knob stuff

[Phil and Judy Rose]

At 6:40 AM -0400 5/28/02, Kneale Brownson wrote:
>Content-Type: text/plain; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-7EBF79DD;
>charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
>Nice looking project, Phil.  How are you threading the wood for the
>shifter shaft?


I have thought a lot about how to solve the threading problem,
however that situation remains the same (as when I made the following
comment some months ago):

>>  The knobs I've made so far have used no threaded inserts at all, but
>>instead the knob is bored to a diameter that permits the wood to be
>>threaded. That can be done by (1) compressively by using a 12x1.5 mm
>>bolt, or (2) by actually cutting threads with an appropriate tap.
>>I've used the 1st method with both knobs I've made. Chris says he's
>>had no problems using my cocobolo knob (after 2 yrs use) but it has
>>no shifter pattern on top to indicate if any slight tightening has
>>happened from time to time. That may be the secret--i.e. avoid the
>>shift pattern on top so the knob can be kept tight no matter what. Of
>>course it helps to use a dense, tropical hardwood which will have
>>much less swelling/shrinking and is much harder than a wood such as
>>walnut.

Unfortunately, Zebrano is not nearly so dense and hard as the
previous two woods I've used for knob-making, so I have some
misgiving about its comressed threads being adequate for normal
use/abuse. If I can locate some medium-wall tubing (brass or steel)
with an appropriate i.d. for tapping some "real" threads, I could try
to make metal inserts that can be glued into a wooden knob. An
alternative might be to cast an insert from some sort of resin
(epoxy?).

Phil
--
*********************************
*  Phil & Judy Rose           Rochester, NY  *
*        mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net       *
*********************************