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Sphere turning jigs… Clark vs Carter

Aidan Lasky

Aidan Lasky

Joined
Oct 7, 2021
Messages
49
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Location
Lexington Park, MD
Does anyone have experience with either or both of these tools?

The Clark product appears to be more robust and able to turn larger spheres compared to the Carter. I am heavily leaning towards the Clark for those reasons specifically.

If you have any positive or negatives experiences with either tool or maybe even a recommendation for something else I would love to hear about it.
 
Aidan, I've not used either system, but a good alternative is to turn them without a jig. I thought about buying a jig a couple years ago, but then turned some "by hand". It's much easier than you might think and after turning a few is a quick process. @hockenbery has a tutorial posted here somewhere and others have posted their methods.

If you prefer a jig, I'm sure others will be a long before too long to relate their experiences.
 
I have used the carter and demoed it in trade shows for the developer.
I tested it for developer. It works extremely well.

The size sphere depends on the lathe less the height of the baseplate.
Carter diameter 2” less than the swing. - advantage carter.
Clark diameter 3” less than the swing

I think the vermec and Clark are faster to change diameters than the Carter.

All the jigs work.
All the jigs work faster/better if you cut a lot of the waste away with a gouge.
The vermac is another to consider.

The carter can hollow 1/2 a sphere - my guess is the Vermec and Clark can also be set up to hollow too.
A wooden basketball or volleyball wants to be held- needs to be hollow.

I usually turn spheres with a gouge. The exception is using the kitchenware jig for balls less than 2” diameter.
If you want info on how I turn spheres There are some hand outs and a video Taken at Hartford in the tips section

Ball in a Ball

A ball in a ball is great fun. People try to figure out how? In the demo video I show how to turn a ball, hollow it to receive the smaller ball and then pop the smaller ball through the hole. There are also links to handouts I use in demos. dogwood large ball about 3” I got the idea for...
www.aawforum.org www.aawforum.org
 
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I really appreciate the fine adjustment and angular positions of the carbide cutter on the Carter. No experience with the Clark, in fact I can't say I've ever heard of it.
 
I have the Carter, and like that I can turn a sphere to a very specific diameter. This is key when making pieces as outlined by David Springett’s “Woodturning Wizardry”.
 
You can build a sphere turning jig with some basic metal working tools, Clark, Carter, and Vermec Jigs all work on the same basic concept.
I have turned spheres with each of these jigs and they all did a good job in turning the spheres. For larger diameter spheres you need a
beefy frame to support the cutting tool and reduce vibration, like all other large turnings you need to turn at slower speeds. I usually rough
turn the sphere by eye and use the sphere jigs to make the final finishing cuts, this is quicker.
 
I have the Chefwarekits EZ Sphere jig. It works well. Probably not quite as robust as the much more expensive options, but doesnt have to be. Most of the cutting will be with a different tool to get close, then use the jig, with light cuts, to get final shape. There’s a threading jig that fits the same base parts if that is of interest.
 
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