“Captured” hollowing system with laser

This weekend I built a “captured” hollowing system with a laser.  I got the idea from a post made by Steven Antonucci on the Woodturner’s Resource Forum.  Using a captured system is like night and day compared to hand held hollowing, and having the laser will help with consistent wall thickness.  More to the point it will help avoid going through the side of the workpiece!  I’ve just played with it on some scrap wood so far and am looking forward to test driving it on an actual workpiece.

It is pretty simple to build and you can probably figure it out from the following images.  The important thing is to build the supporting box so that the cutting tip is right at center of the lathe.

"Captured" hollowing system with laser

"Captured" hollowing system with laser

"Captured" hollowing system with laser

"Captured" hollowing system with laser

I had the tool and cutter.  It is from an old Monster Hollowing Tool that I got used from someone on an online forum.  My only other cost was $20 for the laser pen.  The rest was built using scrap plywood, wood and hardware that I had around the workshop.

Of course, as often happens, once you build something and play with it awhile, you realize how you could have built it better.  It would have been to much to expect to get it perfect on version 1.0

I think if I had to do it again, and I probably will as it is pretty easy, I would redo the following:

1. Use a different type of wood for the tool holder.  I used a chunk of cedar which is probably not ideal, but that is what I had on hand.   I’d like to get a 2x6x12” piece of mesquite.
2. Use 3/8” threaded inserts instead of ¼-20 knock in inserts.
3. Use 3/8” threaded rod for the laser system instead of ¼-20 threaded rod.  It wobbles a little bit but is still steady enough to do the job.

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