Just got back from 5 day visit to Hawaii where I saw this woodcarver making Tiki's in the lobby of our hotel from native wood (I believe he called it "Mila"). I thought my fellow neanders might be interested in his "vise". I don't know whether he trained under a Japanese craftsman or Polynesians have always done it this way.
That chisel is too close to skin for me to be comfortable. We bought two Tiki's from him (which he signed) ...one for good luck, the other for protection. One thing I will remember is how beautiful the trees and other vegetation was. I saw banyan trees for the first time along with a pine they called a norfolk pine but it was different from any norfolk pine I've ever seen. Also a tree called by the natives a monkeypod tree..but a tour guide from Alabama told us..."back home we would call them "mimosa", that grew to 50-60 ft in height with an equally impressive spread. The biggest mimosa I've ever seen in SE Texas was about 20 ft. tall.