The router lathe spins the screw blank between centers while a router slowly traverses from right to left, truing the blank. I made this around 1996 for a PBI class at Penland. It wasn’t motorized then so the students had to crank it by hand. The blank is driven at the headstock by a nailContinue reading “Truing a blank with the Router Lathe”
Category Archives: Wooden Book Presses
A 5 TPI Bottoming Tap
This is a way of tapping blind holes in order to fit legs to the Multiple Height Press that is described on the website. The 5 TPI bottoming tap installed in the tapping frame. The wooden part is the frame. The metal parts are (top to bottom): the TAP (bronze), the SHAFT COUPLING which connectsContinue reading “A 5 TPI Bottoming Tap”
Free Play of Wooden Screws
This post is in response to Gary’s comment on the November 12 post “Using the Tap”. Yes, an amount of “Free Play” or “Looseness” is important when making wooden screws. One advantage of the thread making method covered in these posts is that the fit of the screw to the threaded hole is adjustable. AContinue reading “Free Play of Wooden Screws”
Using the Tap
Tapping a 1″ diameter hole to create a thread for a 1-1/4″ 3TPI wooden screw. Two press jaws with holes bored with a Forstner bit. The one on the left has been chamfered with the router. They are ready to be tapped. Changing the tap and master screw in the tap frame. The master screwContinue reading “Using the Tap”
Making Screw Blanks
The method that I use to make threaded screws requires a precisely made blank. First the blanks are made square; in this case 1-3/4″ x 1-3/4″. Then the corners are sawn off to make them octagonal. After being sawn to length the blanks are rough turned on the wood lathe. The far end of theContinue reading “Making Screw Blanks”
Master Screws
This method of cutting wooden threads depends on master screws. These are used to guide the blanks through the die and establish the pitch of the thread being cut. Above are my three 1″ diameter master screws and two of the brass nuts that are essential for their use. The bottom screw is a ‘doubleContinue reading “Master Screws”
The Die Cutter
In my wooden screw making efforts a “Eureka!” moment was the realization that the thread cutting tool can be made of two rectangular blanks clamped together to form a “vee” cutter. The material is High Speed Steel M2 lathe cutter blanks. The two part cutter is easier to make and easier to sharpen. Here youContinue reading “The Die Cutter”
Threading Die
The die that cuts the thread on wooden screws is the most complex part of the threading apparatus. Here the two main parts of the die are separated to show the ‘innards’. The main body of the die (in the back) fastens to the threading frame and serves two functions; it provides a channel toContinue reading “Threading Die”
Threading a Wooden Screw
I am cutting a thread on a wooden blank that will become a finishing press screw. This is my smallest screw; 5 threads per inch.
Soap Flake Finish for Finishing Press?
The photo doesn’t show very much but this wood finish has intrigued me since I first read about it in Fine Woodworking a few years ago. It seems that in Scandinavian countries it is not uncommon to finish wood with soap flakes! Usually this is done for light colored woods like Beech. I followed theContinue reading “Soap Flake Finish for Finishing Press?”
