Woodworking

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Optimal way to hollow out a tree branch? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 10 months ago by Kinperor@lemmy.ca to c/woodworking@lemmy.ca

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Hi woodworkers

I've recently picked up a few tools to get into artisanal woodwork, and I want to do 1 or 2 projects that entails hollowing out natural branches.

The "perfect" outcome would be something similar to bamboo shoot, which have a narrow edge and hollow center. I'm not really expecting to be able to do this by hand with millimetric accuracy, but it gives you an idea of what I'm aiming for.

I own a high-speed rotary tool that is "technically" able to carve wood, but the bits I own atm are more of a finish toolkit. I successfully used a sanding head to carve out some wood, but I don't think it's remotely optimal for projects any bigger than what I was working on.

So all this context leads to this question: What would be the optimal tool to efficiently hollow out a branch? I can't reliably use a drill, because there's no certainty that the branches I'll work with will be remotely straight, I'm guessing that a mill file could get me some mileage but it sounds like a last resort kind of tool.

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[–] sga@lemmings.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

can you possibly drill the interior, as in start with a very fine drill, and keep increasing the drillbit size progressively - this would depend on the wood quality i think- if too dry, it might snap, if too damp, then you would not be precise.

[–] Kinperor@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago

The branches I wanna work with are too long and needs too much material removed for drill to be a realist tool. I could try it out just to confirm that theory, I guess.