Live video while turning - interesting ideas

Ryan Mooney

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Some interesting ideas here, you could build a "better than the laser pointer" setup for a hollowing rig for pretty cheap nowadays and some of the other ideas were pretty neat as well.


edit: for some reason its not embedding the video, just showing the link.. oh well.
 
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Interesting goings on there, Ryan. A bit hi tech for me, but still interesting. I do like the way he made it easier for her to see doing the fine detail work. Interesting, Thanks!
 
Good find, Ryan. This helped me understand the mechanics behind some of the commercially available hollowing systems. As you said, it should be pretty easy to set up a replacement for the laser pointer that works even better.
 
That is some cool stuff. Be as much of a hobby playing with the cameras and computers as the wood working hobby you are using it on. Yep to high tech for this old guy, but sure looks like fun.
 
My only issue with the camera as a replacement for the laser is the fact that the border overlay would need to be adjusted (or re-done) every time you change the angle of the cutting tip in relation to the boring bar. In the course of making the average hollow form, that angle is adjusted a number of times. (Or at least it is on my lathe.) Adjusting the laser is fast and simple. I'm not sure if adjusting the overlay would be as straightforward.
 
Good point Vaughn, it looked fairly quick to redraw with the tooling he had, but certainly slower than moving a pointer.

I think the plastic overlay on the screen looks like it's probably competitive since you ought to be able to just rotate and restick it if you're using the right material for that.

The one thing I did like about it is that it's pretty easy to see the offset for the wall thickness, and you can see the cutters approach clearly "through" the wall. It seems that that might be a useful learning tool even if you went another way later for production.
 
...and you can see the cutters approach clearly "through" the wall. It seems that that might be a useful learning tool even if you went another way later for production.

Very true. Seeing the relation between the cutter and the wall, particularly the angle of the cutter, would be very useful.
 
I've seen both Trent Bocsh's Visualizer and the Cuttervision video hollowing systems and both can change the image of the cutter faster than I can re adjust my laser. Both are very expensive though. Trent's uses a grease pencil on a heavy plastic overlay of the monitor, the Cuttervision shoots a video still image of the cutter head and you can add a red outline the width of your choice through the software. Both very slick. After seeing these demo'd, I tried to find iPhone/Ipad software to try what this guy does in his video but had no luck. Guess I'll wait for his future videos.
 
A little late to this thread but I think the software being used with the overlay is usually just what comes with the camera. Some guys have set up the overlay system for under twenty dollars when they had a computer or monitor and under fifty for an entire rig using a back-up camera. I can't see the video to see if this is all already covered or not.

I tried a laser system and didn't particularly find the laser to be the be-all end-all. No doubt partially because I didn't like it and didn't use it long. Seemed like I was getting too much blur and hard to tell where the edges of the laser really were in relationship to the tool.

The tools with the round carbide tips might work best with the overlays, not as much adjusting to them, I think. Gonna try the camera system soon, I started what became a pretty big thread on them myself on WoW awhile back.

Hu
 
The tools with the round carbide tips might work best with the overlays, not as much adjusting to them, I think. Gonna try the camera system soon, I started what became a pretty big thread on them myself on WoW awhile back.

Hu

Looking forward to seeing your experiences Hu, it does seem sort of like the wave of the future...
 
Looking forward to seeing your experiences Hu, it does seem sort of like the wave of the future...

Agreed. I'm seeing quite a bit of buzz about it, and from some of the well-accomplished guys. Definitely interested in hearing about others' experiences.
 
...I tried a laser system and didn't particularly find the laser to be the be-all end-all. No doubt partially because I didn't like it and didn't use it long. Seemed like I was getting too much blur and hard to tell where the edges of the laser really were in relationship to the tool...

If the laser mount is not stiff enough, the whole thing goes all flexy and the laser dances all over the place. With a good mount, the laser dot won't be surgically accurate, but it won't be blurry. either. Also, in some laser pointers the diode is not very securely mounted inside the housing, so it can rattle around due to the lathe vibrations.
 
If the laser mount is not stiff enough, the whole thing goes all flexy and the laser dances all over the place. With a good mount, the laser dot won't be surgically accurate, but it won't be blurry. either. Also, in some laser pointers the diode is not very securely mounted inside the housing, so it can rattle around due to the lathe vibrations.

This is a factory rig. However, however since I don't know what it should be, I don't know if this unit has issues. Maybe I will give it another try. I need to find some fairly large green wood to put in my lathe, seems like I may be getting some vibration in what I am trying to turn but everything I am trying to turn now is harder than concrete. My lathe itself may have issues. Still using the Craftsman. Bought the new Grizzly 766 but sent it back. Aside from other issues related to poor packaging, the 766 is not as advertised in my opinion. If you get a good unit it is an extremely nice sixteen inch lathe, again, my opinion.

Hu
 
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