Roman bench vice?

[XorX]

Thank you for the quick response, XorX.

I cannot see clearly which item is the vice on the picture from this website (attachment).

Is it the wood piece on the left?

it is

[XorX]

According to "Die Schraube zwischen Macht und Pracht", a catalogue about the roman use of threads from 1995, the romans were not able to cut "inner threads" into metal. Every metal screw mechanism that has been found has a pin serving as "inner thread".

What about the late period crossbow fibula? Some of them had screwed elements with reciprocating threads (see "A Late Antique Crossbow Fibula in The Metropolitan Museum of Art": Metropolitan Museum Journal, v. 35 (2000))

the pieces listed in that catalogue have either a pin or a soldered short spiral as inner thread. there are no "cut" threads and no inner threads deeper than two turns listed.
always talking about metal parts! wooden threads were used for machinery quite often
the earliest cut inner threads in metal I know from personally are dated to the late middle ages, but that may not say anything :-)

the book is still available for less than 10 €! http://www.amazon.de/Schraube-zwischen-P...3799536280
it has a shortened english text version included and is really enlightening

[Medicus matt]

Ah, I've just read Dandridge's "Idiomatic and Mainstream: The Technical Vocabulary of a Late Roman Crossbow Fibula." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 35 (2000)

As you say, the two threads (on the pin and inside the brooch) were created from spirals of wire. Cool, I've learned something today.