Ice, Insurance, Carving Vise

[Paul_Guraedy]

In spite of the title, I think this best goes in the general carving forum. Last fall I had a friend of Debbe Edwards make me a carving vise and yesterday got around to going over (Miami, OK) and picking it up. Most of the ice around Debbe fell in the form of sleet so the trees were pretty well spared. Not so the buildings. I found Debbe trying to keep 4" of ice from collapsing her carving studio. There is a definite sag in the back of the building but looks like she can save the building. Two large barns across the road did not fare so well and collapsed.

Which brings me to the second subject, insurance. Many of us have carving studios or outbuildings with a shallow pitch on the roof. Debbe said they have found out, the hard way, that most insurance policies do not cover "snow load damage". If you want that coverage, it is like flood insurance, and has to be written in separately. It follows, that if the building is not covered neither are the contents......

Finally, the carving vise. I had used this type vise in a couple of seminars and found that I could purchase one from Debbe. The base is a disk from a plow, with two "screws" used to hold it to the steel upright. This allows it to be easily removed for storage or transport. Next comes the two pieces of square tubing that allows for adjustment of height. Finally a ball joint is used at the top to allow rotation of the carving into any position. The carving is screwed onto a plate which goes into a tube connecting to the ball joint. I purchased an extra plate so that I can work on two carvings and not have to switch off the base.

[chuckt]

Wow! That looks really cool. I am hoping to try and either buy or build something similar. I saw where a member built something very much like this in another thread under the Tools area.

Mind me asking how much this cost? I like the base. Do you think this would be sturdy enough to attach a smallish table type top for relief carving?

Sorry to hear about all the ice damage. We have had a very mild winter here in the lower Hudson Valley of NY thusfar, and hardly any snow (just a dusting in the last couple days). I'll have to check with my insurance about the snow load and ice damage coverage. Good point!

ChuckT

[bygeorge]

Paul, that looks pretty slick. Wish I was a little closer, I might be interested in something like that. By the way, the carving looks right nice too!

Chuck

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Is there enough weight in the base to keep the vise steady while using chisels?

[whitecree]

I saw something like this made out of a truck tire rim, but that harrow blade looks more compact.

Nice carving, by the way.

[dart]

That's a nifty carving stand. The carving is nice too.