I cast about 40# of alloy lead in a round salad bowl. That sits in a wooden ring. The wooden ring is attached to a hardware store ball bearing lazy susan. The work holder is a small drill press vice screwed to the lead block. All of my work gets attached to wood blocks with bondo. A fancy vice with pins would not help me. The rig spins smooth. The weight of the lead had enough inertia to resist moving under air graver forces. I spin the work to make scrolls. I do zero engraving with hammer and chisel.
For point source light I use Edison base LED bulbs with the globe removed. The globe is plastic, use a hack saw or bandsaw.