Wooden Vice Screws?

[Chems]

Ive seen big vices with the screws of the vice made of wood, I assume you would be able to do this on a lathe but marvel at how you could do it?

 

[Bodrighy]

You use thread cutters. There is one internal and one external and you buy them as a set. Experts say it's easy but I suspect it takes practice.

I think that you can also get tap and die sets for wood but you don't see much of them.

Some videos here

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

alternatively use the 'barley twist' method if the pitch and tpi are known...

 

[Anonymous]

Do barley twists have anything to do with turning apart from the fact that the lathe is used as a vice? From what I've seen it's all carving.

I've seen lots of other pieces which the 'artist' claims to have turned when in fact the majority of the work is carving. I find it quite annoying. What do others think?

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

A well executed twist is a thing of beauty in its own right...

I'm not bothered by semantics (well, not in this case :wink: ), turned or carved matters not as long as it's a good'un

 

[Chems]

I dont think its something I will ever be able to do. Will have to be a metal vice

 

[Bodrighy]

Personally I think that a combination of turning and carving is fine. Also like pyrography. Not so keen on highly painted things as I prefer the natural wood tho' Bihn Po and the like certainly are in a league of thier own. At he end of the day I suppose I just love craftmanship and do't mind a mixture.

Pete

 

[Roland Mann]

I've just bought a thread cutting kit from Turners Retreat.

http://www.turners-retreat.co.uk/acatalog/WorkshopAccessories.html

Haven't tried it yet, but it looks loads of fun...

 

[dickm]

Thread cutting with hand chasers is one of those things that's a real knack. And sometimes it works beautifully, other times you can't get it to work at all. I've done a few threaded lids with a 16tpi set of internal and external chasers, and also made up an external chaser to make a new screw for a marking gauge. Needs close grained wood (don't even attempt oak!) and lots of practice.
There is also a thing called a routerlathe, which will cut a limited range of pitches, but also seems to be an acquired knack to get it working well.
Or, of course, if you are into metalworking, then mounting a router on the saddle of a screwcutting lathe ought to work fine for male threads, but I've never tried it

 

[DaveL]

Hi Roland,

Welcome to the forum.

Your link has been caught by our spam trap this will stop once you have a few more posts to your name, here it is:

http://www.turners-retreat.co.uk/acatalog/WorkshopAccessories.html

 

[Chems]

What I wanted was some really big scale screws with the nuts as well that I could make into an attractive vice. Looks to difficult thou.

 

[Anonymous]

A well executed twist is a thing of beauty in its own right...

I'm not bothered by semantics (well, not in this case Wink ), turned or carved matters not as long as it's a good'un

My point was a technicality I suppose. I love the work, I just don't understand why some people give the impression that it's a piece of of woodturning when it's really a piece of woodcarving. Personally I prefer good carved work anyway.

I think that you can also get tap and die sets for wood but you don't see much of them.

Some videos here

Great videos. Don't think I've got a steady enough hand for that. I've seen Bonnie Klein's gizmo for doing threads (flywheel cutter). It's a lot easier but she wants far too much money for it.

Cheers,

Dave

 

[jonbikebod]

I made this with one of the tap and screwbox kits. The screwbox needed a fettle but can be adjusted to get a thead so close fitting it nips up on wet days…

This was just a trial, the male thread in beech and the ‘nut’ an off-cut of ash. This is a one inch thread and I intend using it for some mitre chops, it would be a bit small for a vice but the threads are surprisingly strong.
Obviously I used the lathe to make the male blank.
Jon.
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[dickm]

Wow, Jon, that's a superb thread, especially in ash which is usually too open a grain to take that detail in my experience. You mention fettling the screw box - can you give some detail?

 

[jonbikebod]

I would generally agree with you on the ash ****. As you can see there is still even some bark on this and passing the growth rings at an angle. I am sure it wouldn’t have worked the other way around. The nut is cut with a very course tap so nothing very difficult but a drill press keeps the tap on axis as well as ensuring the thread is perpendicular to the faces of the nut.
The cutter in the ‘thread box’ consists of a bit of square section tool steel with a V shaped grove machined into it and the outside ground away to form a V shaped cutting edge – much like a carvers parting tool. Just like that tool it takes patience with slip stones to sharpen as more metal needs to be removed at the heel than at the sides. The most important job was making sure the cutter precisely aligns with the thread land in the cutter block. I had to deepen the housing the cutter lies in to achieve that. Going the other way shims might be needed. All pretty obvious when you have one in your hands.
Jon.