TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:24 am

Hello,

I wasn't sure where to put this (other than the bay window section) So I dropped it here. If it should be moved, please do so. Thanks.

I am in the middle of a rebuild on my 69 bus and decided to take a break from cleaning greasy parts and machine something simple and fun. I wanted to replace the shifter knob that came with the bus. The original knob wasn't stock, and it was kind of bland, so I figured why not.

Here is my bus if you haven't seen it in the bay window forum.

The idea I had for a shifter was kind of a cross between old an new. I had an idea for a shape (to be machined from aluminum). I wanted to powder coat the knob in a color as close to the OG paint on the bus as possible. And then I wanted to post engrave the shift pattern in the top.

Here is the design sketched up in AutoCAD.

Cutting off a piece of 2" aluminum round bar stock

Here, I have machined the ball portion of the knob. This was done on a manual lathe. To get the radius, I ground a radiused profile into my cutting tool and went to town.

Here is the finished tapered section of the knob

I then parted the knob from the stock and flipped it around to drill and tap the bottom side. And yes, the three jaw check left divots in the ball of the knob.

I then made a post for holding the knob for cleaning up the divots and engraving the top.

Here, the knob has been mounted to the post and cleaned up.

Here, I am preparing the setup for cross-drilling the base of the knob. When you screw on the knob you need someway to hold it in the correct orientation (forward should be forward). There are many ways to do this. I chose to cross drill and tap the base of the knob and using two set-screws.

Here, the knob is mounted in the vise on the mill ready to be cross-drilled

Machining is complete on the knob.

The knob has been powder coated

Baking in the oven

An hour later, with the powder coat complete; it's time for the last step, the engraving. The knob is mounted to the post, chucked up in the vise.

Oops! the engraving is complete but it's kind of blah. Turns, out I was using an old code that called for a .010" skim cut to flatten the part first. Well, I didn't do the skim cut so as a result, the engraving is about .010" too deep. Oh well, I can live with it or machine down the face, re-powder coat, and engrave the face again. Thoughts?

The knob is mounted to the shifter, indexed and locked in place with two set-screws. Seems to work.

Final gratuitous shot of the knob on the shifter. Thanks for looking.

Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:30 am

I am wowed.

Tue Sep 16, 2014 4:55 am

What a knob!!!!

Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:18 am

The only drawback is you'll need to wear a glove on a cold day.

You should have run a batch of them, not just one.

Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:39 pm

Thanks guys,

So I wasn't really planing on making more than one of these because it took 6 hours for just the one. Out of curiosity, would there be an interest in something like this? Perhaps in different colors?

Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:51 am

Your penalty for being able to produce such a piece and not make others should be to drive a bay, oh, wait a sec... 8)

Kiddin'- you've got a nice bay too.