I am going to make a workbench and want to put a wooden vise on it, but I cannot locate a source for the wood taps and dies. I’ve looked through some books and they talk about using 2″ screws. I’ve also seen some that use 1 1/2″ screws. What size screw would you recommend and where do I find the taps and dies?
Jim
Replies
Search the archives for this. (Use the Advanced Search button, near the top of the left hand frame.) We've discussed these several times in the last nine months or so.
Highland Hardware has wood threaders up to 1 1/2" in size. The thread that holds weight or pressure in one direction is called a buttress thread. This is what is needed for a wood vise. It is different from an acme thread. I don't know if what type of threads the HH produce. You might ask a local machine shop if they can produce buttress threads. FWW Spring 1977 has an article on wood threads that is very interesting.
Thanks for the information on wood vice screws. Don't know if this is the right way to say thanks to all the responses I got. Hope so.
Jim
Jim,
Charles Hummel's book on the Dominy family of craftsmen on Long Island,NY (With Hammer in Hand) has a brief description of their shopmade wooden tap and die set. That and the photos are enough to get you started on making your own.
Good luck,
Ray
the last time this came up somebody made a great suggestion- IKEA sells a wooden (maple?) screw adjustable stool for about $40 or $50 and it has a pretty large diameter wooden screw mechanism of what appears to be a useable length of travel. buy a couple stools, cannibalize the screws and "nuts", then reattach the seats to the legs to make a pair of fixed height units.
somebody also recommended coating the screw threads with cyanoacrylate (super glue) as a finish to make a hard wearing/bearing surface.
m
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