Thread: Holding down your work.

Originally Posted by joe greiner

Probably not suited for pieces including the bark, unless the bark is gently removed and re-attached by gluing; and I'm not sure what kind of glue would be appropriate. But one of my strangest workholding contraptions is a bucket of ice attached to a faceplate. The workpiece is embedded in crushed ice, a slight amount of water added, and allowed to freeze for about 6 hours (YMMV).

After turning the exposed portion of the workpiece, I melt the ice with hot tap water in the kitchen sink; re-orient and repeat as needed.

Thus far, it's practically a solution in search of a problem, and the moisture content goes nuts with all the water coming and going. Not very precise, but infinitely (+/-) adjustable within its limits, for multi-axis turning.

David Belser in New Hampshire embeds his work in a solid chunk of ice, and turns between centers. Google is your friend.

Cheers,
Joe

You could wrap the back end of the piece in Clingfilm to stop the poly adhering to the bark

Should have looked at the rest of the thread before replying... DHO!