Making a Wooden Shift Knob

[Captain Obvious]

I just finished fixing a stripped out shift knob for another Z owner and after messing with his wooden shift knob, I decided that I liked it. While I had his original wooden knob in the shop as an example, I figured I would try my hand at fashioning myself a new knob.

Here's a shot of my new knob in process:

And here is the trio... My faux leather black plastic, the wooden knob I just made, the original wood knob I just fixed:

I'm no woodworker, and know pretty much nothing about finishes, etc. Any woodworkers in the house that can provide some input into stains, finishes, etc? Can anyone tell what type of wood and finish was used on the original? I used some light colored wood with a tight grain, but I don't even know what it was... I'm sure there are woodworkers in our midst!! :bulb:

[ninjazombiemaster]

Looks great, I really like the grain!

My best guess on the stain, is it needs a medium darkness stain with some orange hues to look like the original. If you've got more of the wood you used on the knob laying around, you'll have plenty of test subjects to work with. The banner photo at the top of the page is a great example of the color they were. While you've got mine, I've got a very dark walnut knob in its place. I really think the original, lighter finish looks better, and accents the otherwise dark, black leather interior.

I've lacquered guitar necks with aerosol cans, which worked well for me. They sell a high gloss spray that will make it grippy and shiny, as well as bring out the 3D effect of the grain. You'd want to place it on a spare shifter, tape it off and spray several coats, with an hour or two between. Let it sit somewhere with little dust to get caught in the finish, and give it 24 hours before finish sanding. Wet sand with very fine papers to smooth out the goosebump texture the spray leaves into a perfect gloss and you're set.

Great job, can't wait to see it finished - as well as see mine a step closer to its former glory.

[hls30.com]

What you have is a pretty nice replacement!

Much closer to the original than any of the generic aftermarket ones!. Even the wood looks close!

If I didn't have such a hangup about original parts, I would use one of yours with a reproduction button, and be done with it.

For now I would just put some paste wax on the knob-it will bring out the grain more, and actually look finished(wiping it with a damp rag will bring out the grain aswell, but not change its ability to take stain when it dries.)

The original finish on the knobs must not have been much more than a wipe with stain-maybe a single coating with an amber or tea stain-I have never found an original with anything left but color-meaning I have never seen one with remnants of worn through finish.

Even the NOS one I have feels like bare raw wood-it just looks stained-the new Nissan one obviously has a sealing coating on it to have the shine. The NOS one has the same feel as a clean used one.

The new Nissan ones also seem to be a different wood-though it may be a difference in old and new growth.

I considered turning new ones-but restoring an original part(when it can be properly restored)-instead of replacing it is one of my hangups-still, yours does look mighty good!

[Carl Beck]

The metal retainer on the bottom of the OEM knob - is there to help prevent the knob from splitting/cracking, as well as to keep the set nut from hitting the wood. So long term it is very important.

Tongue Oil - or some other oil finish will also help keep the wood from splitting/cracking.

[Mikes Z car]

Nice work, I have wondered what could be done in making a wood knob. I wonder if something that nice looking could be done with a drill being used as a lathe instead of an actual lathe?

Edited November 5, 2012 by Mikes Z car
correct spelling

[EhlersRS]

Looks good Bruce! Is there anything that you can't fabricate? I finally got the new spray bar installed last night, but have a few more things to work out to get the engine started. I look forward to seeing the new spray bar in action! Again, good job on the shift knob!

Robert S.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Bravo, and an amateur furniture builder I love any thing involving real wood. BRAVO!!!

[Captain Obvious]

Thanks guys. To be honest, I was not expecting it to turn out as well as it did. I figured that this being my first attempt, and mostly freehand at that, this first one was going to be a test bed disposable. Because of that, I didn't want to spend a lot of money. The only scrap wood I had laying around was cut-offs from pine 2x4s from various projects gone by. So I went to the local Big Box Store and paid $3 for one of these:

I'm was never expecting a perfect match to the original, but it looked close enough for a test run. It was light in color, had a nice tight grain like the original, and was large enough that I could take material off to shape it similar to the original. And... It was $3 and I could have it today. I have no idea what kind of wood it actually is, but the structure is pretty similar to the stock knob. I've got the cut off ends that I can use to test finishes.

Since I was trying to achieve a shape similar to the original knob, the first thing I did was use the original knob to make a sorta contour gauge to use as a guide for shaping the new knob. Crude, but this is what I came up with:

As for finishes, I don't think there's any clear coating on the original. There's probably some stain or oil, but nothing like varnish or shellac. So for my first shot, should I use stain or some kind of oil? I think I've got an ancient can of "Golden Oak" stain in the basement... Wonder what that would do?

And here's a shot of boring the recess for the shift map. Just because I like "in action" photos:

[Captain Obvious]

Carl, Hate to break it to ya, but that "metal" retainer on the bottom of the OEM knob is actually chrome plated plastic. I don't know if all of the years are like that, but here's the one I just fixed. This is the plastic insert removed from the OEM wood knob:

I made a brass threaded insert to repair this one, so NOW it has metal in it. Prior to this, however, the only metal in the OEM knob was the copper and chrome plating on the plastic. I also made a similar brass insert for my new wooden retro-knob. You can see a little brass in the hole at the base. So now they have metal in them, but from the factory... Nope.

[Mikes Z car]

Captain Obvious,

I admire that kind of resourcefulness, making a part from something else. How did you make the brass insert?

Edited November 5, 2012 by Mikes Z car

[Captain Obvious]

I admire that kind of resourcefulness, making a part from something else. How did you make the brass insert?

Haha! Well it didn't start as resourcefulness in the traditional sense. I was just trying to get my hands on something quick and cheap. I got lucky mostly.

I made the brass insert on my lathe. You might be able to turn the wood on a drill as you mentioned above, but you'd be hard pressed to make the insert.

A buddy who does some wood working came over today and I showed him the original and my retro. He wasn't positive, but his guess was that the stock knob is maple and my copy is poplar. He also supports the oil finish thoughts and echoed the tung oil suggestion. Anyone got a block of maple that's itchin to find a new home?

Is there anything that you can't fabricate?

Haha! I was born too late. A couple hundred years ago I might have been the village tinker.

But to answer your question... In the aftermath of the recent hurricane, I made an exhaust pipe extension for my generator so I could run the generator in the garage without having to keep the garage door open. I cut and soldered a contraption of copper sweat pipe such that I could run the pipe extension under a mostly closed garage door. It was brilliant!!

Looked great. Fit great. Worked great. Brilliant I say!!

For a few minutes...

And that's when I discovered that the exhaust gases coming from a typical generator is way hot enough to desolder copper sweat pipe. I went in the basement to check on the sump pump, and by the time I came back up it had melted the solder and blown itself right off the generator. I wasted a lot of time on that one!! :stupid:

[ninjazombiemaster]

While I agree that the wood you used appears to be poplar, I believe the original knobs were a light walnut. Mine may just be a particularly light specimen.

See MSA's stock knob.

Walnut

And Maple