This is mostly a shameless gloat, but there is an actual threaded dowel question too

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I want to make my own threaded wooden dowels for making clamps and/or a leg vise, and was on the Dieter Schmid site looking at theirs. WOW...those things are expensive!!! I went to eBay just to see what was there, hoping maybe someone would be selling a $1000 2" threading tool for $20 or something crazy like that. Well, that was not the case, but lo and behold, I found three of the kind of threading tools that Highland Woodworking sells for the price of what one normally sells for- all boxed like new!

318998

So, shameless gloat aside, I'm wondering will the 1" work for making some screw clamps? Small moxon vise? I am thinking that 1" would be too small unless I used lignum vitae, and I figure that would be too hard to thread with these. Any thoughts? Probably I'll make some toys for petra with these. It was one of those "too good to pass up" deals for which I will probably never really get my money's worth, but hey- now I will have them when I need them. :-)

[Maurice Ungaro]

Malcolm, they should do fine for screw clamps. Moxon? Maybe a small one.

[Keith Outten]

Malcolm,

I own the Beal wood threader, purchased it twenty years ago i guess. It uses a router to cut the male threads so any wood can be used.
You will be surprised how sturdy your wooden threads will be and how many things you can use them for. Beal has a threaded projects book that is worth a look. You can indeed make wooden clamps and small vises along with lots of very nice bolts you can give as gifts. I used to have a long waiting list of people who wanted the one inch walnut bolts that I was making from a tree that came from Colonial Williamsburg that was planted about 1776. I had numorus offers to purchase the bolts from the Engineers at NASA Langley but I never sold one. The walnut was stained with walnut stain and then a finish applied then buffed with wax. They were very cool. I started making some bolts and nuts from Dupont Corian awhile back but I haven't finished them yet. Corian bolts could be used in exterior service.

Beal sells dwells that are round that fit in their jig perfectly.