Made the transition

[Dee2]

I've been turning hollow forms with a Jamison system since covid. Just never was happy with the laser bouncing and turning off, and the batteries. So I went away from this...

FWIW that little green o-ring thingy right below the laser mount is an elastic band that you rolled over the laser switch to keep the laser on. Simple but annoying.

Spent a little time researching and upgraded(?) to a camera:

And 8"screen:

The camera mount was pieced together with a bicycle phone mount that I had on hand. The tripod I have had for 20 years maybe. I have <$75 in new equipment. Still working the user end out. My expectations were met. Much greater stability.

Now I need to clean the shop.

 

[JRedding]

That’s great, Gene. I really like my Jameson hollowing rig but have been considering a camera as well - I seem to be challenged by the laser and don’t get smooth interiors. I’m curious how you maintain your relative position between the inside and outside to get to the thickness you want. For example, I tend to turn to vessels to either 1/8” or 3/32 and am curious how you are maintaining your thickness - are you using the camera inside and laser outside, or is it something like the Trent Bosch system with a line a certain distance from the cutter?

With your permission, I may reach out by PM to try and understand how you did this - I’m mechanically challenged. I can build something like this, but my head starts to spin if I think about how to design it.

 

[Michael Mathews]

I saw this setup recently in a video or article. The statement was they used a dry erase marker on the screen to mark the desired depth of the cut when hollowing. I still have a laser system but my laser is a click on, click off and I don't have the O-ring to keep it turned on. I personally like the laser style myself. Keep us posted on how this works out and if you like having the image view better than just having the laser fall off the edge of the vessel.

 

[Dee2]

I'm still learning this. So far, I draw a "U" shape on the screen with a Sharpie. That's okay but I have to keep a little alcohol on a damp towel for cleaning. If I can find some overhead 'film', I'll print eccentric circles of varying diameters.

For the last posting of a HF, I had a terrible time with hollowing the top corner. The Jameson just wouldn't fit like I wanted. The Hunter Osprey, straight shaft wouldn't fit because of the hole was <2". Same problem with the Jameson and the round cutter head mount. Had to use the hook mount to get something almost acceptable. I may see if Mike Hunter has longer curved cutter. Just will take a little practice I guess.

 

[Michael Mathews]

Is the "U" shape what you're aiming for on the inside shape of your vessel? I would expect you would draw a short line, or a dot, similar to what the laser was doing, so show where you want the wall thickness to end up. I'll have to look at my tooling. I don't recall having any issues with <2" diameter hole and getting the tool into the vessel. Also, try a dry erase marker instead of the sharpie! And the clear film is a good idea to save wear and tear on the screen surface.

 

[pop-pop]

Gene, this should work:

Amazon.com

 

[Dee2]

Is the "U" shape what you're aiming for on the inside shape of your vessel? I would expect you would draw a short line, or a dot, similar to what the laser was doing, so show where you want the wall thickness to end up. I'll have to look at my tooling. I don't recall having any issues with <2" diameter hole and getting the tool into the vessel. Also, try a dry erase marker instead of the sharpie! And the clear film is a good idea to save wear and tear on the screen surface.

No. Not the shape. It represents the wall thickness. With the Hunter round cutter it could just be a short semi-circle parallel to the cutting edge. With the traditional cutters, there's the potential to gut 180 degrees but practically not so much.

Dry erase would work. I just have a plethora of sharpies scattered around the work area and no dry-erase. As a former school teacher I have a feel for the difference.

Yes the the 3/4-1" bar fits readily into a 2" hole. What it doesn't do is fit in at a 180 degree angle. The bigger the HF outside diameter the farther away is the end of the boring bar from contacting the walll - but you then knew that. Really not a problem with getting the bar in the hole. The problem is rotating the bar while it is in the hole in an arc in order to reach the top of the HF where it contacts the side wall. And those hooked turning bars–EasyWood, Hunter, etc.— can only reach so deep before they start chattering when the tool rest doesn't fit into the hole.

It's working through those challenges that makes woodturning fun, to me.

 

[Dee2]

Gene, this should work:

Amazon.com

Yes. I need to scour around in some unopened moving boxes and see if I have some. Thank you.

 

[Dee2]

If a picture would help understanding. Give me a couple of days, please

 

[Dee2]

Screen: Amazon.com
Camera: Amazon.com

There's better and pricier equipment. This is where I started at.

 

[HITCH-]

Is this similar to what you are doing?

 

[Dee2]

Is this similar to what you are doing?

A bit. If you look at the HF I posted (OP1, pic 2), the form is not spherical which compounds the problem of cleaning/hollowing the corner transition. My tip is adjustable not fixed so the imposed photo of the tip is not of value to me. But otherwise, it is a bit like I'm doing.