Custom Billet Shift Knob BS

Oh boy! Little bloodsuckers!

It wasn't too stressful when we moved before they were in school. The district that we were living in partially factored into moving (it sucked). The district that we moved to was being run well enough that my wife transferred to it. That ended up being a great decision. This next move will be all about the adults. I want a one bedroom with a shop / garage at least big enough for three cars and not being able to see the neighbors. Erica has other ideas. Hopefully, we'll meet in the middle. Thankfully, her problem is not the garage space. Haha!

 

I guess this update is in order, at the very least. If I do stay at my current position (likely), I will still lose access to the lathes that I was using for the knobs. Guess I better get my garage situated pronto.

 

Okay, updates.

My CNC Mill computer will be fixed on Tuesday 8/7, so I should be able to jump back on spacers shortly thereafter.

I am staying at my original job position(with significant changes), but as always I will continue looking for something closer to home.

As far as the garage lathe situation, I had the small/rather weak 10 x 30 lathe on order which I planned to convert to CNC. I have since decided to do this 100% manually as far as lathe work is concerned.

My reasoning is that I need a machine that can remove some metal at a respectable rate. After some emails with Matt over at Quality Machine Tools/Precision Matthews, we decided that upgrading to PM1236 lathe fits that bill for what I am doing (and then some). One unexpected bonus is that I will get the machine about a month sooner than the lathe I originally had on order. The higher cost of the larger lathe will be about a wash when factoring in the costs of converting the smaller one to CNC. I also went ahead and got ALL of the bells/whistles for it.

Tooling however will push the manual method a bit higher in cost, but I think it will be worth it in the long run for the time savings. I will also still be able to offer stainless AT and MT hybrids due to the extra power. Luckily I am pretty strong with my shop math, so I can calculate the manual rough turning steps and then finish with one of these (not cheap). I would need the 3s model, and checking ebay prices they seem to hold resale value like our Tacos ... makes sense to just get a new one. I could design something, but meh holdridge is the gold standard not going to mess with it.

Once I get this all in process I will be sure to display everything with pictures and what not. For now, I have to work on getting an electrician to install 220-240V 20a outlet in my garage.

 

I also have a close friend that wants to buy into my "business" to help it grow at a faster pace, but I really do not think I am close to that kind of arrangement yet. Also hesitant, because these arrangements are foreign to me and I would probably regret it down the road.

 

Yeah. That could be problematic, esp if it is just you in your spare time.

 

Yeah, that is the problem with bootstrapping. I am already taking heavy time losses just to keep the price structures reasonable, sharing profits will take even more out of my pocket. He may bring in more work (he's an armorer), though.

Machine time will most likely increase with the process change, but it should be pretty close.

I will surely have to talk to a mod, because setup time on a manual is going to be the big killer. Isn't so bad if I can run in large batches, but I also can't take orders. I see other non-vendors taking orders on here, but I really don't think I want to play with the proverbial piranha.

 

What could be fun is somehow working into a split gig where you could go part time or even an alternate full time schedule until you get things stable. That is if you see it really taking off.

You could do a order list in small batches if that would make you comfortable while getting folks what they want and keep the pressure down on you. Like a five slot list? Keep the funds in the app until the parts are shipped? Sort of like an escrow setup. That way, if anything happens, it's one button press and the money gets refunded.

 

That sounds close to what I had in mind. 3-5 per week, and no more than 3 weeks out to keep me from getting buried as well as keeping lead times in check. Increase if that becomes a cake walk. I still feel like this is breaking the rules though, but maybe I'm just being paranoid.

 

Like you said, other folks are doing a similar thing seemingly successfully. Just keep it comfortable for you and listen for any ripples.

 

Anyone have tips for installing the spacers? Bolts go in fine without spacer in place. Can’t seem to get the right side in.

 

The hole in the spacer is 4mm larger than the bolt, so you should have some float to work with on both the spacers and rear mount hole of the seat.

You might need to loosen the front mount bolts to get a bit of play in the seat? Once you get the rears started nicely by hand, retorque the front bolts first, then the rears.

 

The mill computer is all fixed. I was lucky enough to be able to clone the original spinny-drive onto a brand new SSD, so I can continue machining as if nothing happened.

Duracoat test piece looks pretty great (no excessive buildup in the engravings as I anticipated), and my armorer friend is on board with performing the service. Still haven't decided on pricing, but a can of this stuff is about $60 and is good for 5 to 6 knobs. Throw a few bucks in for his time ($10-$20 ea), and we're good. No reason why spacers can't be thrown into the mix as well.

Only issue with the duracoat, is that you need to use the entire can within 24 or 48 hrs once it is mixed with the hardening agent. I'll likely only offer 2 colors (black/gray), unless somebody wants to just buy an entire can for themselves of course. Lead times might increase a bit as we wait for the 5 to 6 slots to fill up so the full can will be utilized. That is going to be a problem I am thinking, but we'll see how it works out.



Edit:
Oh yeah, V2.0 MT knob is a confirmed fit on 2nd Gen (already confirmed fit on 3rd gen). My software engineer friend who fixed my hard drive situation has a 2009 SR5 5MT, so I was able to do a proper test fit while I was there. The collar looks to be about the same diameter to my eye, so I feel pretty confident selling them for 2nd Gens.

 

That is a really nice finish in black.

It's great to hear that you are back up and running.

 

It's here ... and holy shit is it heavy. The pallet jack wasn't cutting it, so I gave it a push in 4lo. The SSO bumper came in very handy today.

 

Oh man. Now you have to hoist it on to the stand.

Good luck!

I'd just use it on the pallet.

 

I'm going to have to jack it up to get the bottom pallet out, otherwise my engine hoist has no chance to position over it. Ugh, I need an adult.

 

Nah. Just get some of your little buddies with BMX bikes. It'll go swell!

 

I'm hurt. I just found this place...I wasn't even invited *sniff*

 

Everybody is invited, I have a link to here in my signature. Glad you found it!

 

No, I wasn't "invited" like hey @TeecoTaco we're over here talking aboot all kinda cool shit and saying nasty things aboot ya and disparaging your coloUrful accent! Come join in on the shenanigans!

Nooooo, I had to resort to some low level asshattery stalking shit...I'm not proud of what I have done. Well, maybe some but this isn't about ME! Oh, wait

Like the new (old) digs. How y'all doin?