Hamlet Big Brother tips and advice please

[vyvsdad]

Hello all

I recently took the plunge and brought the Hamlet Big Brother hollowing system.
But the problem is I just can't get it to work. Oh, it works fine for a while, but then after not too long it clogs up, stops cutting and I have to unblock it.
I have tried using the cutter on top of the shaft and hung below the shaft, I have tried adjusting the gap, but didn't want to make it too big. I have sharpened it only in the manor suggested by Hamlet. I have tried it on end grain and otherwise. I have tried it on green sycamore and part seasoned sycamore (been on my rack for 1 month tops) and so far nice clean cuts with cuttings streaming off in reams, such as you would find in the Youtube clip ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZMqRUlr_E0 ) hgave so far utterly eluded me. What could I be doing wrong?

Please help.

Thanks.

Dan

[thebowlerhattedturner]

Hi Dan,
          I don't think I am going to be a lot of help because I have never used one, however after having similar problems with a different system these are the conclusions I made(and it works alright now for me).
   I originally set the cut very fine as I was unused to that type of cutter and had no success so I finally set it to the coarsest cut but approached the cut with the tool rotated about 45 degrees and rolled the tool into the cut. I found it to be a fierce bite but it was controllable. If it is similar to the Roly Munro shielded cutter you may have some very slight lateral adjustment too. Check your lathe speed as that does play a part in the cutting process. Looking at the video it appears that he(Nick Agar) is cutting on the centre line so in effect it is a shear cut so I would advise a long handle that you can tuck under your arm and so maintain the cutting position. You may have to adjust the tool rest to achieve this. One last thing try looking at the cut with the lathe stationary and "walking" your way through it by turning the lathe with your hand and observing exactly what is happening.
I'm afraid this may not be much help but that is all I can suggest at the moment, I'm sure someone here will be able to give you first hand advise.
Regards
John BHT

[Paul Hannaby]

I found regrinding the cutter improved things. There is an explanation and some pics on my website at http://www.hannaby.com

One of the other fundamental problems with the big brother is that the guard is a slightly larger diameter than the cutter so there will always be a varying width between the cutter and the guard. This leads to chips jamming near the edges of the cutting "slot". Common sense seems to point in the direction of reducing the diameter of the guard so it is either the same size or fractionally smaller in diamter than the cutter so you don't end up with the problem effectively caused by two overlapping circles of differing diameters. One of these days I will try this theory on my tool!

[David Buskell]

Dan,

I bought the Big Brother some years back after seeing a demo at Ally Pally.

It's probably one of the best hollowing systems out but the trick in using it (as far as my experience goes) is getting the gap between the cutter and guard set correctly. Once you have found that gap, then the wood just flies out!

Be patient, try a few different settings and see which one gives you the best cut and is clog-free. It'll be worth the trouble and you'll end up with shavings everywhere.

I've used mine on a  selection of timbers, both wet and dry and once set up, the BB just cuts everything away with ease.

By the way, I'd also recommend a Nikos scraper tip as well. This gives  a nice finish on the inside of any hollow forms.

Hope this helps.

David

[TWiG]

They work fine on clean end grain wood (eg damp Sycamore with no knots  ) but with regular sharpening the cutters wear out and are pretty costly in return for work done . I do a lot of large hollow forms with bark inclusions, voids,burrs etc mostly side grain and they are no good for this at all ! I use Sorby 6mm scraper tips ,some in my home made large tool bars , biggest about 4 foot  long and 1 inch diameter and these will cut rough wood , with over a foot overhang of the tool rest !! the big brother will not !!!!!!

[vyvsdad]

Thanks for the replies guys.
A lot of ideas and methods for me to try next time I get at my lathe.
I hope I can get it to work, I have menu ideas that rely on it.
Rest assured I will keep you posted.

Dan.

[Eric Harvey]

I have the Sorby sovereign system,which is the same idea as the hamlet system and had trouble with blocking up and also not cutting,But I agree with David,you have to experiment to get the settings right and also the angle of attack when cutting,once you you get that right,you get very sweet cuts every time,I`ve done 16" deep cuts with my system now I`ve got used to it and I have no doubt that if your patient with yours you will do the same,regards,

Eric.

[Eric Harvey]

oh,just one other thing,the cutter sheild has to be bigger than the cutter or theres no point having one as if its smaller than the cutter,theres always cutter exposed,which could cause dig ins when the wrong piece of the cutter touches when you don`t want it to.

[Paul Hannaby]

There should be a minute gap between the cutter and the guard so for a perfect fit, the guard should be a smaller diameter than the cutter, otherwise the problem I described will happen - which it does with many tools of this type!

[woody]

The gap between this type of cutter and the shield should be .1 mm to work efficiently

[vyvsdad]

So I took all of your tips on board, got a load of wood put aside and practised and played for a couple of days, and I think I've got it nailed.
Oh the joy of it. I love this tool now, having previously been a little daunted, it's a shame I forgot to take a camera so I can share some pictures. Next time.
I think I will be buying the Hollowing Gate in the near future though, just to make it a little more controllable.

Thanks for all of the help.

Dan

[thebowlerhattedturner]

hello Dan,
             glad to hear you are getting the hang of it, something that has not been mentioned yet is you may find it a bit easier if you had a 90 deg handle on it. I use a handle from an old electric drill, you know the ones that tighten as you screw the handle up. It just gives you that extra little bit of control.
regards
John BHT

[vyvsdad]

I tried that, but using the somewhat less elegant solution of mole grips. Not good looking but it worked. I will find a better solution, I like the drill grip idea.
Dan

[Nick Arnull]

I think you will find Hamlet make a side handle but the drill handle works well and is of a good diameter if you are getting large amounts of rotational pull I would suggest you are being a little agressive and would recomend rolling the tool back to the left this will reduce the amount of cut alternativly try closing the gap a very small amount.