Wooden hand screws

[jim gossage]

i tried to use my 12" wooden hand screws (PSI, i think from Penn State) for some precise work yesterday, and came to discover that they are not very well built. the jaws are not milled flush or square, and the screw inserts are not set in quite correctly, so the jaws don't meet flush. does anyone know of a source of hand screws that are perfectly square and flush?

[Ben Cadotte]

How about removing the rods and running the wood jaws through the jointer?
If the holes for the barrel nuts are drilled at an angle, use your drill press with a forstner bit the same size. Just drill it square down on the clamping surface side of the hole. Deppending on how bad they are off. You will just get an elongated hole. Will not affect their performance. Since they cost so much I would not just give up on them. Maybe 10 min of tinkering will bring them up to snuff.

I have some 8" Jorgensens which are good. And some cheap 4" HF ones that are also just fine.

[Lance Norris]

I have Jorgensens from the borg and I hate to say, Cheapos from Harbor Freight. Both are fine. I would recommend the HarborFreight ones, just make sure you look through the ones you buy and select good ones. HF stuff is hit and miss even within the same run of merchandise.

[Wilbur Pan]

Dubuque Clamp Works makes excellent wooden hand screws. Available through The Japan Woodworker (http://www.japanwoodworker.com/dept.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&dept_id=12810) or The Best Things (http://thebestthings.com/newtools/screwclamps.htm).

[jim gossage]

How about removing the rods and running the wood jaws through the jointer?

that's exactly what i did. they were incredibly off. i had to take 1/16" off one face and 3/32 off the other to get them milled square. several holes were drilled about 5 degrees off perpendicular. the hardest thing was getting the handles off, as they are riveted through the screws. took about an hour for the first clamp and 45 min for the second. now, they are perfect!

[Dave Lehnert]

Know what you are talking about. I drill pen blanks using a handscrews. The Jorgensens will drill straight. All the imports I have problems. For most other jobs the harbor freight and the like work well.