hanging up your power carver?

[dhjrcarver]

I just bought a Weecher (hanging type)power carver.It came with a hanger to fasten to a post or beam,etc.I would like something that i can take out to my shop or to my carving club meetings.How does everyone hang theirs up?Any ideas or photos of your systems would be appreciated. Thank you, Don

[Ron Davidson]

Go to www.woodcarversupply.com they sell one that clamps to a table top. They sell it to go with their mastercarver hanging model but it will work. Something else that will work if you have access to a medical supplier you can use an old IV bag holder stand.
Ron

[susieq]

Hello Don,
It is best to hang them of course..... my husband made me a hanger that was portable and would latch on to any table edge by way of a C clamp that was bolted to the bottom of the hanger. It involved a thick dowel with a large hook at the top end. It was cut to the length that would hold the motor/shaft combo at the ideal height for me. Everyone is different so you would have to play with it a bit to figure that out, but it worked very well for me. I do sometimes go to carve with a friend who also power carves and has reasonable dust collection for both of us or to carve outside with an extention cord.

I never took my power carver to class though. My classes were not set up for power carving and it isn't fair to inflict all that fine dust on the others in class nor expect them to have to wear a mask just so I could power carve.

In the end, it was this very thing that led me to leave the class even though I enjoyed it very much. Others started bringing their power carvers and using them in an enclosed area that had no dust collection set up for power carving. I couldn't stand the dust and did speak up politely a time or two about it. I was met with "oh, it's not hurting anything" or "I'm way over in this corner so the dust is over here". Of course, the dust was all over the room and everyone was breathing it.

I said no more as it didn't seem to be an issue with everyone else (although another couple did have to quit due to both of them having breathing problems) so I just quit attending. I still go back just to say hi once in a while, but the person in charge of the group should have insisted that no power carving be done in that situation and nipped it in the bud when it was just starting to be a problem.....

I include my tale of caution here because many classes and carving groups are set up with gouge and knife carving in mind. There is no facility for dust collection. Wood dust is a HUGE health hazzard....

But back to the portable hanger....you could use what ever you happen to have, dowel, metal tubing, etc..... A few bolts, a hook of some kind and a C clamp and you are good to go.
Happy carving.

[squbrigg]

I picked up a cast iron flower pot hanger and have it attached to the side of my work bench/desk. Not expensive and works like a charm, even swivels around out of the way when not in use.

Bob

[dhjrcarver]

Ron,susieq and squbrigg, thank you all for your input on how to hang my powercarver.It has stirred up a few ideas.I do have a forged lantern hook that I don't use much any more.I might see if it can be fastend to my bench. Don

[Donna_T]

Hi all,
Another option for your home carving workshop is to look for surplus hospital equipment and get a rolling IV stand. You can usually adjust the height--and it rolls around easily to make it easy to put it in just the right spot for your carving project.

Donna T

[susieq]

Donna
I was just going to say that that is what I use in my shop. The "dowel" with a C clamp was just for the portable hanger that I have. But a good old IV hanger with multiple hooks on it (mine has 4 and they are all in use) is hard to beat. They adjust for height and roll around as you need them to move.
They are not real convenient to take to a friends house but for in your shop, they are great.

[dhjrcarver]

Thank you all for your replys .I did end up fastening an oak 2x2 to an oak base that is wide enough to clamp to a table top.I also used the hanger hardware that came with my power carver.Now I am ready to go forth and make some dust! Again,thanks. Don

[sgtusmc]

Don,
This may not help you in class, but at home I use a long bugie cord suspended from the ceiling, I wrap it around one of the ceiling joists. I use both hooks to hold it, it seems to take up the shock when you first start them up, and no vibration on the bench itself.


SEMPER FI. BOB

[Paul_Guraedy]

I got my foredom in 1980 and decided to make a temporary hanger for it. I took a piece of 2x8 cut it to about a foot long, chisled a hole for about a 20" piece of 1X2, glued the two together, put a cheap swinging plant hanger on it and started carving. A while later I attached one of the slender multiplugs (with circuit breaker) to the 1x2 for lights, etc. Someday I am going to get around to replacing this one with a nice permanent one..........

I would attach a photo, but, am in Papillion, NE right now.