I want to make a set of frame blocks so that I can hold tubes easier while filing, mitering, etc. (currently using rubber vise jaw covers). What type of wood, and what wood thickness, works best? I'm going to assume that most 2x4's would be too soft to be usable.

Thanks,

Pete

2x4's will be fine. Cut them into 4" blocks, line up the grain, clamp the blocks together, and drill the hole between them with a spade or forstner bit. Make sure you drill them across the grain or they will split the first time you use them.
Super cheap and quick to do this way and will last for quite a few frames. When you're ready for super nice blocks that will last for years and years, give Dave Bohm a call.

Wood blocks are a foundation tool for framebuilding. I like mine well made because they are frequently used. An excellent wood choice is hard maple. It is a close grained wood unlike oak where the open pores keep your flux drippings. Oak also chips more easily when dropped on a corner. Many years ago I made a bunch out of oak (and ash too, I think) for my framebuilding classes and they are still going okay but have missing edges. Of course students are pretty hard on tools.

You want to end up with blocks in the vicinity of 3" square. This is somewhat arbitrary and you can make the ones with bigger holes larger so you can tell at a glance which is the one you want out of a group. You start with a plank that is approximately 3" wide and around 1 3/8" thick (I think this is called 5 thirds? - a carpenter can correct me. It is a common thickness). Of course you cut them into pieces that are 3 inches long. Place them together with a thin piece of cardboard in between (if you didn't create come separation between sides they wouldn't be able to have clamping force). I used C clamps to hold them together and a hole saw to bore them out with. It is important to drill the hole perpendicular to the grain and not parallel (because if you did they will be much more likely to crack along the grain). I use some masking tape on the other end of the hole to help prevent the wood from chipping around the hole as the cutter pushes through.

It is useful to have leather (or something similar) to hold the blocks together and work as a hinge. Belts from Goodwill are an option. I attach them with small stainless steel #4 or #6 sheet metal screws (because they are flat under the head) about 3/4" long. I hold the leather in place with masking tape and drill small holes as pilot holes for the screws. This helps prevent cracking of the hard wood and makes screwing in the screws easier. Be sure and keep the cardboard spacer between the 2 pieces when attaching the leather hinge.

Or as Live Wire suggests, you can buy them already nicely made from Dave Bohm. If I remember right a set of 5 costs $100. The nicest part of his set is the stay blocks. The outside of one side of the block is curved so a tapered tube can be clamped along its entire length. There are 2 sizes of "V"s in the block that accommodate different sizes of blades or stays.

Doug Fattic
Niles, Michigan

OK, good info, especially the drilling perpendicular to the grain part.

I found some Mahogany blocks left over from a prior woodworking project that should work. That should be strong enough, but I'm worried that the silica content in the wood might not be the best? I don't plan on putting anything other than unpainted tubes in the blocks.

I was planning on drilling the holes in my drill press and then cutting the blocks in half in my band saw...the blade is much thinner than even my thin-kerf table saw blade (I do a lot of woodworking), but would that still be too thick, and would I risk crushing any tube that I put in it?

Thanks,

Pete

You want some gap as the wood will be a bit squishy and conform around the tube, and the hole you drill might not be dimensionally exact. Use sensible judgement in how tight you clamp the vise.

Thanks for the info Doug and Live-Wire.

I made some blocks out of scrap 2x4, but did not pay attention to the grain's orientation. Indeed it split the first time I used it!

You need some separation between the halves or it won't have any clamping force. Dave's blocks are made to have an 1/8" separation. You won't crush the tubes under normal clamping pressure. Your band saw blade may not even be wide enough. Of course I would skip that step (if buying new wood) by putting two thinner halves together so they wouldn't need to be split apart.

Mahogany would be way down my list of wood choices although it will work. Of course if Pete has some handy he won't have to be bothered running to the store. I made a wood block out of it one time and it was not very durable. My hard maple blocks I made 34 years ago have lasted much better than other woods I have tried.

I used some white oak I scavenged from some nice pallets. Drilled holes with Forstner bits and then sawed with a bandsaw. I find that I have plenty of clamping force. Any way you cut it, if the blocks are too small you are going to have problems with splitting.

Buying them might have been a better choice, it was a lot of work.

i just made my most recent block 2 weeks ago, i never needed a 31.8 block prior. now i have the big 3-- 1", 1-1/8, and 1-1/4. made it in about 10 minutes out of scrap 2x4, hole saw, handsaw, used velox, and some construction screws.

Doug, no doubt that hard maple would be better...but it's tougher to find. Probably the best I could do is to "laminate" 3, 3/4" thick pieces of maple wood and cut from there once the glue had cured. I have the mahogany left over from rebuilding my porch railing.

legalize_it, I'm using the exact same Craftsman vise, with the jaw faces flipped around and everything.

Pete

its a good beater vise bc its cheap, but leaves a lot to be desired.
i dont feel bad leaving hack saw and file marks all over it!!

at some point i will use my vert mill make some brass or aluminum blocks for the jaws.

Mahogany from a porch railing is probably something rather soft. Real mahogany cost about 1-200 for a piece about 8' and they are always threatening to put it under the endangered species regs, so some day you may not be able to take your railing across international boundaries, which can be a problem with guitars...

I you are intending on ripping that small a piece in a table saw (easy way to waste 1/8"), be aware that would be extremely dangerous. Short and thick and wide is a classic for a violent kick back. OK if you make enough of them at once that the piece is long enough. Or use hand saw, band saw, or mount the block in a save jig or slit it on your mill.

I'm a very experienced woodworker (and I still have all 10 fingers, so a safe one, too), and, as I mentioned in a previous post, I would halve the blocks in my band saw.

You used to could buy aluminum tube blocks, which should last longer than wood. However, I don't know if they are still made by the Bicycle Research. I have some. They work well and it's all I've used. The wood blocks look good, but I really don't know what significant advantages there are of material over another.