Sunday, February 20, 2011

Hand Vice - Carvinng Small

I like the challenge of whittling and carving smaller items. By smaller I mean two (2) inches or less in height. After nicking myself several times I decided to find a small hand held vice to hold the small piece while whittling with my knife. I found several commercial devices, but all had too much metal up around the jaws. I figured that if I slipped, the knife edge would be damaged by the metal. So here's a home-made device that I made. I used materials that I had on hand, and was going to purchase a shorter bolt. But after using it I decided to leave it. I can "wrap" my finger around it for more stability. It is, however, important to use the small yellow foam pad between the blank and the wood jaws. These pads allow you to really tighten the jaws for a secure hold.

3 comments:

Tom H said...

"Uncool" Probably an ER Doc!

Yaron Yedidia said...

Why not just carve on the full stick then cut after carving ?

Tom H said...

Hey carver Tom, thanks for commenting. As to your question: I do carve them on a 6" stick and cut them off. But some times I have a little piece left over. That, plus I'm cheap! I pick up small pieces left over from other carvers and use them.