Wood Knobs Revisited

[crazyguy832]

You could try Pro-Mark Japanese Oak sticks. They're a lot darker and denser than regular sticks and would probably fit looks-wise on a dark natural bass.

Hmmm...

Cool ideas here, though.

 

[SDB Guitars]

Good to hear...but I was thinking more about installation...such as someone tightening the set-screw just a hair too much.

I've had knobs from Roger at THG crack from the compression of the set screw. My guess is that the only way to make that work would be to have them acrylized by Larry...

:onders the idea:: If Larry happens to view this thread, I wonder whether he'd be interested in acrylizing a whole bunch of wooden knobs... you know, maybe sometime after he gets back form the extended fishing/gold panning trip he was talking about.

 

[pilotjones]

I've had knobs from Roger at THG crack from the compression of the set screw.

I take it that Roger doesn't put in a brass sleeve with threads in the brass, then. People do do that (brass sleeve) sometimes, don't they? Or am I imagining it?

 

[Noaita]

Good to hear...but I was thinking more about installation...such as someone tightening the set-screw just a hair too much.

Depends on the wood used, grain orientation, size of the knob...

Typically, they will not crack, although not over-tightening is always recommended. Soft, punky ,woods, like spalted woods, buckeye, and the like, should be stabilized some way or another, either professionally or while turning. Woods like Wenge, have a tendency to crack, especially if the grain is running vertically, because their grain structure is very open. Ebony is another wood that, while hard, cracks easily if muscled. Some people avoid these situations by installing brass cores in the knobs, leaving only the outer shell as natural wood. I personally prefer not to do that because I am a wood nut.

I hope this answers some questions but does not give away too many trade secrets

Roger
THG Knobs

 

[SDB Guitars]

I suppose I should rephrase that statement I made above:

I have have never had an issue with Roger's knobs cracking when *I* install them. I have had customers who have WAY over-tightened the set screw on their knobs (to the point of seriously dimpling the pot shaft), which in turn cracked one of the knobs.

Typically when ordering from Roger I order one more than I need, so that I have an extra on hand just in case, and so - problem solved!

Roger, you amaze me... those knobs with the LED's in them are SICK! After spending over an hour making my pitiful little knob seen above, I have reaffirmed that there's a reason I don't make knobs.

 

[Pulplogic]

People do do that (brass sleeve) sometimes, don't they? Or am I imagining it?

Cool thread...

I usually embed a brass or aluminum core in my knobs. These have aluminum pointers that were inserted before turning the knobs on the lathe. The aluminum core also makes it easy to mount the knobs to a rotating machine when performing the final truing operation.

--John

 

[SDB Guitars]

People do do that (brass sleeve) sometimes, don't they? Or am I imagining it?

Cool thread...

I usually embed a brass or aluminum core in my knobs. These have aluminum pointers that were inserted before turning the knobs on the lathe. The aluminum core also makes it easy to mount the knobs to a rotating machine when performing the final truing operation.

--John

Do you machine those yourself, or do you buy them someplace?

 

[Pulplogic]

Do you machine those yourself, or do you buy them someplace?

I make them on a small 7x10 mini lathe. I started making them because I couldn't find many nice looking knobs for dual concentric pots.

 

[SDB Guitars]

I make them on a small 7x10 mini lathe. I started making them because I couldn't find many nice looking knobs for dual concentric pots.

Do you maching the inserts yourself? I don't even know where you'd find a part like that for sale commercially...

 

[Pulplogic]

Do you maching the inserts yourself? I don't even know where you'd find a part like that for sale commercially...

Yea, I make the inserts on the same lathe. At first I would pull the brass inserts out of standard plastic knobs and reuse them in my wood knobs. It was a real pain to line up the set screw holes. Now, I just drill and tap the wood and aluminum at the same time.

 

[SDB Guitars]

Thanks for that... I've been wondering if those were a production part available someplace, and it appears that they are not.

 

[pilotjones]

Thanks for that... I've been wondering if those were a production part available someplace, and it appears that they are not.

If .245 ID - 3/8 OD .065 wall brass tube is large enough for you, you can use mcmaster #8950K592.
Or, for a .25 ID - .50 OD - .125 wall, there's garolite tube: paper-phenolic is #8527K172; and glass-epoxy is #8668K32 (kind of expensive at $37, but you might be able to get 40 knob inserts out of a 39" tube).

 

[Noaita]

Roger, you amaze me... those knobs with the LED's in them are SICK! After spending over an hour making my pitiful little knob seen above, I have reaffirmed that there's a reason I don't make knobs.

Thanks, Shawn. The LED's are a real pain. I am working on an entire system that can be installed so that all the knobs are controlled by one switch.

In reference to the brass or aluminum cores, they sure are handy for the stacked pots. Only problem I have found is that the metal dulls the bits faster, unless you use cutting oils. If you use cutting oils, however, be sure to clean your machine thoroughly before cutting the wood. The oil and wood do not mix well


Pilot -

Nice tip on the McMaster/Carr tubing. I may look into that myself. I used to buy aluminum rod at Osh but I think they stopped carrying it. 4 feet of it for about 5 bucks was a great deal.

Roger
THG

 

[pilotjones]

Mind you, I've never put threads into G-10 garolite (glass/epoxy), which is circuit board material. It should be a good fit, but possibly hard on taps - but of course needs to be tested.

If you find stuff at a local metals or plastics supply house, it will be cheaper than from mcm-c.

There might be some aluminum tube available from a metals supply that is suitable. Mcm-c had none.

There are also some brass and steel threaded inserts (metal or plastics inserts, not the knife-edge wood inserts) that could be modified. Take a 1/4-20 insert with decent OD and length, and drill out the bore a bit to 6mm or 1/4".

Any time you start with tube instead of solid rod, you're saving a lot of time and effort.

 

[Mutedbass]

So, I haven't heard lately about people experimenting with wood knobs. Most people, it seems, just buy from Roger at THG (great guy, great products, use them myself), but I got a bug to make my own knob today, and in case you are interested in trying it yourself, here's how I did it:

I took a 1" hole saw, cut out a chunk of wenge, and glued a flat piece to the top. Smoothed the entire thing by using the set screw to attach it to a 1/4" rod, and chucked it into my hand drill. I used a a sanding block held stationary and perpendicular to the knob as the drill spun it around.

Finished by inserting a brass marker dot, and polishing the whole thing up with micromesh (still while chucked into the drill ).

Here it is, attached to one of those wonderful 4-way rotary switches... (it made a handy stand while photographing):

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How do you use the set screw? Does it thread right into the wood?