Funky Ginko Hollow Form Started......

Stuart Ablett

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Location
Tokyo Japan
This one actually started out as a bowl, the blank was about 10" tall by 12" in diameter, but it had some LARGE cracks along the bark inclusions, so I had to turn it down.

Sorry no before pics, I really was not expecting much but a big pile of curlies from this one...

hf_1.jpg
Some cool bark inclusions in this one....

hf_2.jpg
Some good grain pattern.

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even a knot....

hf_4.jpg
More bark inclusions :thumb:

hf_5.jpg
Yep, a nice BIG mess :D

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I had to go and work at the L shop, so I bagged it for later tonight......

I'll see how this one goes, I have to fire up the hollowing rig later tonight, and give it a go, or I might wait until I get me a laser.....:thumb:

Well wish me luck, never done a HF with a bark inclusion.........wait a minute......... this is only the second HF I've done, (exploding attempts don't count ;) )

I know the shape needs a little refining yet, I've still got some work to do on it.

Cheers!
 
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Off to a good start, Stu. :thumb: In my limited experience, inclusions and voids are nothing a sharp tool, a light cut, and high speed won't handle.

May the Force be with you.
yoda1.gif

Either that, or turn up your Ninja powers.
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Well, I got some more time in on it tonight, not enough to get near done but .......

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While refining my form, I got some NASTY tear out:( Try as I might, I could NOT get rid of all of it, upped the speed, the tools were sharp, and I did the best I could but....:bang:

hf_no_tear_out.jpg
Then I picked up my Eli Avisera bowl finishing tool, boy did it work great!!

Now I know my skills are still lacking with the bowl gouge, but man, did this tool save my bacon!:thumb:

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Next I wrapped it up good with that saran warp kind of stuff, flat twine, I think they call it, and kept at it.

hf_hollowed1.jpg
I got about 80% of it hollowed out, and this cut so much cleaner than that other one I tried, I'm sure happy with it, but I could not really judge where the outside was from the inside, so I stopped before I had a blow out.

I'll be buying a laser pointer and rigging it to my D-handle soon.

hf_hollowed2.jpg
Another shot, different lighting to show the inside, well to TRY to show the inside.....:rolleyes:

hf_stuffed.jpg
I'm not going to get it done today, or even tomorrow, hopefully on Sunday, so I stuffed it back up with wet shavings, and..........

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Bagged it once more, hope it holds up

Cheers!
 
Well it looks like I got about 98% of the hollowing done today, ran out of time, I'll finish it tomorrow.

I'm not sure what I'll finish it with, I guess you have to finish the inside too eh :dunno:

I really don't want to change the color, so maybe just some blond shellac or something?

I got my laser:thumb: today

hf_laser_set.JPG
Here is the set. I went for this unit, as it was a straight cylinder, the others in the price range were not, also the body is aluminum, not plastic. It also takes the standard AAA batteries, no the half length AAAA batteries the other seem to all take. I bought two sets of rechargeable batteries and the charges, all for about $50 US, but I had a points card at this electronics store, so I paid nothing for them, zip, zero, nada :)

hf_laser_size.JPG
here you can see the laser dot, I was surprised it was not round....?

hf_laser_rig.JPG
Here is my rig, kind of thrown together, it works, but I see the faults in my design. The aluminum tube on top is too bouncy, too flexible, it makes the laser dot wiggle all over the place, and the whole wooden block thing, while it works, I could be better. Next time I go shopping at my DIY place, I'll buys some thick chunks of aluminum, and some steel tubes, and make a better set up, but it does work!! :D

hf_short_laser2.JPG
Here the laser is somewhat short, this means I'm still mostly on the HF, and the thickness is about 8mm or so (I set the gap between the edge of the laser dot and the cutter at about 5mm)

hf_long_laser1.jpg
Here the laser is mostly off the HF, the Saran Wrap stuff is there too, so that adds to the thickness.
As it turns out, I was able to do almost all of the hollowing with the two tools I have, but one between the straight boring rod and the 45 cutter would have been a lot easier, so I'l l have to make one! :rolleyes:

Going to unwrap it tomorrow, and then let it dry for a week or two, I sure hope it does not crack on me.............. any advice on what to do? It was moist, but not dripping wet.

Cheers!
 
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Going to unwrap it tomorrow, and then let it dry for a week or two, I sure hope it does not crack on me.............. any advice on what to do? It was moist, but not dripping wet.

Cheers!
I'd DNA it myself, but then again I pretty much DNA everything that's not already dry.

Regarding the non-round laser dot...I doubt any of them are. It's fine, since we're not doing LASIK procedures, just making mulch.

To dampen the vibrations you're getting on your laser setup, you might consider making the horizontal bar holding your laser longer, so you can have some of the weight of the bar hanging off the other side of the vertical support bar, even perhaps with a bit of a counterweight. Think of a tower crane.

Laser Arm 800.jpg
 
Good idea on the coutner weight!:thumb:

I sure like the laser thing, man it takes all the guess work out of the thickness, feels like cheating, but hey, I'm not aware of any "Rule" to turning, besides enjoying it, and boy am I with this set up!! :D

Should have done this a LONG time ago!! :rolleyes:

Cheers!
 
G'Day Stuart

I put anything "wet" in a plastic bag in the freezer for a week, then take it out of the bag and put in the fridge for a month. Haven't cracked anything yet (I suppose there could always be the first time) and must admit have an understanding wife. Haven't been allowed to put campor laurel in though:eek:

Cheers
Bernie
 
Bernie.......Japan......little space......small fridges......even smaller freezers.....:rolleyes:

I'll be giving it a DNA bath after I part it off.

Cheers! :wave:
 
Stu, still looking good. How does the laser setup work? You are using it to measure the wall thickness of your HF? How does this work when you are hollowing reducing wall thickness from the inside? :huh:
 
Thanks Alex.

I set the laser up so it is about 5mm from the tip of the cutting tool, then I have at it.

You can see how close the cutter is comming to BLOWING out by how much of the laser is on the surface of the hollow form. As the laser dot goes further off the form, I know I'm getting real close to the 5mm thickness limit I set.

I found on the is one, that when the laser dot, turned into a long line about an inch long, the dot was almost completely off the form, giving me my 5mm, minus the saran wrap stuff.

Cheers!
 
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