carving ball vise

[jartzh]

Power carving requires a good method to hold the piece and rotate. When you have a sharp bit rotating at 20,000 rpm you dont want to be hold the piece between your legs!

I use to mount the piece on a piece of 2x12 by long screws up thru the board. And then I would clamp the board to my worktable. Clumsy and I couldnt change the access angle.

I found a bowling ball at a garage sale, built a clamp out of 8x8s and mount it on a workmate . Added locking wheels to the workmate. I epoxied a 3/4 pipe into the bowling ball and had a plate welded to it. I drilled a bunch of holes into the plate and now can mount the piece directly to the plate or I have a larger board to attach the piece to.

Now I can mount a fairly heavy piece of wood on it and rotate, twist,... the piece to my hearts content. and I can wheel the entire table&piece around the back yard to find shade.

I can take a pix of the layout and send it to anyone who is interested.

[chuckt]

I'd be interested in seeing that. I've seen a couple bowling ball type devices and I always thought they seemed neat - but maybe a little overkill. But heck - if its stable and works well with your Workmate I may have to consider it. I just bought two Harbor Freight versions of the Workmate for my wife & I to use for carving. Wish they had the locking wheels. That's be handy. Their pretty heavy.

Anyway - if you get a chance post some pics.

ChuckT

[jartzh]

I just put a pix on the carver galleries. its ugly but it works fine.

[brianh]

Wow I just found this post and yesterday I posted my vise also made with a bowling ball, your description sound similar to the one I made.

Mine is in tips and techniques

[jartzh]

Just added a quick locking bar to my setup. I got it from BrianH's design. I like it a lot better than my old (wrench adjust on the threaded rod) method.
Thanks BrianH.

Its a lot simpler than my old method and works better. Thats the beauty of this site. Sharing ideas.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Originally Posted by jartzh

I just put a pix on the carver galleries. its ugly but it works fine.

I looked in the gallery, but didn't see it? under what title?

[jartzh]

Mr Silver,
Its under jartzh's gallery. I dont know how to tell you to find it. I just look under my gallery. Its not much to see. just a bowling ball mounted on a workmate. email directly at jartzh@yahoo.com and I will send you a pix.