Thread: Jorgenson type wooden hand screws

As usual, Fuzzie, it depends what you want them for. I use handscrews constantly, & couldn't live without them: 5.jpg V13.jpg

These are the size I tend to use most, they have jaws about 250mm long, by about 50-60mm wide and open to about 200mm or slightly more. Of course, these are wooden screws and cost me virtually nothing but time to make, which is only partly why I have a few of them: Clamp rack1.jpg

The metal-screwed variety do the same job, and these are pretty simple tools, after all, so the cheapies should work fine. You can quite easily make your own, using all-thread. I made my first lot that way, and they are fine, but a little slower to spin open or close up because they don't have the left/right threaded screws of the commercial sets. The wooden screws are coarse-pitched & spin up or down just as fast or faster than the metal ones.

I also make smaller clamps with 1/2" screws & jaws about 25-30mm wide, which open to about 100mm - handy for smaller jobs but a bit more delicate and easy to break if you are rough with them: Clamps various sizes.jpg

I have about 8 whoppers, with jaws 300mm long & 1" screws that can open to 300mm, which are handy on occasion, but these don't see nearly as much use as the smaller ones - if I need longer clamping ability, it's usually easier to go for a bar clamp.

The big advantage of wooden-jawed clamps is you usually don't need caul blocks, which saves much fiddling & bad language. The metal screwed variety can be tightened off-parallel, unlike the wooden ones. If you try to tighten them more than a few degrees off parallel, there's a high risk of snapping the lower (tension) screw. However, I've never found this to be a problem for me - about 99% of the time, you want them to tighten as close to parallel as possible, anyway, to distribute the pressure over as wide an area as you can achieve. I've got a few metal screwed clamps that can be tightened off-parallel, but on the few occasions I've tried to use them that way, the stupid things simply slid off as they were tightened. The solution was to use my wooden clamps with an angled caul block.....

So that's my take - I love wooden-jawed clamps!

Cheers,

Thanks Ian, I've got a few lengths of M10 tie down rod that I previously used in place of some really long cramps. I had idly thought about making some of these hand screws from that and found it could be done by installing both nuts on one side, but here I am in the US and I was poking around in Harbor Freight, which just happened to be around the corner from where I am currently staying, but couldn't find much even a cheap wallet like me wanted to buy there, but I saw the hand screws and thought for the money it may be worth the punt.

Space is an issue more than weight in my luggage and these are fairly bulky. I'm thinking I might buy a couple and ditch the wood and just keep the hardware to make some when I get home. I don't have any wood screw making gear so making a complete set from scratch is out of the question for the moment. Perhaps I should investigate where I might get a wood screw making set instead while I am here?

I've got an old article somewhere about making your own threading set by using, I think, a 1 1/4" Whitworth tap for the holes and making the thread cutter to match with basically a sharpened screw sticking out into a block with a hole in it. Finding the tap sounded like a challenge though.

Cheers, Franklin

Franklin I am sure you can buy just the metal hardware and make your own clamps. I've got a couple that I made but not a clue as to where I got the hardware. Probably at one of the wood shows or maybe McJing.

Ian, that is an amazing collection you have made. I need to get out my thread box and get to work.

Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Franklin I am sure you can buy just the metal hardware and make your own clamps. I've got a couple that I made but not a clue as to where I got the hardware. Probably at one of the wood shows or maybe McJing.

Just had a squizz at McJing catalogue. They have the clamps, but no mention of hardware to make your own. The 8" sets list at $19 each and the 10" at $24 - how does that compare with the US prices, when you factor in the bonsai-d $Au?

Making your own clamps doesn't need any fancy gear. For simple, parallel-closing clamps, threaded rod is cheap, and you can epoxy a couple of nuts into the clamp jaw, so you don't even need a tap. Or, tap a 'nut' directly into the wood - works fine with most woods. A 3/8 or 1/2" tap (the most appropriate size for the threaded rods for clamps the size I'm talking about) cost as little as a few $$s each.

Being too much of a smart-a*se, the first lot of handscrews I made were overly elaborate. I considered threading my own rod, but the cost of a left-hand die at the time made me break into a cold sweat! So I abandoned that idea and went with single-direction thread. But I thought I needed those swivelling barrel nuts, so spent a good deal of time making some. It ain't easy drilling perfectly centred holes in 5/8 rod with very primitive gear, so at least half didn't pass even my (very lenient) QC! Anyway, I did end up with several pairs of clamps which all worked well, 'cept for my disappointment when I actually tried to use the damn things off-parallel. As I said, they open & close half as quickly as the reverse-threaded type, but it's a very minor thing as you can open & close them pretty smartly by the 'spin & crank' method. The difference would be just a few seconds, fully open to fully closed. I've lived happily enough with that for 30 plus years.

If you do decide to go down the wooden handscrew path, it's a fun thing to do - I got very addicted to wood threading for a while, there. The 3/4" size is best for what I reckon is the most useful size of handscrew in day to day woodworking (other mileages will vary!). As I've said lots of times, we have a limited number of woods that thread easiy with the traditional 'threadbox' threader, but it's easy to make a threading jig for your router, and with a carbide veining bit, you can thread just about any wood known. Taps for wood, on their own are unfortunately hard to come by, but that's actually all you need to get started (plus a 60 degree 'veining' bit - $25 for a solid carbide version from LV). Metal taps will work ok in wood (metal-threading dies usually won't), but in general, even coarser metal threads are really too fine in any given diameter to suit wood, imo, until you get up to the larger sizes. For 1 1/2" Whitworth, the pitch is 6tpi (4 would be heaps better) while 2" is 4.5 tpi, which you could live with. For these sizes, be prepared to re-mortgage the house. Taps for metal are not the way to go, though, imo, because apart from the wrong pitch, they are quite short - wood needs plenty of pilot shaft, to keep it running straight in the hole. I've got a 1 1/2" metal style tap & it's not good to use at all...

Anyways, have fun snuffling around, I'm sure you'll find something to empty your wallet over......
Cheers,

Originally Posted by Heavansabove

Ian, that is an amazing collection you have made. I need to get out my thread box and get to work.

Peter, you are looking at the results of 30-something years of mucking about with wood-threading, there, though most of the clamps on the rack were made about 25 years ago, when I got to the point of being able to turn out a screw blank & set up the router jig consistently. The latter can be a very fiddly affair and takes a bit of trial & error (lots of error!) to get right. I fluked it almost perfectly on my first try, & the next time I tried to set it up, I almost gave up in frustration - if I hadn't achieved it so easily the first time, I would've said it couldn't be done. [Edit: If you drop a bit lot of money on the Beall wood threader, you do get a jig that is easier to set up.] So once I start making a few clamps I tend to make them in batches of at least 1/2 dozen at a time. I haven't done any for quite a while, and may need to do some, soon. I tend to give away/trade clamps recklessly, so what with the occasional breakage, there's been a bit of attrition since the pic was taken.

Cheers,

Ian

I thought you might have a few thougts and tips to pass on in this thread.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Ian

I thought you might have a few thougts and tips to pass on in this thread.

Regards
Paul

'Tis a subject dear to my heart, Paul. As you know, there is a bit of wood-threading gear & a few wooden-threaded things around my shed.......

Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Franklin I am sure you can buy just the metal hardware and make your own clamps. I've got a couple that I made but not a clue as to where I got the hardware. Probably at one of the wood shows or maybe McJing.

Lee Valley have the metal Dubuque kits here and complete clamps here. I got a few of the kits a couple of years ago with another order to save a bit on shipping the timber jaws, but like a lot of things I've still got to put them together. Probably should have got the complete ones, at least I would be using them now .

I passed on the opportunity this time. I would have had to ditch the jaws to fit in my luggage anyway and if I'm going to have to remake them I might as well do the whole job.

I unfortunately missed the screw box that recently came and went in the marketplace while I was sleeping.

I'm now in Seattle and although a day trip to BC would be a nice excuse to visit a Lee Valley store I don't think it will fit into the running schedule. In any case the LV kits (although probably superior quality) are still twice the price of the HF cheapies.