Henery Taylor Decorating elf....

[Jack Gaskins]

Anyone have one of these new tools?

[Harry Robinette]

Jack
Don't have one but really thinking about it,look neat and works on end and flat grain .Not sure but think the bit rotates in the handle might try making one.
Harry

[Tim Thiebaut]

That looks like a pretty cool tool, if you get one please post some pictures of the effects you get out of it.

[bob svoboda]

Some good videos of this tool on U Tube. Just google the tool name.

[Jack Gaskins]

yeah, thats why I was aksing, I watched all 4 videos on using the tool and it looks like a great tool. Just wanted to find out if anyone here has used on yet.

[Paul Douglass]

I watched 2 of the videos. It has me puzzled. The spiral piece is off of something I have seen somewhere. I've been pondering it all day, but cannot think what I saw a piece like that on. It wasn't a lathe tool.

[Jack Gaskins]

I watched 2 of the videos. It has me puzzled. The spiral piece is off of something I have seen somewhere. I've been pondering it all day, but cannot think what I saw a piece like that on. It wasn't a lathe tool.

I have seen these cutters at Harbor Freight. The tool is just a handle with a hole and a magnet in the bottom and you just pop the cutter into the hole. Thats why the ferral portion of the handle is all brass to better disipate the heat from the stem of the cutter as it spins. Im sure you dont use it long enough for heat to be of any issue. Plus the brass wont spark either.

[Rick Markham]

If this is the tool I am thinking of the cutter is just a cutter used to make knurling on thumbscrews on a metal lathe. It's a smart idea and looks like a nifty tool

[Gary Conklin]

It is a Ball Burr cutter.

[Rick Markham]

Oh ok, I know which one you are talking about now! I was thinking of the Wagner decorating tools, it's just knurling cutters. Thanks for setting me straight!

[Dave Mcintire]

I bought one of the Elf tools after watching the video. I got it a few days ago and briefly tried it out. It seemed to work as advertised. If my shop ever gets above freezing I'll give it a better work out (is it global warming or an ice age coming, I forget). I think it has great possibilities for adding decoration to small work.
I don't think it would be cost effective to try to make one, it came with 3 cutters and a DVD. It has 2 miniature ball bearings in the brass tube. If you want to save a few bucks there was a guy on ebay selling them for a little less than the catalogs. At first I thought the cutters were just burrs, but now I think they are special for the tool. This is not a knurling type tool. As turnig tools and accessories go I think it is relatively inexpensive.

[Jack Gaskins]

I bought one of the Elf tools after watching the video. I got it a few days ago and briefly tried it out. It seemed to work as advertised. If my shop ever gets above freezing I'll give it a better work out (is it global warming or an ice age coming, I forget). I think it has great possibilities for adding decoration to small work.
I don't think it would be cost effective to try to make one, it came with 3 cutters and a DVD. It has 2 miniature ball bearings in the brass tube. If you want to save a few bucks there was a guy on ebay selling them for a little less than the catalogs. At first I thought the cutters were just burrs, but now I think they are special for the tool. This is not a knurling type tool. As turnig tools and accessories go I think it is relatively inexpensive.

Awesome, after you get to use it please post some up close photos so I can have a good look. Thanks.

[Doug Fries]

What a timely thread, For the last week or so I have been wondering if I could somehow use these grinding burrs to texture turnings. after viewing the video of the Elf in use I decided that it didn't look too difficult to make one, so I went out to the shop to see what could be done with these....
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After sifting through the dreaded can of misc. hardware stuff I found a bushing that is 1/4 x 1/2 x 1", a ball bearing & a small rare earth magnet. I put the shaft of the grinding burr in one end of the bushing, the ball bearing in the other end, and placed the rare earth magnet on the same end as the ball bearing...
178260

I realize this hobby is all about turning, but I was too impatient to take the time to make a handle before actually testing this out to see if the idea would work. (I thought if it works, I will turn a handle later.) I raided my socket set & discovered that the bushing fit nicely into a 1\2" socket. I put the "assembled cutter head (from Picture 2) into the 1\2" socket, and put the socket onto my 12" x 1/2" socket extension.
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OOOPS, I just realized that the grinding burr is not shown in the picture above. sorry. But use your imagination....it simply slides in from the top. (or from the left side in the picture above.)

Does it work?? the next pictures are from my first attempt at putting any kind of texture on a turning...
178262178263178264

I think with practice, this little unit might work quite well.

Thank you all on this site for all of the knowledge, tips & tricks that you have given me in the past. This forum goes perfect with my morning coffee. It feels kind of good to give something back. (at least I hope someone gets something out if this)

[Richard Coers]

Dave,
Are the cutters a friction fit in the bearings, or do they easily slide in and out. I saw one picture of the end, and it almost looked like a split bushing to adapt to the burr shaft size. Thanks.

[Duff Bement]

I think the cutter just slide in the bearings and are held in by a magnet. I saw the tool in a magazine and thought I could make one just to try it out so I went to Menards and bought 3 burrs, 1 ball,1 cone and 1 cylinder. Total cost about 10 bucks. I looked thru the junk drawer and found a piece of steel bar with a 1/4" hole in the end and stuck the burr in, added a foam handle and that was it. It was a little tight at first but with just a touch of emery cloth and a dab of wax on the shaft I good to go. I played with it for a while and it worked just the one in the video. The thing I like about this is that if you pay attention to angle, speed and force you can dang near reproduce the exact pattern. It seems to work best on tight grained wood. However you can also you it on side grain and get some cool looking patterns. I made some medallions and added some color so I will try get some pictures and add to the post later.

[Jim Sebring]

Who, in the US, sells this tool. I poked around on the sites of several of the 'stockists' listed in the DVDs but couldn't find any listings.

[Bill Blasic]

The bits shafts are machined to fit inside the bearings leaving a ridge that rides on the bearings. This tool works very well and to me was well worth the money.
Bill

[Larry L Edinger]

Packard Woodworks & Craftsupplies