Making a Tap and Nut
In the woodworking community there seems to be an explosion of obsessed woodworkers building workbenches, yes I fall into that category of being a obsessed woodworker too, but I have no bench. Recently I’ve been planning on making a workbench, but it costs a lot. I figured that I might not be the only one with a thin pocket book, so I thought I would share some cost saving techniques when building your own bench. One way to save money is by making your own screws for a vise on your work bench. In this tutorial I show how to make a tap, which will be used to make a nut. The nut will be used in my next tutorial to show how to cut the threads for the wooden screws.
Material list
- One 2″ hard wood dowel 18″ to 24″ long.
- Two 8/4 hard wood blocks 4″ by 12″
- Two pieces of 4/4 2″ by 6″
- One piece of 1/8″ or 1/4″ tool steel 1/2″ wide by 2″ long.
- One piece of sheet metal the same thickness as the kerf your handsaw makes 1 1/2″ wide by 12″ long.
- Glue.
- Clear tape.
- Graft paper.
- Optional 8/4 hard wood 3″by 3″
- Optional 3″ circle of sheet metal at kerf thickness.
- Optional Four wood screws 1 1/2″ long.
Tools needed
- A wood shop
- Pencil.
- Ruler.
- Square.
- Couple claps..
- 2″ forstner bit.
- 1/8″ drill bit.
- 1/8″ chisel.
- Hand saw.
- Tin snips.
- Metal file.
- Drill, preferably drill press.
- Band saw.
- Table saw.
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I then wrap a strip of graft paper around the dowel to measure the circumference. |
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I transferred the measurement on to a full length of graft paper. |
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The lines on the graft should line up with each other to make a spiral. Before cutting the spiral I grab One of the birch blocks. |
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I find the center mark on the top that I marked earlier. I then take the piece of graft paper that is marked with the same angle as on the tap. |
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Mark the center diagonal line of the graft paper on to the left and right side of the block. |
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Center your paper with the center mark that is on the top of the block. |
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I connect the two marks, drawing a line across the top. |
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On the front face measure up one quarter the thickness of your dowel (for a two inch dowel measure up a half an inch.) Then transfer the mark to both ends of the block. |
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Then extend the marks from the front and top of the block, across and down the sides of the block. This shows where to cut and how deep to cut, for installing the strip of metal. |
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After all the layout marks have been made on the one block. I drill a 2″ hole through the center of both blocks. |
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I put the dowel through the holes in both blocks, to secure the dowel while cutting the spiral. I only cut a half inch deep. |
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This is after the iron is cut to size, shaped and tempered. I cut a mortise in the dowel to house the iron. This was easily done with an 1/8in drill and a 1/8in chisel. |
The iron is 1/2″ wide and 2″ long. I cut it from an old plane iron I had laying around the shop. I heated the iron up with a small torch until it was red hot then slowly let it cool to make it more ductile. I couldn’t shape it until after it was annealed. I filed a 45 degree angle on both corners, so the point is a 90 degree angle. I squared the edges of the iron to its face on a couple sharpening stones. I turned the torch back on and slowly started to heat the iron. The iron starts to change colors the hotter it gets. The colors are easy to see on the polished surface of the iron. Its important to make sure not to heat just the very tip. I kept the heat towards the back of the iron and slowly watch as the colors crept up to the tip. The iron changed from a yellow to a brownish yellow color, to purple then blue. The blue is a little to hot, so as soon as you see the purple reach the tip dunk it in a cold cup of water (this will make the iron hard again and keep its edges sharp longer.)
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I ended up removing some of the material between the two pencil marks, with a small gouge, to allow a place for shavings to collect. |
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The iron is kept in with a hard maple wedge that I cut flush with the surface of the tap. |
The next few steps show an alternative way to installing the metal piece that helps pull the tap through the jig. The above process maybe a little easier and works just fine. I cut a piece of 8/4 into a 3″ circle, with a jig on the band saw to make it perfectly round. I do the same steps as above, laying out on graft paper two teeth per inch for a three inch circle. I tape the paper on the circle and cut the spiral with a hand saw just a hair deeper than an inch, making sure not to cut all the way to the end of the spiral. I leave wood on both ends, this will keep the spiral together when drilling the 2″ hole through the center. I then mark the center of the circle and drill a two inch hole. I saw down one side of the circle and the spiral separates into two halves. I lined up the hole on one half with the hole in the birch block and glue it together. I made a 3″ metal circle and cut a 1 1/2″ hole in the center of it. I then cut through one side of the circle. Now I sandwich the metal between the two spiral halves, drill four holes through the sandwich and screw it into place. This will give me a 1/4″ metal spiral that the tap can twist into.
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I rounded the sharp corners of the metal to keep it from snagging the inside walls of the spiral. |
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This way gives one complete turn with a metal thread. Using this type of thread allows less wear and tear on the tap, because it gives equal pressure around the taps spiral. |
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I added blocks to the front to give a space for the cutter go into when exiting the nut . |
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Here I clamp the other birch block onto the jig and insert the tap. |
I slowly raise the cutter after every other pass, if I raised it to fast I r could risk ruining the threads or possibly breaking the tap. |
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I take my time twisting the tap through. slow and steady seems to make the best results. |
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Do not worry if there is a little tear out in the end grain of the nut. To help with tear out I remove the tap before the last couple passes and stabilized the end grain with some C.A. glue. |
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Finished product, This will become the jig for making the threads for the screws. |
Marking Gauges
Marking gauges and cutting gauges are definitely an essential tool in my shop and it seems that I am always in need of more. When working on projects that use a mix of material at different thickness, or just a project with a lot of different measurements, I like having the option of setting a gauge and leaving it that way through the entire project. When I use the same gauge for different measurements and then try to set it back to its previous measurement I’m always off by just a hair and end up having discrepancy in the project. So its always nice to have a few extra marking gauges laying around.
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I used a 2.5degree angle on the wedge that holds the cutter in place. |
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I like to use about a 5degree angle on the wedge that holds the marking position. |
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Same 5 degree angle for the wedge. |
These are just two of the most recent gauges I’ve made, they are quite simple and the best part they cost nothing to make. They are made from scrap wood laying around the shop that were destine for the fireplace. I love making my own tools especially ones I use every day.
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Made from an apple tree cut from our back yard. |
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Notice the grind of the pin its ground flat on one side and rounded on the other |