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  1. #1
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    Default Hollowing advise, please?

    Hey all,
    I have a tree trunk section, 5 foot by 2.5 foot.
    I want to cut off flitches and carve a hollow into the flat of the flitch.
    Is an arborteck tool on an angle grinder the tool I should be using for this?
    Cheers,
    Clinton

    "Use your third eye" - Watson

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/clinton_findlay/

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  3. #2
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    Apr 2011
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    McBride BC Canada
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    What will you make? A feast dish or a platter for bikkies and cheese?
    You might need to use several cutters:
    Angle grinder with a King Arthur Lancelot head (chainsaw teeth.)
    It will chew you up and maybe spit out some pieces.

    I begin with a pattern of 3/8" Forstner bit holes, just a little shy of the finished depth.
    Then I chew out all the wood to that depth, the holes as markers.
    Then the fun part with mallet and gouges like a 5/35 then a 2/30.

  4. #3
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    Default

    I want to make two shallow 'dishes' as large as possible. Dishes to be maybe 3" deep at the centre.
    Cheers,
    Clinton

    "Use your third eye" - Watson

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/clinton_findlay/

  5. #4
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    Default

    It may be best to do a rough sketch of your log and how what you intend to make from it sits within the log.
    I for one am not sure what you mean.

  6. #5
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    I draw my dishes in cross section on paper. From those, I can measure the depths required.

    Then I plot transects across the dish wood and drill a series of 3/4" Forstner bit holes maybe 1/2 inch apart.
    I stop maybe 3/8" short of the design depth for hand finishing.
    I bash out all the wood webbing and proceed with the fun part with gouges and knives.

    While this method of hogging out a lot of waste wood saves bags of time,
    there's still a lot of hand work to make what I want.

  7. #6
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    Jun 2012
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    Diamond Creek, Vic
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    Default

    It is worth looking at David Fisher's work: davidffisher.com/

  8. #7
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    Jul 2005
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    Oberon, NSW
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robson Valley View Post
    I draw my dishes in cross section on paper. From those, I can measure the depths required.

    Then I plot transects across the dish wood and drill a series of 3/4" Forstner bit holes maybe 1/2 inch apart.
    I stop maybe 3/8" short of the design depth for hand finishing.
    This.

    I don't use anywhere as many holes, but I still use several as 'depth gauges,' eg. in your case I'd work out where I want the centres and drill down with a forstner to roughly about 2 1/2", leaving myself about a 1/4-1/2" margin for error.

    I'd then drill 3 or 4 holes around at the 1/2 radius mark. How deep depends on what profile curve I wanted.

    I would be using this approach regardless of how I was hogging the waste out. Whether chiselling, cutting or grinding; it makes it much easier to maintain a constant profile.

    An arbortech or similar is a nice tool if you have a suitable one and it'd do the job quite happily... but I assume you don't have one or you wouldn't be asking this question.

    Hogging out by chisel is almost quick, once you get the hang of it (working down-hill with the grain and into the pilot holes) and is much more relaxing.

    It's that last 1/4-1/2" of shaping and refining that takes all the real time 'n effort and unless you've a lot of faith in your arbortech handling skills it's best to do this by hand.
    I may be weird, but I'm saving up to become eccentric.

    - Andy Mc

  9. #8
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    I have learned one characteristic of Forstner bits:
    There's a little bit of an indexing point at the center of the bit.
    That thing crushes the wood almost 1/4" ahead of the bit cutting edges.
    I saw those "dimples" in a carved/smoothed surface.
    So now I leave 3/8" of more for the hand work.

  10. #9
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    An arbortec wheel on an angle grinder works wonders and removes timber very quickly. Just beware they can kick back like a chainsaw if you use the wrong side of the wheel. Also eye/ear protection is a must.

  11. #10
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    Here’s a different idea if you have the saw.
    Ive done bowl shapes in the end grain of metre high hardwood logs for panel forming.
    I used a Festo track circ saw screwed to a round ply disc in a 2 x 2 jig attached to the top of the log.
    You could have a front and rear rail spaced the length of your sawplate apart along your log.
    Preset the plunge and away you go, do cuts every inch or so then bust out the remaining.
    If you draw up a section you can vary the depth setting to suit.
    After I’d done a few of the 2 dozen TAFE wanted I would cut to within a few mm of the finish size.
    I did buy a few of those red angle grinder discs with big rocks on them but found the 3M Roloc 36 grit best.
    I actually made good $ on this job once I’d sorted the technique, Origonally looking at big router bits etc but the saw killed it.
    H.
    Jimcracks for the rich and/or wealthy. (aka GKB '88)

  12. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by artful bodger View Post
    An arbortec wheel on an angle grinder works wonders and removes timber very quickly. Just beware they can kick back like a chainsaw if you use the wrong side of the wheel. Also eye/ear protection is a must.
    The key to safety on all anglegrinder toys is to have the side handle on and use it.
    I know a few dudes who didn’t, who got their free hand involved in holding etc and chewed bits off same.
    H.
    Jimcracks for the rich and/or wealthy. (aka GKB '88)

  13. #12
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    Jul 2008
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    Sydney
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    Default

    Hi Clinton1, How are the dishes coming along?

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