Portable Jamon Iberico Stand

by Anton Belodedenko

Clamps onto any table top to allow carving in the field or if room is at a premium in the house.

Materials

I used a few bits and pieces already on hand, with the key components being:

  • M12 (12mm OD) stainless steel threaded rod
  • M6 (6mm OD) stainless steel threaded rod
  • 2" OD stainless steel hinged (dairy) pipe clamp from RS
  • M12 stainless steel nuts and spring washers
  • M6 stainless steel nuts and spring washers
  • M20/M12 male/female reducer from Farnell
  • FDBC1 table top rod clamps from Cousins
  • heavy duty square stainless steel bracket
  • plastic knob with M6 hole

Construction

The stand is made up of two main pieces, namely hoof support and thigh support.

Hoof support

The hinged pipe clamp with a threaded hole in the top, allows the pin to be screwed into the bone, holding the leg in place.

The general approach is as follows:

  • drill a 5mm hole in the middle of the top hinged section of the pipe clamp
  • tap a female M6 thread in the hole
  • cut a 2" piece of M6 rod and fix a plastic (or some other) knob to it using M6 nuts and washers
  • sharpen the end of the rod into a point with a metal file
  • screw in the reducer into the pipe clamp and screw the rod into the reducer
  • screw the pin into the pipe clamp

Thigh Support

The thigh support bears the weight of the leg. Any suitable bracket could be used. I already had a square galvanised bracket, so I just carefully bent it slightly open using a vice.

Th general approach is as follows:

  • fix your bracket to the shorter piece of M12 threaded rod using M12 nuts and washers
  • make four short pins from M6 threaded rod and sharpen one end
  • drill four M6 holes in the bracket to support the pins
  • secure the pins with M6 nuts and washers

Enjoy!

We got our ham for Christmas and will be eating it for a foreseeable future..