Carvers set up - vise/holding device

[Claude]

Dave:
One quick, simple, and cheap method of holding your block is to take a pine 1x6 about a foot long, drill a small hole in the center of it. Hold this against the bottom of the piece of wood you're going to carve, and drive a drywall screw through the little hole you drilled. This screw will hold the carving wood to the 1x6. Now clamp the 1x6 to the bench, table, porch railing or where ever you carve. You can use C clamps, bar clamps, or what ever you have handy.

Claude

[mdallensr]

Your need for a vice depends on your style of carving. If you're going to use mallet tools, and need two hands on your tools, you really need to fasten your carving to keep it from moving. If you're going to do carving-in-the-round, mostly with a knife, you'll probably hold your carving on one hand and hold your knife with the other. The middle ground is bigger carving in the round, with gouges and possible full-sized mallet tools and relief carvings. You can carve relief with a bench hook, as others have mentioned, using the bench hook stops to keep the relief from moving much, and using your hands and forearms to pin it down some more.

I put a non-skid surface on my bench hook and that lets me carve things like love spoons and other small decorative items without fastening them down. If you mount a relief carving on a piece of plywood (a couple of screws from the back or powerful double stick tape), you can carve it on a bench hook fairly safely as long as you have stops on your hook. I've seen bench hooks for relief carving that had a rectangular recess for a standard shape of plywood backing and you just drop it in and it can't move. You can get fancier than that by having stops on two sides and adjustable stops on the opposite sides.

If you're going to carve bigger items, such as full-sized busts, with mallet tools, you need some kind of vice and carvers screws (and serious equipment that you can rely on). I have the Veritas vice and screws and a couple of other vices and brands of carvers screws that all do the job for that kind of work. But, even the best vice and carvers screw won't be reliable if they're not mounted on a substantial base. If you're going to start hammering a serious hunk of walnut with mallet tools, the whole set-up has to hang together for the duration of the project. If you look at the carver's benches you can buy, for serious money, they're built to last while taking a beating. Good luck. Mike

[bmfore]

Dave,
I am just as new as you, but I have had good luck carving at a table and clamping my work to the table edge with a sliding "C" style clamp. It is fairly secure, positionable and quick to release and change position. I have had REALLY bad luck holding by hand, gouging myself a couple of times before abandoning that method.

[daveathome1]

Thanks to all of you guys for that great response! I think though, (after looking at some of the pictures) that a lot of people seem to do small pieces with knives and they can be held easy enough in the hand. I am not good enough to do that kind of detailed work though so will have to get some kind of a vise and am leaning towards the Veritas.
ps Any thoughts on where to get patterns for carving in the round on the internet???
Thanks again to all of you guys!
Dave

[Norm Forand]

Welcome Dave,
As others said, I also use my hand most of the time to hold smaller to medium size work. Another thing I do with larger pieces is make simple fixturing for the workbench surface.
I have drilled a few holes in the bench and I can bolt down a block or two as needed. These are used as stops and the workpiece can be trapped. Works good during the boasting stage. Hope this helps.
Norm

[Hooked on Carving]

First off get a Kevlar glove, then use your hand if its small 4X4X12 or less. If you want to use a clamp, you can build you own with scrap lumber and buy just a carvers screw to hold onto your work. Issue #46 Spring 2009 has one and there are others from a very old back issue that use a trailer ball. Sometimes I use a $10 bar clamp that can attach to a work bench that I got from Sears. For relief carving you can make a simple device with 2 pieces of 1X3X12 lumber and a wing nut and a clamp to hold it in place. No need to spend on something you can make or improvise on!

[Hooked on Carving]

Originally Posted by Donsexton

I am a big fan of this big old machinist vice. I have a fancy work positioner that was expensive 20 years ago. The good thing about the vice is it can be used for other things.

Nice vice Don, must cost a small fortune now!

[Clifford_Parker]

vice
Pronunciation: \ˈvīs\
Function: noun
1 a : moral depravity or corruption : wickedness b : a moral fault or failing c : a habitual and usually trivial defect or shortcoming :

vise
Pronunciation: \ˈvīs\
Function: noun
1 : any of various tools with two jaws for holding work that close usually by a screw, lever, or cam

PLEASE search for VISE if you google! LOL

[mikeGinSC]

You'll find plenty of vices if you spell it wrong. :O

Mike G. in SC

[Larry Hurtubise]

Hello Dave: Several years ago I purchased a Jerry-Rig Work Positioner (B-4) carving vise. It wasn't cheap, but it was the best purchase I have made to date, as it allowed me to take on larger projects. If I choose to do a relief carving or shallow mask, I simply screw a piece of 3/4 inch plywood to the fixing plate of the ball positioner large enough to allow me to mount the piece. This vise is rock solid and so easy to use. Larry