Holding the Work
The importance of holding the workpiece firmly, at the right height, and in a comfortable position is both a practical and safety issue, and the different ways in which carvers hold their work piece has always interested me.
There are a variety of ways to hold the work piece, and the best solution is a function of the type of work you are doing, i.e. lettering, a relief carving, or carving in the round, as well as the size of the workpiece. Over the years I have found that I use a carvers screw more than anything else. There are lost of different types and I would encourage you to look at my advice page about Carver Screws here The pictures left and below show a range of options which work for me.
A Carvers Vice; (below) usually has a base plate to be screwed to the work piece, and which can be rotated & twisted in every direction. In the images below, the carvers vice is crewed to a short piece of 35 x 150mm timber, held in my bench vice. This particular one is sold by Axminister tools. Unfortunately, the locking ring used to rotate the main body has ceased up. The tommy bar used to lock it is made of a soft material and quickly became bent. The adjusting ring is also made a soft metal and the holes have become elongated, and will not hold any kind of tommy bar. Unfortunately although this looks like a robust piece of kit it hasn't been a good investment for me.
I was fortunate enough to be gifted this second hand carvers vice in January 2019. (in the pictures below) It's known as a Hydraclamp and is made by a company called Spencer Franklyn. Although much more expensive to buy, so far, it is much superior to the Axminster version.
A Carpenters Vice; (below) this a traditional bench vice secured to the side of my workbench.
A Bench mounted toggle Clamp, (below) available from Screwfix. This one is secured to a board which sits on my bench and is secured between a couple of bench dogs and my vice.
