Made a custom wood shift knob: update

Its 2" in diameter and feels pretty good in my hand.

$13 m12x1.25 mm self-locking nylon insert hex lock nuts, pack of 6

m12x1.25 is the thread size and a 10.75mm drill for the hole if anyone wants to do something similar.

 

I stained and clear coated the knob to match my new wheel. Here's the result.

 

I was expecting the stain to be a bit lighter after drying, but the knob is noticeably darker than the wheel. But overall not too bad, I think it still looks pretty good.

 

Looks great. Betcha it won't cook your hand after sitting in the sun too. Maybe it'll darken in time from natural oil in your hand.

 

Maple? If not, what type of wood?

 

Birch, I believe

 

My old knob was bare aluminum and it got quite spicy on a hot summer day

 

I once had a river rock as mine. You either learned to quick-shift with one finger or you left some skin behind.


I like the wood look. Thats sweet.

 

How'd you manage to drill and tap a rock? It seems like it'd be way too easy to crack. Or did you just put a hole in it and stick a threaded insert in there? Either way that's a unique shifter accoutrement

 

I ordered it online. . Especially shameful since I worked at a rock sampling lab at the time. It's easy enough to run a drill press with a water cooled bit, then glue an insert.


The worst part was if I wasn't holding the shifter and happened to lug the clutch in 2nd, that rock would deliver a set of rapidfire hammer blows into my thigh. Fun times, that truck was.

 

Ah that makes sense. I would've assumed any machining done on a material as hard as stone would require coolant. Very cool

 

Thats different, but looks like quality work!