wood threading

[paul wiser]

do any of you do any woodthreading? have a thread box. have used it for several years and have not had good results. lots of chipping out of threads. is this caused by lack of lubrication, or wood variety. i use maple and cherry. any info appreciated. thanks

[Dick Strauss]

Paul,
I hope something in here triggers an Ah-ha moment for you...

1) Hard maple is okay for threading....cherry is a little too soft IMO. Hard fine grained woods work best as long as the wood isn't brittle.
2) Try using some wax or wax/turpentine combo on the cutters to lubricate the threads.
3) Threads hold best when you drill/thread into side-grain rather than end-grain.
4) Some folks apply thin CA glue or wood hardener to the wood after drilling but before threading to get stronger threads.

[Jason Hallowell]

I've done quite a bit of wood threading, and found that tap and die type set-ups produce marginal results at best. They tend to compress and tear the wood fibers rather than cut them. If you are going to thread this way, the only thing I'd add to Dick's list is to make sure the tools are sharp.

If you want strong clean threads in wood, the best method IMO is using live tooling. Most commonly this would require using a small router and a metal lathe.

[Keith Outten]

Try the Beale Wood Threader. It is a special jig that cuts male threads using a small router and does an excellent job. I have the very first model they made and still use it today. Its rare to have chip out in most any type of wood provided you adjust your feed rate. I expect the newer model is probably better then the one I own. Recently I have been making Corian bolts with mine and I have made more black walnut bolts than you can imagine.
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[Ben Davis]

Paul,
Post your question over in the Neader section and you'll find a plethora of good information. Some of us don't get over here to the power section too much!