I also want to make a jig to hold my foredom handpiece to use it
as a lathe for wax work. I saw a model for this in one of my
books- but it isn’t very specific as to how to hold it steady,
or how to make a “live center” to stabilize the wax stick on the
end opposite the chuck.
Ruth,
The one time I saw someone using the jig sold to hold the
foredom handpiece was at a wax carving workshop. The jig is
meant to hold a #30 or #35 handpiece and fits into your bench
vise. I think it’s made out of teflon or some plastic. Wood
would probably work as well. A solid block of wax was “prepped”
by heating a hex head bolt and pushing it into the wax. The
bolt than acts as a mandrel. Using the flex shaft as a lathe,
the wax block was turned down to the appropriate outside diameter
for a ring, and the inside diameter was also cut into the block.
The ring was a channel set design, so she cut the channel while
still on the flex shaft and then sliced the whole thing off. The
center fell out and in about the time it took me to write this,
she had a perfect wax model of an eternity ring. Of course, she
is also possibly the best model maker in the country, so she has
had a little experience with this sort of thing. I haven’t tried
the technique since the workshop, since I haven’t had the time or
need yet, but it’s on my list of “Things to try when I’m not
busy” (haha).
Hope this helps.
Sharon Ziemek