With my cancer surgery only 1 week away, I have been busy getting things ready so that I can keep busy during the 6-8 week recovery period. The surgeon says i will be unable to and not feel like lifting anything over 10 lbs, so, I have been preparing for things I CAN do that are light weight and I can do sitting down.
To that end, I put together this gizmo/jig/set-up that I use to decorate, carve, texture and color spheres. The basic set up is a Woodcut Pro Hold jig with a vacuum feature. I can hook this up to a vacuum pump to hold the sphere steady while I mangle them. The vacuum chuck is home made from poplar, threaded with a Beall Threading Tap. The gasket is fun foam from Michael's.
The short length of hose runs to a ball valve designed for gas, and 2 male fittings from the water plumbing section. I prefer the gas ball valve because of the plastic "T" handle. The lever action ball valves always bite my hand just below the finger next to my thumb on the left hand. I did not use any clamps or teflon tape or pipe dope and the system works great. I did my initial trials on the General big lathe where I do have a vacuum gauge and it was pulling nearly 26 inches of mercury, so I know it works.
This first image is just an overall shot.
The second shot is a close up of the ball valve and short hose and male fittings.
The third picture is a close up showing a sphere already marked out. I do this on the lathe so I can get nice uniform lines all the way around. Then, when I carve or burn by hand, and some "inaccuracy" is introduced, it is not quite as sloppy as if I had done the whole thing free hand. Transalation: I can't draw worth a tinker's dam and I use every means available to make it better.
The last picture is a shot of a sphere already woodburned and colored.
In use, I use to quick clamps to hold this to my work bench. I can sit in a chair or stool, and, using the handles on the Pro Mount, I can position the sphere in any orientation to make the final decoration easier. This also means I can do this without trying to hold a hot woodburning pen in one hand and the sphere in the other. Sure I can only work on one part of the sphere at a time, but a slight adjustment to the ball valve and I can reposition the sphere to expose another area. I have already pencilled in the design on about 50 spheres of various sizes to keep me busy. This week, I will mark out another 50 or so, maybe more, so that I can stay busy.
Tell me what you think!
To that end, I put together this gizmo/jig/set-up that I use to decorate, carve, texture and color spheres. The basic set up is a Woodcut Pro Hold jig with a vacuum feature. I can hook this up to a vacuum pump to hold the sphere steady while I mangle them. The vacuum chuck is home made from poplar, threaded with a Beall Threading Tap. The gasket is fun foam from Michael's.
The short length of hose runs to a ball valve designed for gas, and 2 male fittings from the water plumbing section. I prefer the gas ball valve because of the plastic "T" handle. The lever action ball valves always bite my hand just below the finger next to my thumb on the left hand. I did not use any clamps or teflon tape or pipe dope and the system works great. I did my initial trials on the General big lathe where I do have a vacuum gauge and it was pulling nearly 26 inches of mercury, so I know it works.
This first image is just an overall shot.
The second shot is a close up of the ball valve and short hose and male fittings.
The third picture is a close up showing a sphere already marked out. I do this on the lathe so I can get nice uniform lines all the way around. Then, when I carve or burn by hand, and some "inaccuracy" is introduced, it is not quite as sloppy as if I had done the whole thing free hand. Transalation: I can't draw worth a tinker's dam and I use every means available to make it better.
The last picture is a shot of a sphere already woodburned and colored.
In use, I use to quick clamps to hold this to my work bench. I can sit in a chair or stool, and, using the handles on the Pro Mount, I can position the sphere in any orientation to make the final decoration easier. This also means I can do this without trying to hold a hot woodburning pen in one hand and the sphere in the other. Sure I can only work on one part of the sphere at a time, but a slight adjustment to the ball valve and I can reposition the sphere to expose another area. I have already pencilled in the design on about 50 spheres of various sizes to keep me busy. This week, I will mark out another 50 or so, maybe more, so that I can stay busy.
Tell me what you think!
