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Bob Benedetto's book and videos show a nifty swiveling cradle, and I would like to make one for carving archtop plates. The cradle itself is straightforward, but it is difficult to make out the assembly that allows it to swivel or, alternatively, clamp it in place. It looks like a 3" or 4" piece of steel pipe in some type of wooden brackets, one of which has some type of clamp attached. Has anyone built one of these? If so, I would appreciate any photos or insights into your approach.

StewMac has a nice swiveling stand that would do exactly what I want, but it would be inconvenient to have a separate stand bolted to the floor or a cement paver. I have a decent size shop, but any tool with a separate stand can start chewing up shop space quickly. I would strongly prefer to avoid a separate stand if I can, especially given that this seems like something that should bolt conveniently to a workbench or clamp conveniently in a workbench vise.

Has anyone built one of these?

Yes I made one and went through the same questions at the time! Although mine is made from another piece of hardware, I believe Bob's utilizes the pillar assembly from an old drill press. That provides the tension and flange, and I would imagine a roller bearing for height.

Maybe look for a photographic ball head on eBay (no need for light weight stuff, so a decent, sturdy second-hand Manfrotto/Bogen shouldn't but you back too much). They've got fairly standard threaded mounts, a quick release plate potentially allowing several different types of cradles to be mounted, shouldn't be too complicated.

I may have to recycle my old Manfrotto tripod now, since I don't actually use it for photography any more (too heavy)

Here's the one I made. Blackpipe & flange.......I just clamp it into a legvise when needed.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Thanks, everyone!

Dave, that looks pretty straightforward. However, I don't see what keeps the pipe from rotating or sliding down through the wood fixture. Do you have some type of clamp on there that's not visible?

Holes are drilled into 2 pieces of 6"w pine. They are joined together with flexible (ie 1/8" or less) plywood, then the top one is split down the center on a tablesaw. The kerf removed allows the top plate to now clamp the pipe in any position when clamped in the vise. You can line the top hole with inner tube to get a better grip. Here's another pic.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Dave has it just right. I also used black pipe and a flange to mount my cradle. Mine uses a stacked lamination of plywood with holes for the pipe drilled through and then a saw kerf to allow the "pinch" like Dave's. I then added one larger piece of plywood (also with the hole and kerf) so it would form a lip that overhangs the rest of the laminations by about one inch on two sides. This rests in my front vise with the lips on top of the vise jaws. The lips keep the clamping blick from falling through, and they elevate the cradle a bit over the part of the bench that it overhangs. The pipe holes are off center, so the pipe can clear the ways and screw of the vise. The whole thing stores away when not in use, and drops into the vise in a matter of seconds when I want to use it. No point in making separate clamps for this thing if you've got a vise.

Dave...does your shop always look that orderly? Or did you spruce it up for its picture?

Patrick

Fantastic information, guys. Thank you much!