Best Threading Wood

Boxwood

Rick Allen

>Boxwood is the best threading wood. But there are a lot of other good woods for threading. There are also things like corian which threads nicely. And you can "fortify" open grain woods like oak with thin CA glue or epoxy so that those woods can be threaded with good results.

So where is the article on making the jig along with pictures of the jig making process and the end result of the threaded boxes???

Re: Boxwood

Paul Coppinger

>"All I lack is finishin up". This was the standard answer from my machinist regardless of how long he had been working on the item. I do plan to post something in the future.

PAC

Re: Best Threading Wood

John K Jordan

>Paul,

Have you seen Raffan's book, "Turning Boxes"? In the wood selection chapter he mentions his favorites are the "dense-grained hardwoods of the Acacia and Dalbergia (Rosewood) families and fruit woods" and mentions some softwoods like yew, huon pine and radiata pine are good. I haven't heard of some of these - maybe they are Austrailian woods.

The pictures in the chapter on threaded boxes show pictures of boxes made with cocobolo, kingwood, african blackwood, bocote, eucalyptus burl, and gidgee.

He recommends chamfering the wood to get a clean start on the threads and using thin CA glue on soft woods to harden the flange before cutting.

I would be nice to see your jig and hear about your experiences. How many TPI can you cut? I bought Willard Baxter's jig from Best Wood Tools but have not yet used it. Baxter's jig looks a lot like Bonnie Klein's jig but without the crank. Did you add a crank handle or just a knob? Raffan recommends cutting the first thread in one pass which seems would be easier with a crank.

Also, I've been wondering - Raffan mentions that cutting threads on the outside tends to unscrew the chuck (using Klein's jig). Can you simply run the cutter in reverse if your lathe reverses? Have you had that problem?

JKJ in East TN

Re: Best Threading Wood

Ed in No.VA

>I chase by hand. Raffan's recomendations are all Aussie woods. Local stuff I use are Osage Orange, Holly, dog wood, pear and apple.

Re: Best Threading Wood

Paul Coppinger

>John,

I do have Richard's book but haven't looked at it; I will and thanks for the direction. My jig is my version of the Klein, Baxter jig but I spent about $125. It uses a 3/4-10 all-thread that attaches to the chuck/live-center adapter. Two stopnuts on the all-thread are held by a x-y vise mounted on a riser that clamps to my rails. I utilized a Beall collet chuck to hold the 60 degree, 2 sided bevel cutter on the spindle thread. The all-thread determines the pitch. To change pitch, I will go to another all-thread but will have to make an adapter to get back to 3/4-10 threads. I had some run-out on the threads which were not on the all-threads as I expected but on the chuck/live-center adapter. it is not intended for turning but for aligning a chuck on the live-center. The run-out was reduced by an 8 mil shim between the chuck and adapter. I made a mesquite knob that is attached to the all-thread for turning the chuck.

I have only tried mesquite and cedar to date and will not try cedar again 8^). I have had some breakage of the thread peaks and plan to try an acme-type cut that is flat on the top rather than pointed.

PAC

Rock maple,

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>persimmon, osage orange, ebony, cocobolo,

I've seen threaded boxes made out of those woods.

Jorge

Re: Best Threading Wood

Paul Coppinger

>John,

I failed to respond to yout question about outside threads wanting to turn the jig backwards. On mine, the all-thread is tight because of the stopnuts and it has not tried to move. I have found that the shoulder at the back of the male thread needs to be about 1/8" past the end of the threads so the cutter doesn't contact, which tends to spin the wood.

Also, I have discovered that when I start with the female threads, I cut more threads all the way to the relief cut so I have full threads all the way. On the male, I cut a 1/8" relief cut at the end but only make about one thread all the way. That keeps the lid from having to turn lots of turns to seat. To adjust the grain orientation, you just remove some of the male shoulder past the relief cut. Continue removing shoulder until your grain is aligned. You may want to even go slightly past the alignment point if the threads are tight so you can easily stop at the alignment point. Finally, I am currently cutting the male tendon about 0.070" larger than the peak-to-peak distance on the female threads (this is 2x the thread depth).

Sorry for the brain dump,

PAC

Re: Best Threading Wood

John K Jordan

>Good information!

The issue about the cutter turning the wood was actually about unscrewing the chuck holding the work, not turning the drive threads in the jig. Raffan indicates he holds the chuck with one hand while advancing the thread with the other to keep it secure. I am curious as to how much rotational force is imparted to the wood.

My threading jig is still in the box but this discussion makes me anxious to get it out and experiment. First, I have to deal with those pesky little details like project deadlines at work, spring planting, goat fence building, and house wiring!

JKJ in East TN

Re: Best Threading Wood

Paul Coppinger

>John,

My chuck is jammed tight against the chuck/love-center adapter and has never moved. When cutting threads, I have never felt any torque on the chuck indicating it might rotate. Although when the cutter hits the shoulder on my male cuts, it does tend to rotate (speed-up the rotation of) the wood. On my Powermatic, I guess I should try reversing the rotation. Hope this helps you get started.

PAC