DIY Wooden Knobs

ognolman

Senior Member
Messages
351
I have been buying custom wooden knobs from THG Knobs, but have had a tough time with them.  They are expensive and I end up waiting for forever and a day and then get the runaround with excuses and explanations and promises that are never kept.  The knobs are superb once they get here, but it's just too much hassle and money.  So I thought I'd see about making my own, but I have no idea where to start.  I figure a small lathe would be a must-have tool for this, but I don't know what beyond that...  Anybody got any ideas on this?  Has anyone on UW.com tried it before?

Thanks,

JBD
 
there's a couple of threads on wooden knob making on TalkBass in the Luthier's forum (http://talkbass.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57)

I recall also seeing a thread or two over at MIMF as well (http://www.mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX)


I was getting set-up to make knobs right when I sold my house/shop, so the Jet variable speed mini lathe I bought is still unopened in the box  :sad:

all the best,

R
 
SkuttleFunk said:
there's a couple of threads on wooden knob making on TalkBass in the Luthier's forum (http://talkbass.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57)

I recall also seeing a thread or two over at MIMF as well (http://www.mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX)


I was getting set-up to make knobs right when I sold my house/shop, so the Jet variable speed mini lathe I bought is still unopened in the box  :sad:

Excellent, thanks!!

I'm just now getting my shop up and running-- I've gpt a 12x12x12 barn and am in the process of wiring it.  I've spent the last month trenching and running wire and getting inspections and building retaining walls, etc.  As soon as I finish the final inspection I'll be back into building basses.

JBD
 
More specifically on talkbass (I just searched :laughing7:):

http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412463&highlight=wood+knobs
http://www.thgknobs.com/

http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155975&highlight=wood+knobs
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?sid=&ccurrency=2&page=32320&category=1,180,42288

http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=451588&highlight=wood+knobs

I like this last guy, he just chucked some wood into his hand drill, cranked it up and wailed away... that's the spirit. :guitarplayer2:
I have some really cool brass gears set aside for my (ALMOST-DONE{!}) bass, but I'm still cogitating as to exact attachment procedures.
 
stubhead said:
More specifically on talkbass (I just searched :laughing7:):

...I like this last guy, he just chucked some wood into his hand drill, cranked it up and wailed away... that's the spirit. :guitarplayer2:
I have some really cool brass gears set aside for my (ALMOST-DONE{!}) bass, but I'm still cogitating as to exact attachment procedures.

Thanks for the great info, Stubhead... Very helpful stuff.  I just got my second set of THG knobs and had to wait for about two flocking months for them, but they just look awesome.  I don't know how he does it, but they look SOOO much better than the big gold knobs that they replaced.  But it is frustrating dealing with THG.  I had tried to order the LED knobs off of them the first time and finally gave up after about three or four months.  He had already made the knobs, so I got those without the LEDs and with a partial refund.  They looked awesome, even without the LEDs.

But I think that, to do knobs of this quality one would need a very good lathe and quite a bit of skill on it.  But it would be fun learning to make them...

JBD
 
hey JBD - check this out

KnobRoutingOnMiniLathe.jpg


this could be a cool way to turn round stock to a precision diameter

all the best,

R
 
SkuttleFunk said:
hey JBD - check this out

this could be a cool way to turn round stock to a precision diameter

all the best,

R

Indeed.  It does look effective.  I have a friend of mine that could weld me up one in a jiffy, too.  But I figured there would be some way to hold a chisel--some jig or whatnot--that you could attach a chisel to and move it with precision as the lathe turned the wood.  But I think something like the router is a better idea.  :sign13: Or maybe if you could fabricate a way to attach a Dremel...  That might be even better for this application...  Maybe the Dremel with the router attachment.  It could be just as effective and easier to make, prolly.

I also found this: http://tinyurl.com/5ojmrl

Looks like it would be a good source of knob making wood.

JBD
 
you could use a hole saw but it'd necessitate making a jig first, which is as easy as anything. You just need to run your hole saw through a piece of wood or plywood, with the pilot attached to the mandrel. Once you have that hole you can clamp that onto the piece of wood you intend to make your knob from. At this point you'd take the pilot bit out of the hole saw and use the jig to guide the hole saw through this next piece. Do not though try and run a hole saw on its own without the pilot drill in place, and without a jig. It will run all over the place and you might hurt yourself. This doesn't really help set a hole to go onto the shaft of your pot, but a drill press vice with a pair of v-blocks should do the trick for that operation.
 
jspenard said:
you could use a hole saw but it'd necessitate making a jig first, which is as easy as anything. You just need to run your hole saw through a piece of wood or plywood, with the pilot attached to the mandrel. Once you have that hole you can clamp that onto the piece of wood you intend to make your knob from. At this point you'd take the pilot bit out of the hole saw and use the jig to guide the hole saw through this next piece. Do not though try and run a hole saw on its own without the pilot drill in place, and without a jig. It will run all over the place and you might hurt yourself. This doesn't really help set a hole to go onto the shaft of your pot, but a drill press vice with a pair of v-blocks should do the trick for that operation.

Welcome to the forum...but you just replied to a thread from 2008 as a 1st post. Reported as Spam.

Signature Link and Logo are clearly commercially driven.
 
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