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How I Make Wooden Knobs

Luke Sheridan

Luke Sheridan

Commercial User
Dec 30, 2004
637
51
57
Yonkers, NY
www.sheridanguitars.com
Disclosures
I build guitars and sell them. Strings, too
#1
This is how I go about making wooden knobs. The information here is tips and tricks I gathered from others posts (Josh Curry, Hambone, etc) over the years.

Tools needed:

Drill Press
Drill Bits - 15/64 for these knobs. (East U-Retro)
Tenon Cutters - 5/8 and 1/2 for these particular knobs
Mandrel Bit
Center Finder
PVC Pipe
Sand Paper
A good, durable finish such as Wilser's Mid-Hump Sauce :D

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I begin by thicknessing the wood for the knobs. Whatever works best, but I use a thickness sander. Saf-T-Planer is also a good bet.

Cut out the knobs using the tenon cutter and you'll end up with this:
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Then, using a center finder like this one, place the knob inside and scribe a line with a razor blade. Turn the knob 45 degrees and scribe another. You now have the exact center of the knob. NOTE: You can see it above in pencil. DO NOT use pencil as the center will not be exact. Again, use a razor.
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Here's a link to the one I bought. link

Make sure your bit is centered properly and then place the stock on the press table. I used a rotary table only for the clamps. (You can get away by holding the knobs with your fingers. Not good practice however.)
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Anyway, check the X and Z axis before you lower the bit. You have to be exact here or the knobs will spin off-center.


I initially only drill about halfway of the total length of the shaft. This allows me to thread it onto the mandrel without compromising the center. I finish up the depth of the shaft after the shaping.
(Yes, different knob)

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Load a strip of 50 grit paper in the pvc pipe and slide it back and forth while the knob spins to get the domed top. Change grits to your liking. I went to 600.
Finish drilling depth for shaft.
Remove knob.
Finish to your liking.
You'll get something like this in the end.
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These particular knobs didn't need set screws. But if you want to use them, I've had good luck with these Zapserts and 4-40 setscrews.

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Depending on the thickness of your knobs, these Zapserts may be a bit long, but being they are brass you can easily file them down.

Additions, enhancements are welcome!
 
#4
Awesome! great tutorial. And i agree that those wood top halves match the metal extremely well. I haven't seen that before and it looks great.
One quick question (maybe i need to go back and read the thread again).....what size PVC do you use?
 
#5
Very nice, thanks Luke! Those look great!

Almost exactly how I do it, except I chuck the knobs in a Grizzly mini-lathe and use the tailstock to find the center, and files/sandpaper to bevel/dome.

I found I also need to go slow with the tenon cutters, too fast and I get tear-out in softer woods like mahogany or limba.
 
#8
Very cool Luke, you do wood knobs very similarly to the way I do. But what is the mandrel you are using to thread them on for the spin sanding? I use a 3 jaw chuck for my lathe to spin sand and shape Curious about the mandrel on the drill press.

Oh and Wilsers Mid Hump Sauce, you must be very careful with that stuff, I hear you can get kids from it.....LMAO
 
#14
Yeah that is an amazing little tool, like you, I could never figure out what it was for, now we know. :) It works great just chuck it up in the drill press and away we go. I have to look for tenon cutters like yours, the plug cutters I'm using burn way too much.
Nice pictorial by the way, and thanks for the inspiration.
Dirk
 
#16
A little thread resurrection here- I want to make some wooden knobs for my current build, I don't have a lathe, or access to one. The pic links at the beginning of the thread are broken. I figured out most of what I want to know from the text, but I'm curious about the mandrel bit? The only thing I could find that seems right is an expanding mandrel, and I can't seem to find one online that goes down to 1/4" or 6mm. Can anyone recommend an appropriate mandrel for making knobs?
 
#19
Small pieces of wood can be turned on a drill press by replacing the Jacobs chuck with a Morse taper mandrel. Although the mandrel holds the stock pretty well, double-nutting seems like cheap insurance to me.

Most of the avid turners I know sharpen their turning tools on a dry grinder. But, I find sharpening to a keen edge yields much better results - especially when turning exotics and acrylics.

For all I know, pen turning blanks could make great bass knobs; they're available in plain hardwoods, lamiates, exotics, acrylized breakfast cereal, coffee beans, corn cobs, colorful acrylics, and myriad other materials.
 
#20
Jazzdogg said:
Small pieces of wood can be turned on a drill press by replacing the Jacobs chuck with a Morse taper mandrel. Although the mandrel holds the stock pretty well, double-nutting seems like cheap insurance to me.

Most of the avid turners I know sharpen their turning tools on a dry grinder. But, I find sharpening to a keen edge yields much better results - especially when turning exotics and acrylics.

For all I know, pen turning blanks could make great bass knobs; they're available in plain hardwoods, lamiates, exotics, acrylized breakfast cereal, coffee beans, corn cobs, colorful acrylics, and myriad other materials.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll do my homework. I agree on the pen blanks- I used to find the most gorgeous pieces in the pen blank section of Rockler in SD, and up at TEH, I've got a pice of pink ivory on my desk that REALLY needs to be knobs... oh wait I'm supposed to make knitting needles out of that for a lady I know...Guess I need to buy a lathe anyway :)
 

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