Wood knobs for guitar

If you're going with bubinga or any of the exotic hard woods, you should be able to drill and tap a hole in the knob for a set screw. Don't go with a fine thread thouugh. Anbd when you tap the hole, cut a little, back the tap out to clear chips and go a little more.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Chances are this method will work, and if you don't remove the knobs very often, it should last a long time. If the threads eventually strip, I suggest inserting a Helicoil. That should last forever. For myself, I think I would just go ahead and do it with a Helicoil to start with.

Another possibility: look around for an old radio, amplifier or something that has wood or plastic knobs. Chuck them in your lathe and cannibalize the inserts.

I have a metal lathe so making inserts is almost baby talk.

One thing to consider - erector sets had double screw rod connectors.

A cylinder with two screw threads... So one takes them out - find a long set screw (after turning) - e.g. make a set screw from a screw cut off and a slot cut with a razor saw or dremmel tool.

You might be able to find such a thing at a hardware store.

Score the outside - and then epoxy or just glue in a close fitting hole. Might find a metal insert in plumbing parts or electrical..... window shop.

Mart> Hello,

here are some links that may supply what you want - th elast link is probably exactly right to make two of them

Taking a look at some details, using Schaller tuning machines the knobs are placeable.

From the spec drawings it appears they are just through holes with a screw in the end. I'm sure there's probably a metal insert through the knob. You would definitely need to install that insert well before you start taking the knob down to it's final shape. Hope this helps.

I never made knobs for a guitar specifically, but I have made a bunch of knobs for other things, especially electric fans, appliances, jigs, and electronics. It seems like I am always repairing stuff. You don't really need to get fancy with the attachment for your guitar pots. We are talking about a basically round shaft with a flat on one side, right? I just make a round hole and don't worry about the flat. If you turn the hole with a tiny scraper made from an allen wrench or a concrete nail you can make a nice friction fit, and that's all you need 90 percent of the time. A couple times I had an off switch that was kind of tough and found a couple ways to make the fit stronger. The easiest was a tiny drop of hot melt. If you ever need to remove the knob, a few seconds with a hair drier loosens it right up. That didn't work on a fan I had in the shop window in the hot summer sun, so I turned a tiny dowel the size of the hole, cut a slice off to match the flat, and glued it in the hole with yellow glue. Worked like a champ. A couple other times I made the hole a little too loose and was too lazy to try again, so I rubbed in a layer of yellow glue with a toothpick and let it dry, then did it again and let that dry. That made the hole just enough smaller to give a nice friction fit. If you want to get fancy with set screws and such, go for it, but it isn't necessary.

If you decide to use a set screw, you generally don't really need to use an insert or even tap the hole. I have had great success making the hole just a little small so the threads of the set screw bite into the wood a bit. That's plenty good unless you need to remove the knob often, but I don't exect you'd be doing that with a guitar knob.

I had a good chuckle one day when I was at the Wood Emporium in Loveland. I was chatting with Loren, the owner, when a couple guys came in that I recognized from one of the local turning clubs. They were making some woodworking jigs for their shops and BOUGHT some knobs. I couldn't believe it. They were woodturners, for pete's sake. They could have made the knobs faster than making a trip to store, saved the money they spent, and had the fun of turning their own knobs. Go figure. Maybe they had an ulterior motive, like perhaps it was an excuse to tell their wives they had to go someplace, and it just happened to be near Baskin Robbins.

-mike paulson, fort collins, co

Thanks for all the responses and advice!!!

Bill's link,

, is what I had in mind for an insert. Although these would have to be cut in half. Not a bad idea, that way I would have two inserts. The more I thought about it, there might be a problem drilling and matching up the hole in the wood knob exactly where it is on the insert, and this would be done before I push in the insert. Also there's a chance of getting CA or epoxy in the tapped hole for the set screw when I push the insert in the knob. I like the idea of using a Helicoil. I never heard of those before. Looks like a great product. Thanks Leo! One day I may even try these: I might try to tap a hole in the wood knob and leave out the insert. Although I know someone who did this and they said the threads stripped out quickly. However, once the knobs are on the guitar, there's really no reason to take them on and off. So I might be over thinking this whole thing. I may even try what Mike said and try a simple friction fit and see how that works. Do you think the rise/drop of humidity could make the knobs lose and fall off? BTW, here's one of the leading guys in the field of wooded guitar knobs. I have contacted him and all he could tell me was that he machines his own inserts. One thing that boggles my mind is how does he powers the LED's in some of his knobs??? Click on gallery to see examples of his work. Thanks again guys, I really appreciated all the advice! Roy