Wide Reach Baron
Turning thin hollow forms with small openings are always a challenge. The Hunter Wide Reach Baron is the perfect tool for short hollow forms up to 6” in diameter. The tool shaft is 1” wide x 1/2” thick which makes this a stable hollowing tool.
Keep the wide area of the tool shaft on the tool rest and the Baron is forgiving tool. Note the cutter is positioned to be in line with the shaft. The cutting tip is the Hunter # 1 Cutter which is 6mm in diameter. The tang is 2” long x 5/8” wide. If ordered with handle, it will be 17” long.
The following are samples of the reach for this tool.
Long Reach Baron
Most of the Hunter Tool Systems tools are developed with input from the members of the Woodturning community. Shortly after the Wide Reach Baron tool was introduced, it was pointed out a similar tool with a longer reach was needed without compromising the strength and rigidity of the Wide Reach Baron. Hence, we now have the Long Reach Baron.
The Long Reach Baron tools has a wide shank which is designed to control twisting when deep hollowing. Also, the cutter is pre-positioned and exposed to present the correct tilt cutter angles to the wood. The Long Reach Baron was evaluated in both a captured system and hand held system with favorable results due to the wide shank.
After the first prototype was evaluated, it was decided to make the tool 1/8” wider to minimize vibration. Also, the tool was made a little longer to take advantage of the length built into the “Neck area” of the tool.
Using a hand held system, I started cutting about 1” below the top. The cut was very manageable with no twisting even though the narrow part of the tool shank was all that touched the tool rest. As I progressed deeper and started hogging out the center that had been pre-drilled with the forstner bit, I was amazed how fast the small cutter worked. I was at the wall of the next section much faster than I expected. Generally, I run a scraper down the side of each section before I proceed to the next deeper area. I was very pleased how smooth the Baron cut was.
In summary, The Long Reach Baron tool exceeded my expectations. I was able to make deep cuts without the usual problems encountered when deep hollowing off the tool rest. The small # 1 Hunter cutter left the inside walls much cleaner than my small flat steel cutters. This tool is a winner.
Another comment is from a turner that has both of the Baron tools. I used both of the Wide Reach and Long Reach tools and the performance of both of them was just awesome. They are now my favorite hollowing tools. I have a whole collection of hollowing tools, but the difference here is night and day. They were extremely easy to use with no pressure and no white-knuckling and only fingertip pressure to guide the tools (I was using them in my Gizmo rig with the Visualizer camera system). This is because as long as the tool is flat and horizontal, the cutter is automatically presented and the correct angle. No more guessing and fiddling to find the sweet spot.
The following are samples of the reach for this tool.
