Wood Bolts And Nuts

This is a jig for making small wooden threaded rods & bolts. The objective was to see if it’s possible to make homemade common smaller sized bolts, nuts, washers out of wood with the hope to reduce need for store bought steel parts. And also to open the door to using wood parts cosmetic reasons, how cool would that be to see wood color and grain on bolts and nuts?
I couldn’t get standard steel threading die’s to work with wood.
Lots of methods were tried, for example I tried steaming and lubing the wood, different diameter dowels, and different forces applied to the die. But in all cases the die would not form threads at all.
So then I experimented with using a band saw & scroll saw but the threads had too much breakout and the blades used were too wide for ¼” threads. Using files wouldn’t cause the breakout issue and would be thin enough for ¼” threads but that method will be too time consuming.
This lead me to use a dremil tool that’s rigidly mounted to the jig and has a thin cutting disk installed for ¼” wood bolts. Thicker cutting disks would be used for larger bolts, or could use multiple thin disks.
This is ¼” oak dowel for wood bolt and there is a ¼” steel hex bolt with nut knob that is used to move the wood dowel into the dremil cutting disk in the right threading direction and at the correct pitch of 20 threads per inch in this case. For large wood bolt like 3/8”, a steel 3/8” bolt would be used.
The ¼” steel bolt is connected to the wood dowel with this wood coupler part. The steel bolt threads into the coupler and is secured with a hex nut. And the wood dowel is secured with this set screw.
The dremel tool had to be angled downward to accommodate long wood bolts.
The bevel cut in the plywood base was made using an acute angle jig which is another video on my channel.
There’s a cutout in the dremil clamp for the wood dowel as well.
The jig pivots up and down to control the depth of thread cutting and to allow room to replace the dremil cutting disk.
Precise thread cut depth is adjusted with this 1/4” hex bolt. Tightening the bolt decreases thread cut, loosening increases thread cut.
Pivoting the jig also allows part of the bolt to have no threads just like with steel bolts.
Now there’s threads on both ends and non-threaded area in the middle.
What you end with is a actually threaded rod, to make it a bolt, a wood nut is glued on one end .
The threaded rod or bolt can be screwed into other things such as a threaded hole in another work piece.
And also the wood bolts and nuts are interoperable with steel bolts and nuts. The threaded nuts were made from a length oak wood cut to the hex shape using a table saw set to 30 degree outside angle bevel cuts.
In the case of ¼” hex nuts the dimensions are approximately 7/16” this way and ½” this way. Just like with ¼”steel bolts and nuts, a standard 7/16” wrench or socket is used. A section of the nut work piece is cut out using the cross cut sled on table saw or band saw. Then a hole is drilled in the center of the nut. The diameter of this hole can be found on the web for machine bolts or by measuring inside diameter of the thread tap tool.
The last step is to thread the nut using a standard steel thread tap or chasing tool which surprisingly does a good job of threading the nut. Other size nuts could be made with the same process, larger sizes will be easier to cut out and tap. Also different length nuts can be made with the same process, for example to make coupler nuts.
Making wood washers is the easy part, it’s just a dowel cross cut to width desired, with hole drilled in the center. Again diameter and thickness of the washer can be customized and other things can be done like gluing washers to nuts & bolts.
The jig tilt assembly can be changed out for any other bolt sizes.
I started with ¼” bolt size because this is the size I most often use and I knew it would be more difficult compared to making larger bolts & nuts. All other parts on the jig would be reused for larger bolts.
From what I can tell the ¼” bolts and nuts are acceptably strong when considering they are made of wood. But I didn’t do testing to failure to see just how strong they are. I'd like to do those tests on a future video.


Type in my user name "Dumas5000" in the search field then look for "Wood Bolts And Nuts" to find the CAD model. Sketchup is a free CAD tool.

If any questions or improvements for this project please feel free to comment. And if you liked the video, make sure to like & subscribe to my channel for more.

[serseri]

I love the design. Thank you for sharing, all the best.

[makenchips]

Have you cut a bolt head through its centerline axiaully and looked at the thread engagement? Thread shape to thread shape? I would like to see one polished with 10x mag.
Std bolts and nuts are set at 75% engagement either class1A or 2A. I would think a class1A for wood cause of wood swelling or srinking ( all dependent on which axis the nut or the shaft is cut from and the grain of the wood) a lot more to consider than a plane steel nut and bolt!
Have you tried soaking your stock with boiled linseed oil or white mineral oil (for a few days to week - wood species dependent)?
You can but replacement v cutters and make your own tapping block or even use a v groove carvers chisle block mounted to carve (cut) the thread as you rotate the rod back (pulling)
Interesting fixture set up!

[gsgidney]

Did you try soaking the dowel in oil, as is recommended?

[jbailey]

Really want to build this but after creating an account, downloading pic etc, much of the red printing is on top of itself and can’t be read. Doesn’t appear that all the measurements are there to do the whole thing correctly. I am obviously missing something. Help!

[serseri]

While doing a bolt, fibers breaks outside, but threading nut pushes fibers and cut instead of breaking them, my opinion for the question at the end.

[ifiwooddesigns]

Great video and explanation on small screws. I’m fascinated by being able to create them out of larger sizes for vises and other things. I’d assume you could use a router with a 60 or 90 degree bit and place router on outside. Then tweak the metal screw to larger diameter also. That would be an amazing follow-up.

[slarty]

This is pure genius, well done I love it. Where might I find the Sketchup model for it?

[nickmorana]

Watching the operation, I supposed that if the dowel had a hole through it lengthwise and the thread cutter was deeper so as to cut inside the hole, you could make lock washers. They might not be durable or useful but it seems like it would be an interesting experiment.

[True_Lou]

There is a dimensioned 3D Sketchup CAD model for this threat cutting project if interested in making this. If any questions or improvements for this project please feel free to comment. And if you liked the video, make sure to like & subscribe to my channel for more.

[gerardwebster]

I'm getting into the wood threading myself for some projects, although I am using taps and dies made for wood that were conceived by the Beall Tool Company. The threading is different than those for metal taps and dies. I'm also going to use taps from the Wood Whisperer that were designed to cut threads in wood with the same threading as those for metal. They have a deeper flute cut that will allow a bolt or screw to bite better and not be sloppy in the hole. Unfortunately he probably won't make the dies to thread the dowels. I'm going to try to thread those dowels with a metal tap after hardening the wood by stabilizing it. I'll see if it works. Also, going to try to make bolt heads showing face grain. If the metal tap idea fails, I'll guess make your jig. Thanks for the idea!

[almac]

try using a split die in a split die holder. Start by using with the split open, then tighten the die and do a second pass, repeat until the die is closed. The dowel also has to be the correct diameter for the thread. Its the reverse of using taper, 2nd cut and plug taps when threading a hole.

[gsgidney]

If I wanted to make a 2" wooden screw, 1. Do you use the same size master (not sure if you can find a 2" diameter master screw) or can you use an all thread.

2. Also- how can you make a nut for something that big?

[pcfred]

You could get a 60 degree V groove bit and just cut the threads with your rotary tool perpendicular to the round dowel stock.

[markhampton]

Could a modified steel bolt replace the tap?

[aldavis]

Awesome I would the plans for this project

[dreamkissu]

the reason why it wont work making threads on the dowel is because with the dowel you are trying to cut wood leaving thin circles of wood in the dowel so they break trying to do that but the other way around with the nut you are only taking tiny bits of wood and leaving large amount of wood on the nut....only taking thin slices from a large circumference nut and space thats grabbing it all fully still the apposite of each other....nice work on that machine device.

[sdavidleigh]

dumas, I am really interested in making really big nuts and bolts. Do you think this jig can work on a two inch bolt? dave.

[rudymartin]

Great vid but please loose the music it's not needed.regards Rudy.

[tkarlmann]

I cannot get the newest web-based Sketchup to run; so I DL'd the 2015 version. That version will not load your file. Can you save the file in either an older version of Sketchup OR save it as DFX or DWG? Thanks. Failing that, what are the dimensions? I just ran out and got a Dremel tool and some cutting wheels, and I'm ready to go. I have a CAD program (Turbocad), but I would need to start from square one.

OK, I've got the dimensions of the Base, and figured out that you are using 2 layers of 3/4" ply for it. The dimensions of the other parts are not clear from the Last Frame. Many of the dimensions are not readable from the Last Frame of your video; and there is no height for the Dremel tool holder part.