Thread: What are your vices?

You may not have access to metal working tools but the traditional Woodcarvers vice is called a "scopas chops " made of wood, Google that for ideas.

Also do not dismiss the whole idea of making a wood vice, most commercial vices are ball & platform to which the piece is screwed to & then held in a vice with a depression to hold the ball - that would not be difficult to make for a carver.
Making vice like this is superior to ANY commercial vice on the market because ultimately the metal ball slips in the metal vice - there is no vice commercially available which can remain steady whilst under the attack of heavy roughing cuts with a mallet & gouge whereas the wood against wood offers more friction & is better although not perfect .
I once made myself such a vice & found that a carefully carved negative sphererical shape to the vice jaws plus an occasional wetting to raise the grain to offer more grip it worked better than anything you can buy. Build it over size, heavy & from a non oily wood.
If you don't want to do that take a old towing ball & attach a platform to that, make some false cheeks for a vice with the sphere carved in negative & you're sorted.
Let me be honest though, to make or buy a ROCK solid immoveable vice that would require it was attached to a bench of massive weight & that there was enough leverage in any screws to crush the work piece - there's no perfect solution ! I'm saying unless you're carving a massive baulk of timber , some rebound or movement or absorbing of power is inevitable.
Cheers Mike

Somebody PM Underfoot. Get him to post pictures of his "Jaw Ball" wood carving vise.
The ball part is a regular 10-pin bowling ball in jaws made from (6" 10"??) steel pipe.
Haven't seen it in years. Just the thing for a life-sized torso carving.

True, I agree. Commercial units claim stability but they can't be all things to all carvers.
I'm still back at the stage of using strap clamps or a strip of plywood screwed into waste wood and all
that is clamped to the bench.

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

I bought a vice off CarbaTec a while ago and stopped using it as it really doesnt hold the workpiece when I give it a good whack. It slips. What do people use and can recommend? .

It should not be necessary to whack even cheap vice. Fit the vice jaws with rawhide leather and it will grip pretty well any thing.

Here's a pic showing the large sheets of leather I used on one of my vices. Just the lightest pressure will hold the slipperiest piece of timber.

Thank you guys! I have a few things to chase down. The carvers vise looks great Mike and I do take your point about nothing is immovable. And Undies ball vise is legendary, I agree.

This is the one I meant.

CV-01.jpg It just doesnt have enough metal to metal contact area to withstand the knocks. The mechanism slips and you end up chasing the piece down to the bench. Then the bottom lock loosens and you end up going in circles. Im sure it would make a hilarious you tube video. Its not that it is poorly made but it's just not up to my personal level of punishment.

Nice BobL, but how does your vice apply to a 4" x 12" x 72" carving? It doesn't.
I expect that the next one coming into the yard will be 150kg or more.
I'll do what you show for some, but not for others.

Undie's JawBall trumps just about anything I've ever seen.
The true merit is that it will work well for small pieces, too.

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

It just doesnt have enough metal to metal contact area to withstand the knocks.

.Yep..it's all about the surface area interface between the bench and the carving..
also, the bowling ball seems to dampen the impact of the mallet/chisel so you don't get that annoying 'chattering' of the piece.
..btw..the bowling ball gadget is easily modified to fit a standard steel bench vice..

Originally Posted by underfoot

.Yep..it's all about the surface area interface between the bench and the carving..
also, the bowling ball seems to dampen the impact of the mallet/chisel so you don't get that annoying 'chattering' of the piece.
..btw..the bowling ball gadget is easily modified to fit a standard steel bench vice..

Yes, I'm sure it is about surface area interface ,(more surface = more friction & therefore less likely to move) & also about inherent weight (ie, bowling ball - brilliant idea ! )
It all depends on how big the pieces you intend to carve are , think it though & then over build , that way you might then be half way satisfied. I still love the bowling ball idea - it's as good as you'll do.

I went though a period where every carving was about 50% bigger than the previous one.
I do recall wondering where it might end. Undie's "JawBall" looked like the solution to the puzzle.
Perhaps overbuilt in the beginning but then again, smaller things will be well-accomodated, too.

There isn't a commercial clamp rig in the marketplace which can be all things to all carvers.
Where are you going? What are you doing?

Correct answer: when the bowling ball turns up, I know exactly what to do with it.