I have seen the Beall wood threader at many shows over the past few years. It makes for a great demonstration — the wood going in one end round and coming out as a very finished thread. So I called the inventor, JR Beall of Beall Tools and he sent me one to give the "woodshopdemos test."

   I'll tell you right now that it works well and it is easy to use...the real story is in the 2nd half. There I try to answer the question "what do I do with all these threaded dowels." What would you do with them?

     You know by now, I always try to start as you would — by opening the box and reading the instructions and trying to determine the "degree of difficulty." Frankly for such a task as wood threading, I was ready for a challenge.

     The kit I had came with three thread sizes from 1/2" to 3/4" — I started with the larger. It took no time at all to fasten the threader assembly to the jig.

   Then I placed the jig in the bench vise.

   The kit comes with a very precise v-tip router bit which fits into any 1/4" chuck... I decided to use a trim router but any router would work. The inset shows a very clever spacer which is included. This spacer fits over the router bit and when placed on the jig, will allow you to center the router and bit precisely on the jig.

       With the centering device positioned in the threader hole, the clamps can be fastened to hold the router firmly in position.

      I secured the assembly with pliers. I didn't want any movement once the threading started.

   This is the most important step. You must remove the centering device before you turn the router on! As you might expect, the instructions are very clear on this point. You would not want to forget this step.

   Then with the router body returned to the mounted base, you can use the micro-adjustment knob of the router to lower the special bit — the instructions say to have about 1/8" exposed.

   This is what the bit will look like as it protrudes into the threader assembly.