I have a fairly large supply of maple that I intend to make a workbench top from. I thought that a good use for the leftovers would be some handscrews. I bought a Jorgenson kit for one handscrew. Has anyone ever made their own handscrews? How did you make the semi-funnel shaped holes for the screws? I have considered using a Forstner bit and angling the jaw on the drill press. Comments?
Despite my age, I’m a beginner in woodworking so any other advice on making these things would be appreciated. Also there are other kits available that are cheaper. Are they worth considering?
John
Replies
Sounds like you are trying to use metal screws? I think wooden screws are nicer to work with. For one, both screws are right handed. And construction is significantly simpler. The only trick is making the screws. I have a cheap taiwanese wood tap and die set (I think it's 7/8). If you have a lathe, this is fairly easy to do. I recommend soaking the screws in oil before attempting to cut the threads.
Enjoy
Adam
Thanks, I don't have a lathe but still might try the wood screws. Do you have a reference to some instructions. The jaws on the clamps in the picture you posted look like they might be narrower than commercial clamps. That would enable me to make more with what I have.
John
I don't know how you make screws without a lathe. You could try using dowels. The jaws on my screws are 2"x2".Adam
I might be able to find someone with a lathe to turn some of this maple I have and then thread it by hand. The dies I have seen are somewhat expensive but it might be worth it. Thanks again. Sorry to be slow about responding. I'm trying to do several things at once around the house.
John
I think I paid $25 or $30 for a tap and die set. You can make all kinds of special clamps and fixtures with these. You can find them at Harbor Freight. Highland Hardware has them when HF is out of stock.Adam
Back in the dawn of FWW time, volume #8, there was an article about making your own wooden hand screws. It can be accessed through FWW.com: http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=2007
I have been able to get by using hardwood dowels (in the absence of a lathe). You will need a thread cutting set.
Randy
There's also been a recent article by Michael Dunbar in Popular Woodworking (I believe it was in 2007). The article is well worth reading if you've an interest in making wooden handscrew clamps.
In the article, Mike compares and contrasts the metal-screw and wooden-screw versions. He points out that the metal versions have advantages in that they can be racked (unlike a wooden screw clamp), and the threads don't explode if you crank down on them too hard. He points out that the wooden ones have the advantages of being able to flex a bit and won't come off the work if it shifts a bit, and you can make them in their entireity with a few simple tools.
Adam,
Can you "rack" the jaws of a wooden handscrew?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Not much. Not like a Jorgensen clamp. But it's enough.Adam
I have used these kits to make about 6 of these handscrews and I think it's a great way to use small scrap wood. I have some made with maple some with cherry and some with walnut. for the funnel shaped holes I drilled a hole threw the wood then rocked the bit back and forth to get the funnel shape, hard to describe but not that hard to do. The biggest irritation is that some of the kits use drill sizes that are not that easy to buy, fractions like 33/64. Anyway good luck.
Troy
I got a kit a few years ago and put it together. The problem I had was the cross dowels take a really uncommon drill size (9/16", IIRC) and that made it hard to do without spending more on tools than I'd saved by making my own.
Thanks for the info. I hadn't thought of the drill size. I may drill a few test holes with a regular spade bit and grind it down a bit if it is too loose. I have about as good luck with spade bits in wood as with twist drills.John
I just made a 24" and a 16" as I use them as a reference fence for chopping out hand cut DT's by clamping across the rear cutting gauge line. I use the metal screws to build mine as I have no tap and die for wood screws.
How do you get the tunneled out area like the store bought ones? Your idea with an angled forstner bit on a DP would probably work... but why bother. Just gash out that stock with a chisel and mallet and be done with it. It doesn't have to be that shape really as I have a number of shop built and they work just fine.
Good luck...
Sarge..
Thanks. I'll try it both ways in scrap. I'm not the best in the world with chisels. Lack of experience. I've got lots of time and the shop is cooler than outside, so some of the chores around the house will have to wait.
John
Good luck John. Once you build one of either the wood screw or metal... it's a snap after that. You could almost do a one man production line. :>)
Sarge..
I bought a tap & die some years back and could never make it work. The threads would tighten to the point where they wouldn't turn and I could never adjust the cutter to overcome this. Eventually got a Beal wood threader for my router and it works like a champ. I had to make a jig for my lathe to size the dowels correctly though, the diameter of the dowels has to be accurate and consistent. I've made a number of hand screws and I like them much better than the metal ones.
The Beal threadmaker system looks pretty slick. There was also a segment on the Woodwright Shop some time back about making both the dowels and the thread boxes using a reground file to cut the threads inside a die box. I don't recall what he did for a tap, however.
Although angling the holes for the threaded "rod" could be done by "worrying" the drill bit, I'd think that using a mortise chisel would be more satisfying and craftsman-like.
The Jorgensen clamps "rack" because the female-threaded insert is round and is able to rotate in the jaws. I'd think that one could do the same with a completely wooden clamp by making the female threads in a round insert, similar to the metal version, just much larger. A denser, more oily wood for the insert might be an idea.
The episode of The Woodwright's Shop of roy making his own wooden thread box is 2704 found here: http://www.pbs.org/wws/schedule/video.html
He bought the Beall taps.
I bought an old wooden handscrew from an antique shop and used that as a pattern for making my own. I used a threading kit from Harbor Freight. One of Roy Underhill's books has a good discussion on how to sharpen and adjust the cutting iron on a screw box.
Thanks. I appreciate all the input on handscrews. Right now I don't have a lathe to make the screw stock on and don't anticipate getting one. Lathework is just not my thing. I'm going to try my hand at making the metal screw version with the Jorgensen kit. If that works out, I'll try other sizes. One comment, somewhere in a catalog I read that the Jorgensen kits had acme thread rods. The kit I have does not have acme threaded rods. They are standard V thread. Were they acme threads at one time?
John
John,
As far as I know, Jorgensens (kits and premades) still have Acme threads. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&cat=1,43838,47843,59472&p=59472Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
OK! I guess they are acme threads. I got one of the spindles and put it under a magnifying glass and you can see the flats. The pitch doesn't seem to match anything I am familiar with either. My aging eyes can't see the flats on the major diameter(peaks)or on the minor diameter (valleys)without help. I shouldn't jump to conclusions. When I do, odds are they are wrong.If I remember correctly, I got this kit from Lee Valley. I would buy from them just to keep the catalog coming. There are other good reasons also.John
I've made a number of threaded items but never made handscrews because I like the ability to "rack" a handscrew. The most comprehensive write-up I've seen is in issue 6 of FWW - an article that typifies why many of us don't subscribe any longer. It lives up to Paul Roman's mantra of FWW being the "Scientific American" magazine of woodworking.
And I have never used a lath to do woodthreading. I buy dowels in many different species and a variety of diameters from Midwest Dowel Works. Their dowels are not "drawn" like many retail woodworking shops carry but are indeed turned. And their prices are fine for the high quality product they produce.
The best woodthreading taps and screw blocks were made in Germany and had a ratchet screwbox handle setup. Woodcraft Supply carried them before they went national and minimized their flagship Woburn MA store. And they had sizes up to 3 inches which are not available with the current ones made in China. Alas, not everything new is better!
After the previous post, I searched for wood threading tools. Came up with this:
http://www.fine-tools.com/gewind.htm#zield12This is apparently a European (German?) site. The prices are in euros which made them out of sight for me. Checking the exchange rate, you would have to divide the prices by approx. 5/8 to get the price in USD. I doubt that Woodcraft would sell many at these prices.
Great find! I searched for those for a number of years but they were never out on the net - must be a fairly new posting.
Woddcraft Supply wouldn't move many today because they are not "your father's Woodcraft." They are a high volume franchiser/merchandiser - many of their products are fine but when they were in Woburn, they carried a much higher end product, as did Frog Tool out of Chicago. They are even more pricey now because of the dollar.
Another tool they carried was the Ulmia cast steel miter box - not cheap but a wonderful bench miter machine. They are still made and one or two retailers in the US carry them.
Again, thanks for the find.
Edited 7/24/2008 3:17 pm ET by ETG
Decided to look at the Jorgensen site to see if there was any additional info. Lo and behold! Handscrews (among other things)are on special for 25% off. Makes the prices almost attractive. I'm still going to make some myself but may order a couple of sizes to have a "touchy-feely" pattern.Thanks to all who offered suggestions. I may never get to making things that others do since I seem to always be finding jigs/fixtures and other shop equipment that I need to build. I guess as long as I stay busy, I'm happy.
John
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