Hollowing with a drill press
- Thread starter jon
- Start date
A forstner bit--You should be able to control the depth with the press--Going through is always a fun chance you take--I just do it with a hand frill and the forstner. Gotta really stay focused. Being left handed is sometimes a blessing, since folks usually excluded us from using power tools in shop class, eons ago. I just found my own way, and am having a blast!
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Jon~
I agree with Tom - 1" Forstner is about perfect. I used to use a 1 3/8 but 1" gives much more control/safety. I hollow pretty late in the process - 90 % sanding done - so I put some padding (3-4 layers of cloth) on the drill press table to protect the wood and set the depth control for about a 3/8 or 1/2 inch. As I get near the sides (I leave about 1/2 inch border top and bottom, a bit more at the stern, I go shallow. Then, when the bird is mostly hollowed out, I rock the bird on its sides and take out more.
Hope this helps,
SJS
I agree with Tom - 1" Forstner is about perfect. I used to use a 1 3/8 but 1" gives much more control/safety. I hollow pretty late in the process - 90 % sanding done - so I put some padding (3-4 layers of cloth) on the drill press table to protect the wood and set the depth control for about a 3/8 or 1/2 inch. As I get near the sides (I leave about 1/2 inch border top and bottom, a bit more at the stern, I go shallow. Then, when the bird is mostly hollowed out, I rock the bird on its sides and take out more.
Hope this helps,
SJS
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Tom~
Great idea! I have a piece of 1/2 foam I use (when I can find it!). Most important, it avoids risk of cloth getting wrapped up in spinning drill.
SJS
Great idea! I have a piece of 1/2 foam I use (when I can find it!). Most important, it avoids risk of cloth getting wrapped up in spinning drill.
SJS
P. Revicki
Active member
Another thing is to save the top cut out from the block and use it to put on the drill press table. It helps hold the decoy in place.
Pete
Pete
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
Got a four bit set of Freud Forstner's a couple of years ago, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1". Good investment. From shorebird peeps, to geese, I'm good to go. My old 3/4 forstner was 25+ years old........
Tip: when they loose temper & color - Toss Em Out cuz they can make some wicked Smoke!
Tip: when they loose temper & color - Toss Em Out cuz they can make some wicked Smoke!
uncle mike pierce
Active member
Like Steve, I hollow late in the process (like just before I glue and final sand).
I use a drill press and 1" or 1 1/8" forstner bit. Do not scrimp on the bit. I personally like the ones with the serated edge, especially for tipping and cutting at an angle.
For padding, I use several layers of 1/8" or 1/4" foam core board duct taped together in a stagger/stairstep pattern. Putting this pad under the top, rounded part of the deoy allows me to drill the top piece at an angle as well as perpendicular, by rolling the top piece up on an edge. The foam core prevents damage to the edge and holds the piece well. When the boards get worn out/compressed too tightly, I just make some new ones, but a pad usually lasts through a dozen or more hollowings.
For final thinning, I use a carbide cutter in a foredom handpiece to get right up to a super hollow decoy if that is what I am going for. As a final check after hollowing, I screw the body together and check its balance, side to side and fore to aft, balancing it on a steel edge on the two centerlines. If the head is offset or a radical turn, I usually screw the head on too when balancing. If I want the tail down, like a diver, I make sure I keep the front light and leave a little extra in the tail area (as the head adds weight that can push down on the front and lift the tail). When you check the fore aft balance it will show as slightly tail heavy at the mid point.
If I want the tail up, like on a woodie or pintail, I will make sure I make the tail area is as thin as I can and leave a little extra on the breast/head area. In this case, the decoy would be slightly front heavy. If you have a tail or other area that needs to be hollowed but cannot be easily reached by a carbide cutter, a 1/4" high speed drill bit, inserted in a foredom handpiece can, with care, be used to drill pilot holes and then be used to egg out those holes by cutting with the drill edge
If you want, you can go nuts on this idea of compensating with hollowing versus non-hollowing to overcome radical head positions, offset heads, etc. Or, you can just make it as hollow as you can, and then use supplementary weights and a keel to make it ride the way you want.
I use a drill press and 1" or 1 1/8" forstner bit. Do not scrimp on the bit. I personally like the ones with the serated edge, especially for tipping and cutting at an angle.
For padding, I use several layers of 1/8" or 1/4" foam core board duct taped together in a stagger/stairstep pattern. Putting this pad under the top, rounded part of the deoy allows me to drill the top piece at an angle as well as perpendicular, by rolling the top piece up on an edge. The foam core prevents damage to the edge and holds the piece well. When the boards get worn out/compressed too tightly, I just make some new ones, but a pad usually lasts through a dozen or more hollowings.
For final thinning, I use a carbide cutter in a foredom handpiece to get right up to a super hollow decoy if that is what I am going for. As a final check after hollowing, I screw the body together and check its balance, side to side and fore to aft, balancing it on a steel edge on the two centerlines. If the head is offset or a radical turn, I usually screw the head on too when balancing. If I want the tail down, like a diver, I make sure I keep the front light and leave a little extra in the tail area (as the head adds weight that can push down on the front and lift the tail). When you check the fore aft balance it will show as slightly tail heavy at the mid point.
If I want the tail up, like on a woodie or pintail, I will make sure I make the tail area is as thin as I can and leave a little extra on the breast/head area. In this case, the decoy would be slightly front heavy. If you have a tail or other area that needs to be hollowed but cannot be easily reached by a carbide cutter, a 1/4" high speed drill bit, inserted in a foredom handpiece can, with care, be used to drill pilot holes and then be used to egg out those holes by cutting with the drill edge
If you want, you can go nuts on this idea of compensating with hollowing versus non-hollowing to overcome radical head positions, offset heads, etc. Or, you can just make it as hollow as you can, and then use supplementary weights and a keel to make it ride the way you want.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Mike~
I appreciate your thoughts about going the extra mile when hollowing. The main reason I hollow my mantelpiece birds is because it gives the bird - at leat in my mind - that extra bit of craftmanship. How thin do you go (not counting the "pop through" mistakes...) ? I generally go for 3/8 inch walls but have gone to 1/4". Do you ever hollow the head? (I have not - but it could certainly be easily done on some "bullneck" or sleeper postures.)
My "record" is a 7 oz Ruddy.
All the best,
SJS
I appreciate your thoughts about going the extra mile when hollowing. The main reason I hollow my mantelpiece birds is because it gives the bird - at leat in my mind - that extra bit of craftmanship. How thin do you go (not counting the "pop through" mistakes...) ? I generally go for 3/8 inch walls but have gone to 1/4". Do you ever hollow the head? (I have not - but it could certainly be easily done on some "bullneck" or sleeper postures.)
My "record" is a 7 oz Ruddy.
All the best,
SJS
uncle mike pierce
Active member
I think 3/8" is plenty thin, if you are going to actually use them. even 1/2" is fine if you take pains to establish 1/2" thickness all the way around. What some carvers do is hollow easy to access areas thin, and leave harder to hollow areas solid. This can really hurt the ride qualities of the decoy, especially if the top half is heavier than the bottom half. Some of the old Canadian birds were 1/4" or less in some cases, with 3/8" or even 1/4" thick bottom board. Obviously they didn't get "pitched out" in the morning in a stump field!
The main reason I'd hollow mantel birds, besides the craftsmanship, is to help relieve stresses inside the wood. In my experience, properly joined hollow birds have less chance of checking than solid ones, assuming the grains are matched compatibly, mechanical fasteners are used to pull the body together in addition to glue, and a high quality glue is used. Some old time carvers sealed dried corn inside their decoys, which rattled. If moisture got inside (or water) the corn absobed it and no longer rattled, so theh had a leak detector besides a selling point of showing off their decoys were hollow.
Some competitive carvers do hollow the heads to get an advantage in the way the decoy rides. I haven't gone that far myself, but it is with some heads and head positions if you are game to go that route.
The main reason I'd hollow mantel birds, besides the craftsmanship, is to help relieve stresses inside the wood. In my experience, properly joined hollow birds have less chance of checking than solid ones, assuming the grains are matched compatibly, mechanical fasteners are used to pull the body together in addition to glue, and a high quality glue is used. Some old time carvers sealed dried corn inside their decoys, which rattled. If moisture got inside (or water) the corn absobed it and no longer rattled, so theh had a leak detector besides a selling point of showing off their decoys were hollow.
Some competitive carvers do hollow the heads to get an advantage in the way the decoy rides. I haven't gone that far myself, but it is with some heads and head positions if you are game to go that route.