Thread: Wooden Screws

What size(s) and what wood species are you after?

Originally Posted by CuriousOne

I am looking for somewhere to purchase WOODEN SCREWS (not wood screws) and thought someone here may be able to advise me.

P.S. Please PM me if you know where...thanks!

They are fairly easy to make, with just a few basic tools. Lathe or some jig to make dowels, a handsaw, router with a v groove bit, holesaw and some patience. There is a member here that has plenty of experience with screw making. I made afew recently after aquiring the concept. I did not use the nut method to thread the screws though.

Edit: It's Ianw

Hi Curiousone & Winboxes - yep I guess I've made one or two wooden screws over the years...

You can buy large wooden screws for vises & presses, just let Google be your friend. They come with a nut, so you don't need any further gear apart from a big drill bit.

If it's smaller sizes for things like clamps ('handscrews') you are after, you have a battle, because I don't know if they are available anywhere. There's probably a good reason for that, & that is the screws areen't much use without a tap to tap your jaws or whatever bits you need for the project you have in mind.

As winboxes says, they aren't hard to make once you put your mind to it. All you need is the tap, and with that you can make a jig for router threading and you are away. Once you start using wooden threads you tend to find more uses for them, so be warned, wood threading can be addictive....

Cheers,

I've found a tap - not really sure how it is to be used for woodwork ...

Attachment 198515

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

I've found a tap - not really sure how it is to be used for woodwork ...

Let me show you, Nick.

If you pull the guts out of it, you can cut a slot in the end with a hacksaw, then chuck it in a lathe or your drill press. Using a coarse file and a slow speed, taper it off a bit, & voila, you have a tap from your tap. (It won't be a lot of use in the water tap any more, though.....)

I didn't dream this up myself, I saw it in an old British mag many moons ago. I thought it was a bit of a hoot, so I gave it a go out of curiosity. The thread is about 11 tpi on the one I used, and about 5/8" in diameter. Being short, and having not much lead, it's not easy to keep straight, so you have to be careful when tapping with it. If you've never cut threads with a router jig before, you may find it very fustrating, as it's quite fiddly to set up a fine thread to cut accurately. For wood, something like 6 tpi as on the 3/4" screw shown beside the 11 tpi thread, is much more practical, and easier to work with (& the most useful size for handscrew clamps, I think).

Funnier than you thought, eh?

Cheers,

touché

You can buy screw making sets (tap and die - box) from Carba-tec and the like up to 1 1/2" I think. Obviously you need the dowel that size.
Or if you want to make your own then (tap and dies especially for larger sizes) have a look at these youtube videos from Carters Whittling
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C4p8aT7CDs&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]Tap And Screw Jig Tutorial - Part One - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdcIE67MzmU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]Tap and Screw Jig Tutorial - Part Two, Section 1 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADvKnzM3lII&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]Tap and Screw Jig Tutorial - Part Two, Section 2 - YouTube[/ame]