Dealmonger: Woodcraft Hollow Lathe Center
Woodcraft has a closeout on their MT2 hollow lathe center that’s now on sale for $7.99. Though it’s largely a specialty tool, there really isn’t a better way to hollow out a lamp core faster than this.
This is for boring deep holes in lamp components; the center has a hole through it that, assuming your tailstock ram is similarly hollow, allows a boring gouge to be inserted through. The gouge bores out the long hole as found in most lamp uprights while still supporting the revolving workpiece — an interesting way around the problem of boring a deep hole.
3/8″ ID, #2 MT, Hollow Center [woodcraft.com]
You can actually use a spindle gouge to also bore the center out. No need for special tools. 7.99 is a great deal.
Yeah for long runs these are awsome…..
ShopMonger
What is the proper way to use the hollow center? Since it doesn’t rotate, how does it support the workpiece without hindering the spinning of the piece that you are working on?