The Elbo tool arrived a couple of days ago and here is the promised report.
The tool is very stout. It’s made with 1†square solid steel and the workmanship is very impressive. There are real roller bearings at each pivot-point.
The installation instructions require the tool rest to be 1†below the center of the spindle. In order to accomplish this, I was going to have to make some very major modifications to my tool rest. It so happens that I had a chunk of 1†round stock left over from some previous home made post projects so I put the steel into the banjo and marked the spindle center, subtracted 1 ½†and cut it to length. I drilled a 3/8th hole ¾†down from the top and then made two cuts from the top that intersected the hole. A piece of 3/8 X 1 ½ X 14†bar stock was fit into the slot and welded in place. I put a stop collar on the post to mark the height for setup and, using Dave Sommer’s tip, washers can be placed under the stop collar to adjust the tool height for each cutting tool. The whole process took a little over an hour and I have a tool rest dedicated to the tool which should make setup very easy.
The steel in the tool is without any corrosion protection. With our island’s VOG (aka volcanic smog) which is somewhat corrosive and the ocean influence, the tool would have quickly become a rust pile. I disassembled the tool, masked off the bearing surfaces by using flat washers attached with cap screws and nuts and gave everything a couple of coats of Rusoleum. I lubed all the shoulder bolts and the bearings and reassembled the tool, replacing the nut/lock-washers fastenings with nylocks.
I had a very dry and very tough end-grain piece of Monkey pod and made that my first test. The tool cut effortlessly and I was able to control and guide the tool with ease (I do mean with ease!!!). For those of us who are not purists, I would heartily recommend this tool without reservation. The price is definitely right.
Clamping the tool to the tailstock quill was cumbersome and it appears this could be manufactured using a morse-taper attachment method instead. While turning, the clamp slipped a couple of times. I probably was a bit timid in applying enough clamping pressure for fear of messing up the surface of the quill.
The cutting tool assembly is made from ½†round stock and has an area where ¼†is sliced off leaving a flat to attach the ¼†HSS bit assembly. The scraping cutter is 1/8th in. and the tool rest would have to be adjusted when changing tools. I think a separate cutting assembly with the only a 1/8th cut for tool mounting should be an option to mount the scraper bit. That way, the operator could replace one assembly with the other and continue with turning and would not have to make any further adjustments to the rest. Another option would be to shim up the cutting bit with a couple of small fender washers.
The tool is very stout. It’s made with 1†square solid steel and the workmanship is very impressive. There are real roller bearings at each pivot-point.
The installation instructions require the tool rest to be 1†below the center of the spindle. In order to accomplish this, I was going to have to make some very major modifications to my tool rest. It so happens that I had a chunk of 1†round stock left over from some previous home made post projects so I put the steel into the banjo and marked the spindle center, subtracted 1 ½†and cut it to length. I drilled a 3/8th hole ¾†down from the top and then made two cuts from the top that intersected the hole. A piece of 3/8 X 1 ½ X 14†bar stock was fit into the slot and welded in place. I put a stop collar on the post to mark the height for setup and, using Dave Sommer’s tip, washers can be placed under the stop collar to adjust the tool height for each cutting tool. The whole process took a little over an hour and I have a tool rest dedicated to the tool which should make setup very easy.
The steel in the tool is without any corrosion protection. With our island’s VOG (aka volcanic smog) which is somewhat corrosive and the ocean influence, the tool would have quickly become a rust pile. I disassembled the tool, masked off the bearing surfaces by using flat washers attached with cap screws and nuts and gave everything a couple of coats of Rusoleum. I lubed all the shoulder bolts and the bearings and reassembled the tool, replacing the nut/lock-washers fastenings with nylocks.
I had a very dry and very tough end-grain piece of Monkey pod and made that my first test. The tool cut effortlessly and I was able to control and guide the tool with ease (I do mean with ease!!!). For those of us who are not purists, I would heartily recommend this tool without reservation. The price is definitely right.
Clamping the tool to the tailstock quill was cumbersome and it appears this could be manufactured using a morse-taper attachment method instead. While turning, the clamp slipped a couple of times. I probably was a bit timid in applying enough clamping pressure for fear of messing up the surface of the quill.
The cutting tool assembly is made from ½†round stock and has an area where ¼†is sliced off leaving a flat to attach the ¼†HSS bit assembly. The scraping cutter is 1/8th in. and the tool rest would have to be adjusted when changing tools. I think a separate cutting assembly with the only a 1/8th cut for tool mounting should be an option to mount the scraper bit. That way, the operator could replace one assembly with the other and continue with turning and would not have to make any further adjustments to the rest. Another option would be to shim up the cutting bit with a couple of small fender washers.
