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Threading Jig Recommendations?

Mark Hepburn

Mark Hepburn

Artist & Chef
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
Messages
2,081
Likes
1,126
Location
Houma, Louisiana
Hi everyone. Anybody have a recommendation for a threading jig? I need one in fairly short order to make an urn for my boss' pet, who is not doing well. I'd like it to have a screw on cap but no way can I learn to do it by hand in the time I think I'll have.

I ordered a Chefware kits threading jig a while back and it hasn't shipped, just shows "processing". I can't get anyone on the phone and emails aren't answered. Not to disparage them but I'm thinking of canceling and ordering something else but can't seem to find anything.

Thanks!
 
The Baxter’s Thread Master at BestWoodTools.com is the Cadillac of threading jigs, but I just checked and their website seems to be somewhat broken (no picture). It’s suprising that Chefware isn’t responding. One option is to use PVC pipe joint threads. Hand chasing threads isn’t very difficult (they say). I have hand chasing tools, but haven’t been brave enough to actually use them yet.
 
The selection is surprisingly limited. I was in the process of making my own, but then I had to repair my pellet stove (for shop heat and I went and bought another lathe downstate and now everything is out of place in my shop. I have all the parts, I just need time to put something together and play around with it. I'm supposed to demo my DIY jig at our club meeting in July, so I need to get moving on it. :(:oops::eek:
 
Chris Lawrence said:
Niles bottle stoppers sells threaded bronze inserts if your in a pinch. Would probably be quicker then learning to use a threading jig.
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Thanks Chris. I’m thinking that’s the best short term fix. I didn’t know that these existed
 
Bill Boehme said:
The Baxter’s Thread Master at BestWoodTools.com is the Cadillac of threading jigs, but I just checked and their website seems to be somewhat broken (no picture). It’s suprising that Chefware isn’t responding. One option is to use PVC pipe joint threads. Hand chasing threads isn’t very difficult (they say). I have hand chasing tools, but haven’t been brave enough to actually use them yet.
Click to expand...
I’m surprised too. I’ve ordered before from them with no issues. Now that I’ve got an insert ordered I’m going to give it another week for the chef ware. If nothing happens then I’m gonna go with the Caddy.
 
Mark Hepburn said:
I’m surprised too. I’ve ordered before from them with no issues. Now that I’ve got an insert ordered I’m going to give it another week for the chef ware. If nothing happens then I’m gonna go with the Caddy.
Click to expand...

I hope that Best Wood Tools hasn't gone out of business.
 
I had a similar experience with Chefwarekits for a different item. They eventually came through but it took 2-3 weeks longer than the quoted lead time. Its a small family operation and they have some struggles time wise I think. Try sending an email.

Inserts are the way to go short term, either brass as linked to or black abs plastic from the box store.

Another, cheaper, option is to make your own threading jig using a HF cross slide vise.

View: https://youtu.be/oAcgfq_WthM
 
Doug Freeman said:
I had a similar experience with Chefwarekits for a different item. They eventually came through but it took 2-3 weeks longer than the quoted lead time. Its a small family operation and they have some struggles time wise I think. Try sending an email.

Inserts are the way to go short term, either brass as linked to or black abs plastic from the box store.

Another, cheaper, option is to make your own threading jig using a HF cross slide vise.

View: https://youtu.be/oAcgfq_WthM
Click to expand...
Doug, I've emailed more than once. It's not coming in as junk and I've whitelisted their domain. I'm just going to give it a bit more time. I've ordered a brass insert from Niles.

Thanks for the video link. Very interesting.
 
Richard Aldrich said:
The Baxter jig is the way to go. I sold my chefware kits and the australian jig. Axminster?
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I'm going to wait a bit longer on the Chefware but if I don't end up getting the one I paid for then the Baxter is in my future :-)
 
I had the same problem with Chefware kit. When they did finally respond with a tracking number I still waited for two weeks for the item to ship. When it finally came in there were parts that had to be replaced. Total time from order to being able to use was almost 2 months. Hope you have better luck.
 
Don Rabchenuk said:
I had the same problem with Chefware kit. When they did finally respond with a tracking number I still waited for two weeks for the item to ship. When it finally came in there were parts that had to be replaced. Total time from order to being able to use was almost 2 months. Hope you have better luck.
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Wow, that's encouraging :D I hope so too. Thanks Don for the heads up.
 
I have the Baxter jig, and an old Bonnie Klein jig, and the Baxter is a couple of steps up. He is a one man operation, so it may take a while after placing an order. There is a New Hope threading set up from the UK, I think. Pretty similar to the Chef Ware threading jig. I do plan to do a video on the Baxter jig. Their instructions are extremely minimal.

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
I have the Baxter jig, and an old Bonnie Klein jig, and the Baxter is a couple of steps up. He is a one man operation, so it may take a while after placing an order. There is a New Hope threading set up from the UK, I think. Pretty similar to the Chef Ware threading jig. I do plan to do a video on the Baxter jig. Their instructions are extremely minimal.

robo hippy
Click to expand...
I''d like to watch that video Robo. I have learned a bunch from your others.
 
On March 22 I ordered a threading jig from BestWood Tools for my Oneway 2436. The next day I received a call saying the jig would take 6-7 weeks to make. This morning I see that their web site is down(server can’t be found). I sent an email and left a message on their answering machine. Hopefully I didn’t just lose almost $800.
 
Some comments on threading...

The process used in threading jigs is very close to "thread milling" in the machining world. Thread milling is primarily done in CNC milling machines as opposed to using lathes.

The video linked to in Doug Freeman's post shows a relatively easy way to make your own threading jig. No machining necessary, less expensive and as good or maybe better than some on the market.

One important thing I noticed in the video. At about 7 minutes he shows the jig in action. For the internal threads I would have the tool cutting on the near side giving a climb cut. Climb cuts are usually cleaner with less chance of tearout. To do a climb cut you may have to use your spare hand as a brake on the part's rotation, climb cuts tend to try and rotate the part. He did use a climb cut on the male thread with the cutter on the far side.
 
I have 2 Baxters, I guess I better check on Victor as I'm supposed to demo the Baxter in the Best Wood Tools booth in Oct at the Cincy symposium.
 
Wayne Anderson said:
On March 22 I ordered a threading jig from BestWood Tools for my Oneway 2436. The next day I received a call saying the jig would take 6-7 weeks to make. This morning I see that their web site is down(server can’t be found). I sent an email and left a message on their answering machine. Hopefully I didn’t just lose almost $800.
Click to expand...

Wanye, I hope not too (for you that is). I did just this afternoon get a tracking number for a USPS shipment from them but I'm sure it will take a day or so to find in their system. USPS is pretty awful in my experience with delivery, but this is supposed to be coming via Priority Mail.

We'll see.
 
Bill Blasic said:
I have 2 Baxters, I guess I better check on Victor as I'm supposed to demo the Baxter in the Best Wood Tools booth in Oct at the Cincy symposium.
Click to expand...
I went to the website and found the one I would want if my Chefware jig doesn't arrive. Spendy. But hey, Cadillacs ain't cheap :-D
 
Received a call this afternoon from BestWood Tools. Behind in orders but still open for business and my order should ship within the next couple weeks.
 
I have the Baxter and Chefware kits. Both are good. I havent talked to Vic at Bestwoodtools in a while to see how he is doing. I'll try to do that tomorrow. Thread chasing is another option. It takes very hard wood but easy enough to make your own lid inserts out of the proper wood. I have also filled grooves in the wood with epoxy and chased threads in that. It's fairly easy to make your own chasers if you have some metal skill. I've made them by brazing taps onto a metal shaft. I have also made them simply by filing the teeth.
It used to be cheap to make one from a cross slide vice but they gave gone up in price a lot. $169 was the cheapest I could find. Add in the cost of all thread rod and nuts and your approaching $200.
 
John, I have one of your mirrors, and I guarantee your skills are better than mine.
 
I have used most of the available threading jigs over the years and now prefer the Baxter Threading Jigs. I still have a Bonnie Kline Jig, Carbatec Threading Jig, and an EZ threader Jig. The owner of Carbatec just bought one of my other Thread Master Jigs with a set of spindles that I used with one of my old lathes that I sold off last year and was no longer needing. I might have an extra Baxter Threading Jig available this year when I retire one more lathe out of the shop this year. If anyone is interested in one of the extra jigs I have just drop me a message.
 
Doug Freeman said:
I had a similar experience with Chefwarekits for a different item. They eventually came through but it took 2-3 weeks longer than the quoted lead time. Its a small family operation and they have some struggles time wise I think. Try sending an email.

Inserts are the way to go short term, either brass as linked to or black abs plastic from the box store.

Another, cheaper, option is to make your own threading jig using a HF cross slide vise.

View: https://youtu.be/oAcgfq_WthM
Click to expand...

Mine will be similar, except that I'm starting with a 1" x 8tpi all-thread, so no adapter needed. The chuck threads on the end and Ill have a pair of nuts it threads thru. I need to work out the base of it, but that should be pretty easy to do.
 
Mark Hepburn said:
I'm going to wait a bit longer on the Chefware but if I don't end up getting the one I paid for then the Baxter is in my future :)
Click to expand...
With the Baxter you can make additional cuts to get a perfect fit. The alignment is between the ways and has a sliding stop for repeatability. The chefware you need to use a square on the bed, banjo and chefware kits jig. Almost impossible to reset accurately. I wore out the chefware kits jig in less than a year.
 
I think that I know what the issue is with the website. It has been moved from www.bestwoodtools.com to https://bestwoodtools.stores.yahoo.net/. While perusing through the web site I came across one page with graphic menu buttons and then a page that said Yahoo is working to fix problems in the website. So it’s just a case of going live without beta testing.
 
Darryl Fective said:
ine will be similar, except that I'm starting with a 1" x 8tpi all-thread, so no adapter needed. The chuck threads on the end and Ill have a pair of nuts it threads thru. I need to work out the base of it, but that should be pretty easy to do.
Click to expand...
You might consider ordering B7 threaded rod from McMaster-Carr rather than basic all-thread. It's available in short lengths like 4, 6 or 8 inches. It has a smoother and more friction free finish than common all-thread. The price is only a bit more than all-thread.

Another thing, if you use an HSS steel cutter like pictured they can be modified for better cutting by hand grinding a bit of rake to the cutting face. As supplied they have a neutral rake, not good for wood cutting. Combine that with climb cutting for good threads in marginal woods.


60 degree cutter.JPG
 
@Mark Hepburn I've made several pet urns with hand chased threads with wooden inserts (Cocobolo, Yew) as John Lucas mentioned above. Also used PVC threaded fittings (cut off sections) on another one.

Another option - if the pet owner will give you the ashes (they might prefer this). Turn the urn in two parts (still with tenon(s) or mounting method attached) ... put in ashes and epoxy the lid on ... when cured finish turn to true up ... disguise the joint with texture, burning, or other decoration, etc. In the example below you would eliminate the crosses, of course, for the pet(s). I have three more urns to make using this method ... but I'm still procrastinating. :(

P1000979.jpg
 
Hey Tom. Those are beautiful urns.

I’m making this urn in anticipation. Her dog has congestive heart failure and she has some time left. She’s on meds to help but her passing is inevitable.

I ordered a brass insert for this one. I like the cross and I’m making it for a Christian who may appreciate it. I Love the look.
 
Darryl Fective said:
Mine will be similar, except that I'm starting with a 1" x 8tpi all-thread, so no adapter needed. The chuck threads on the end and Ill have a pair of nuts it threads thru. I need to work out the base of it, but that should be pretty easy to do.
Click to expand...
Notice in the video that the chuck and the work piece are not running true so the resulting thread will be off center. The chuck will not be true if bottomed out on the all thread and all thread is terribly in accurate, The spindles on all of the jigs I believe have a true face for the chuck to tighten against just like the spindle on the lathe.
 
Bill Boehme said:
I think that I know what the issue is with the website. It has been moved from www.bestwoodtools.com to https://bestwoodtools.stores.yahoo.net/. While perusing through the web site I came across one page with graphic menu buttons and then a page that said Yahoo is working to fix problems in the website. So it’s just a case of going live without beta testing.
Click to expand...
Yes, the site is unusable in its current state. I tried to navigate choosing the broken link that is active and got nowhere. I hope they get up and running.
 
I planned to try facing off a nut for a better chuck fit. (ordered extras)

The nuts seem to be well made and very consistent. Larger hardware generally seems to be better quality. There was a very little bit of play in the threads and I pondered different solutions to remove it completely, (spring, cross drilling, etc.) but they complicated things and might cause drag or be finicky. I decided to try wrapping with teflon plumber's tape and it feels snug, but doesn't bind at all. It feels very smooth and precise. I'm thinking I want to have a pivot base to be able to check the fit and cut more if necessary. Maybe pivoting on a bolt w/spacers thru a couple skate bearings?
 
Mark Hepburn said:
Hi everyone. Anybody have a recommendation for a threading jig? I need one in fairly short order to make an urn for my boss' pet, who is not doing well. I'd like it to have a screw on cap but no way can I learn to do it by hand in the time I think I'll have.

I ordered a Chefware kits threading jig a while back and it hasn't shipped, just shows "processing". I can't get anyone on the phone and emails aren't answered. Not to disparage them but I'm thinking of canceling and ordering something else but can't seem to find anything.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
If you are just needing one and you are not going to make any more, then I will send you a male and female threaded pieces of wood. I make urns and make my threaded portions on my CNC. I make them in cherry, maple and walnut, that way they will match the wood of the urn at that layer (ring) if you are making segmented urns. So, if you need one in a few days, I will mail you what you need. Let me know. Larry Crouch
 
Larry Crouch said:
If you are just needing one and you are not going to make any more, then I will send you a male and female threaded pieces of wood. I make urns and make my threaded portions on my CNC. I make them in cherry, maple and walnut, that way they will match the wood of the urn at that layer (ring) if you are making segmented urns. So, if you need one in a few days, I will mail you what you need. Let me know. Larry Crouch
Click to expand...
Larry, that's very generous and i may take you up on that. I'll PM you about it. And by the way, your profile photo shows one very, very nice turning!

Mark
 
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