I have the Trent Bosch Carving stand and in my new shop setup I have a table where I carve (usually with my Dremel) and another area that I am setting up for coloring & embellishment. Both areas are on the opposite end of the shop from the lathe. I was wondering if anyone has used the bench mount portion of the carving stand to build some type of portable station. I don't think a desktop arrangement would be feasible due to the different angles you may want to carve from and the weight of the chuck. Previously, I put some cleats at the bottom of a 4X4 (3' tall) but it was still top heavy.
I just got through making a "carving bench". I stole the idea from David F. Fisher.....he carves bowls....think adaz, gouges, etc. Anyway. Go to his web site: davidffisher.com. He has a blog. There is an entry for a flat, thick bench with holes in the top to hold a "dog". We are talking just a flat bench here. I could see a Bosch carving stand mounted on it. Take a look. See if it would work for you. I want to say he called it "low rider" or something like that.
A fun web site to visit anyway....the man does fantastic work. Beautiful stuff.
I want to build something like this for my chip and other carving. It is portable and collapsible. I got the plans and have some changes in mind. It might be too small for what you have in mind but could be scaled.
I don't have the Bosch. I have the Bestwoodtools carving stand. It comes with a bench mount and also fits in your tool post. I have the bench adaptor mounted on a triangular piece of wood that fits in my workbench on the outfeed table of my table saw. This triangular opening is used to mount several different vises that I seldom use like my pipe vise, parrot vice and others. I put the carving adaptor on and them mount the Baxter carving stand on that and usually put a dust collector hood behind that. This gives me lots of room to work. I'm still thinking about building a free standing carving stand using a bowling ball and some metal rings to make it articulate and all of it will fit on a metal stand. This would allow me to walk all the way around it as well as tilting etc.
It is the quick release with soft jaws type used for centuries by millions. I hold the work between my knees or thighs.
I still have a carpenter's bench that I built about 40 years ago, which is about 18" x 20" x 48", and covered with carpet. When I sit straddle of it, I hold the turning between my thighs, which is at a pretty good working height while sitting, makes for quick turning to adjust best position, and the other end of the bench is handy for keeping the assortment of tools close at hand.
I used to scheme on building something like a shaving horse, which would have 3 curving poles sticking up which would have a leather hammock type pocket hanging between them, which would clamp inward whenever I sat on a lever, but then I just really don't have that much that don't like about what I'm already doing.
Since I carve feet on most of my vessels, I couldn't mount them with the vice you have for my work, although it looks quite good.
