Wooden Bolt

I like that. It’s really cool!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

That is very, very cool. I’ve wanted to try threading for a long time. Did you have to get special equipment, or were you able to work with what you had in your shop?

-- "No Board Left Behind"

Nice.

What is the diameter of the threaded part of the bolt?

-- johnjoiner

That is really nice. It never ceases to amaze me what can come from the creative minds that we have here.

Thanks for the post.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I love wooden “hardware”. I make wooden hinges for a lot of my boxes now. Great job. I would like to see how you did it.

-- http://dustynewt.webs.com/

Thanks for the comments. I’ll try to answer all of the questions at once: The diameter of the bolt is 1 1/4”.

For the threading on the bolt and the nut, I used a wood tap and die set from woodcraft (http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=792). For those of you that have used a metal tap and die set, this is essentially the same process. Some adjustment is required to get the threads just the right size.

For the threaded rod, you have to clamp the piece tightly so that it does not move. I started with a good straight birch dowel, although you could turn your own out of a wood of your choice. Some woods are going to be better for this than others. I built a quick jig to hold this with a friction fit in my vise. After that, you need to lubricate the wood extremely well and keep it lubricated. I used mineral oil for this. You start the die on the rod and continue turning it until you have threaded as much of the rod as you need, keeping the wood lubricated as you go.

For the nut, the first step is to drill the appropriate sized hole (your tap will include these instructions) in the boarc that will become the nut. I used a piece of 1” thick walnut After that, you lubricate the nut and thread the hole using the tap. Then cut the nut from the blank.

For the washers, I used a 1/4” piece of maple. I first cut out the hole in the center using a Forstner bit at the drill press. Without moving the piece of maple, I then switched the bit to a larger diameter hole saw and cut out the washer.

I am considering using this tap and die set to construct wooden vises for a new workbench in my shop, but I haven’t had time to work out the details on this yet.

-- Daniel, Southern Indiana -- "Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." -- http://blackdogwoodshop.etsy.com

This would serve as a good stress reliever to have sitting on your desk. Nice work. Did you stabilize the threads with anything?

-- Maplewood, MN

I gave the threads a good coat of mineral oil.

-- Daniel, Southern Indiana -- "Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." -- http://blackdogwoodshop.etsy.com