I made the mistake of trying to split some elm for firewood once.
Karl


"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...
bob wrote:

I want to make a wood screw for a vise(2in. dia). I have tried using
dried and green oak and 3 tpi. The threads for the nut cut very nicely
but the outside threads are a mess. Lots of chipping and tearing. Is it
the wood, the tool grind ,or me? I have also tried cherry and it was
worse than oak. My brother ground the tool for the inside threads and I
ground the tool for outside and am a relative clutz so I hope it is
just the grind. Anyone with experience doing this?
Thanks,
Bob

Perhaps do a search on wooden screws ("wood screw" makes me think of a
screw to go into wood) -- anything that's easy to split won't make good
threads, because you're asking them to hold along the grain, where the
wood is very weak. I think you're right in trying different woods, but
you haven't looked far enough afield to find the right one.

I'd try Elm. Elm was used for wheel hubs because it has a dense
interlocking grain -- apparently it was a bitch to work with because you
simply could not split out blanks but had to saw everything. Assuming the
grain is fine enough that should be just what you want for this part.

Obligatory disclaimer: I haven't actually done this; I've just watched a
lot of episodes of "the woodwright's shop" and read a couple of Roy
Underhill's books.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com


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