tool steel scraper bit. I use the John Jordan tools most of the time and mount them in a
home-built trapped system. I can't remember the last catch I've had.

Bill


In article , says...
I just bought the tool yesterday, tried it out and I'm very
frustrated. If I set the gap very small (1/16-1/32) to take a fine
cut it immediately clogs. This is in kiln dried padauk and bubinga.
It seems to clog in air dried black walnut even with the gap set to
1/4 and this setting is way too agressive for me. I tried sharpening
it with a diamond hone in case it came dull out of the factory, but no
luck. Am I doing something wrong or should I just take it back?

This may sound dumb, but have you tried the cutting tool upside down???? I
am not sure of this tool but something I have read about some hollowing
tools with cutting edge like a termite tool but the middle was filled and
you adjusted the gap between them. I know this sounds disjointed but
something is banging around in the back of my head. maybe it has nothing to
do with your problem, but I thought I would throw it out there for what it
is worth. (probably not much) hope you figure it out.

Bruce
"Larry" wrote in message
om...
I just bought the tool yesterday, tried it out and I'm very
frustrated. If I set the gap very small (1/16-1/32) to take a fine
cut it immediately clogs. This is in kiln dried padauk and bubinga.
It seems to clog in air dried black walnut even with the gap set to
1/4 and this setting is way too agressive for me. I tried sharpening
it with a diamond hone in case it came dull out of the factory, but no
luck. Am I doing something wrong or should I just take it back?

THanks everyone!!! The information supplied helps a lot.