FEELER: Custom Wood Shift Knobs...

[ziff73]

I'm actually a woodworker, too, and was making some for fun, but I haven't been able to find the inserts anywhere! I've even called some places...let us know if you find a source for the inserts. Good luck, the ebony one looks great!

Stephen

[Rocan]

I'm actually a woodworker, too, and was making some for fun, but I haven't been able to find the inserts anywhere! I've even called some places...let us know if you find a source for the inserts. Good luck, the ebony one looks great!

Stephen

It's not a common thread size at all. If I had a metric lathe laying around it wouldn't take long to make a nice long tube with the right thread pitch and then cut to length. Since I don't, I have to take a different route.

So heres what I've got, and a lot more engineering went into this than you may expect. I considered adhering the insert to the wood, wear properties (plastic is out!) cost, and so on.

I will likely get a long section of aluminum tube of around .5" ID, and 3/4" ID (take note, this means that the minimum diameter of the knob will have to be 1"). I will then have to drill the tube to be 13.5mm (.5315" or so), and tap with a 15x1.5 tap. the cost per insert is a little over 1 dollar, not including the cost of the tap and drill (though with care I should be able to make the tap and drill last for ages; they won't really be seeing much wear since they will be doing aluminum). The inserts will be cut to .75" (may change, will have to check how much thread there is on the shift rod). Inserts will then be epoxied in place (after first drilling with a slightly undersized bit to ensure a good tight fit). I considered bronze and stainless, but cost and their properties make them poor choices (too hard, poor adhesion with bronze, etc).

I am looking at about 100 dollars start up cost, not including the cost of wood. After I have the insert material and tooling to make the inserts, the only additional costs moving onwards would be wood and finishing supplies. It's relatively cheap (well, I already have the lathe, haha), but the main thing these will cost me is time. Once a system is in order it will go by much more quickly.

Thanks for the compliment Stephen! I love ebony... such a nice dense wood, and the feeling of it is spectacular. this only had light sanding and a touch of steel wool.

[Rocan]

Johnson, Really looking forward to your input.

I may turn up a knob for myself to show you guys what can be done. I really want to bring the knob up a few inches so my hand doesn't rub the seat as much. I'll probably make it around 5 inches in length and very narrow, with some small details. Only issue I can see is the shift throws being too long... I may just have to shorten the shifter a bit to improve things. Having a long lever to pull on is nice; less time with your hand off the wheel and less effort to put it in gear.

[Johnson]

Pressed for time this morning, but here`s what I found. Most wooden knobs seem to be a traditional design, and the draw is in the nice finish, exotic woods, etc. You could also do a knurl on them.

Here are a couple styles I think would be cool(they are at the top of the first page:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=267134

What you are thinking sounds more along the lines of this:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoS8dtbhQvCoAIBqJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dshift%2Bknob%26n%3D30%26ei%3Dutf-8%26y%3DSearch%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D356&w=500&h=500&imgurl=www.streetflame.com%2Fimages%2Fshiftknob_pushdownR.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.streetflame.com%2Fsports-style-with-black-carbon-fiber-shift-knob-fits-most-automatic-vehicles-p-242.html&size=46+KB&name=...+RED+WITH+BLACK+CARBON+FIBER+SHIFT+KNOB+FITS+MOST+AUTOMATIC+VEHICLES&p=shift+knob&oid=f2162888e9e954dbdf91af4c4dd85aa8&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=...%2BRED%2BWITH%2BBLACK%2BCARBON%2BFIBER%2BSHIFT%2BKNOB%2BFITS%2BMOST%2BAUTOMATIC%2BVEHICLES&b=331∋=88&no=356&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=13iuap0vu&sigb=13gop8atq&sigi=11ip8butn&.crumb=gcRyv1UzFWr

You could also try something like this:

http://www.trc-tuning.de/_products/_universal/_shiftknobs/_isotta_matrix_shiftknob_01f.jpg

I have one that I think would be cool in wood(it`s just a cheap walmart one), but I can`t find a picture of it. I`ll try again tonight.

[Rocan]

DTM knob was what I was thinking for my own use. I'll try and make some this weekend and report back.

[jrkoupe]

hey....

Just re visited this thread..sounds great...

I would think $40-6o ish is fine w/ me....

I had a dude make me a custom black corian knob in an oe style shape but longer/taller...

Id love one in wood....Id prefer a stock/oe /alpina shape...but a bit longer...no insert or gear pattern...just naked pure wood, maybe w/ a finish maybe not.......... a bit longer doesnt affect the throw all that much.....Ill show pics of mine.

here is the typical alpina shape...Id prefer a bit longer, and the top of the knob to be less flat and a wee bit convex perhaps...since it wont have an inlay.

D, I can show you mine in person as well....

cool

[Rocan]

Hey Joel,

Totally doable. Sketch me up the dimensions you want and I will turn one up for you. I'm glad theres such a positive response to this. Was talking to my coworker (who is a good friend of the founder of pelican) and he said he might pass them along to him also once I start making them. Loving the way this is looking... Should help pay for some parts (who knows, maybe a paint job!).

P.S. Joel, we need to meet up around christmas for a drive. I've got my 02 running better than ever

[AceAndrew]

Email sent Rocan...

I'm with Joel on this one, Like the black one in the photos I snapped the other day.

[jrkoupe]

D

I emailed you a few hrs ago w/ some cool info...

Ill also get some specs to you.....

A drive sounds good........lets stay on it...and watch the weather..my used dunlop race rubber is not very road worthy under 40 degrees tho....

oh!..the fabricator of my corian knob put some epoxy into the thread hole and was able to produce some threads inside of the knob enabling it to screw on......it was originally built w/ very close tolerances w/ a set screw. The close tolerances allowed it to slip on shift lever quite snugly.

[Rocan]

D

I emailed you a few hrs ago w/ some cool info...

Ill also get some specs to you.....

A drive sounds good........lets stay on it...and watc the weather..my used dunlop race rubber is not very road worthy under 40 degrees tho....

leave it on, maybe I'll have a chance with keeping up with you

I didn't receive your email... checked my junk also. Try resending it?

Cheers,

-David

[jrkoupe]

just resent!!!

[Guest Anonymous]

I'd be interested on a tribute ALPINA knob for my Tribute car. Keep us posted of the outcome.

[jrkoupe]

I'd be interested on a tribute ALPINA knob for my Tribute car. Keep us posted of the outcome.

I dont think he is making ALPINA knobs?....

[Rocan]

I got bored. Made this. Very rough draft, and tolerances aren't going to be that tight (it's wood, hehe). I wanted a long knob. Dimensions are in inches. blue bit is the insert (wasn't in the mood to make the correct threads, so I left it blank). I need to measure the length of the threaded portion on the rod so I can determine insert length. This is probably longer then is necessary, but allows the length to be adjusted as to how driver wants it (so long as you don't mind gluing in the insert yourself). You could also recess the insert if you want (I like doing that in order to get a heavier knob, and also I think it looks awesome and feels great to have all of the room to move around on the knob).

I'm open to input! I designed this based around my own hand (fairly average in size). Some of you may prefer a thicker diameter, which is totally doable. I like them slender. Just a screenshot of autocad as my export function isn't letting me export to PDF because of some odd paper size reason.

This has a less sharp radius than the Alpina style because I dislike a sharp edge against my hand (I often shift underhand). I'll probably turn one of these up for myself once I get some suitable wood.

[Johnson]

Looks pretty good. I prefer a shorter knob myself, but I`m open to try different things too. Still haven`t gotten a picture of the one I like for you.

I didn`t forget about you. Life kept my busy the past two days, but I`ve been thinking about this.....