Hi, I am the owner/designer of the ShapeNHollow tool system. I would like to offer some information on my system and its uses.
I am a very small start-up company and just can’t at this time offer all the bells and whistles that I would like, like a swan neck bar and various other cutters and scraper bits. These are available from others and if they work with a 3/4” or a 1” bar they will work with my tool.
Turners that have a swan neck tool that has a 3/4” bar can use it with my system. The only thing that I am aware of is that the cutting tip MUST be in-line with the tool bar NOT out to the side. I am not set up to prevent twisting/tool rotation but with the cutting tip in the proper position the swan neck tool will work like a straight cutting tool.
I will be posting an article in the next week with some pictures on my website showing my latest hollow form project and the tools I used.
A couple of things I was trying to accomplish with my tool are ease of use/flexibility and using the same tool system for deep hollowing and spindle type work.
For example, when you want to do a hollow form you can’t always just mount the piece on a faceplate and go. I usually put it between centers and get the grain or natural edge in a position to make it aesthetically pleasing, turn it to the desired shape, cut a tenon, and then mount it in a chuck. After you have the desired shape you can reposition the tool and hollow your project.
Spindle examples: When removing waste on the outside of any type vessel where you would be using a roughing gouge, or when you are doing off set turning, this system will be safer and demand a whole lot less effort.
Another example: There are tool rests with several holes drilled along the top to insert a pin to use as a fulcrum. The ShapeNHollow system can do the same thing, and my reasoning for doing this was to reduce the physical effort when you are just removing waste.
Whether you are working on an extremely out of round project or hollowing a closed vessel, at the end of the day you are not nearly as physically tired as you would be using just hand held tools.
Thank you for your interest in my tool system. If you want more information, please feel free to contact me. I am planning to post some short videos showing more set-up and tool positioning by the first of the year. My email is on my website.