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Making Wooden Knobs
| I find wing nuts and thumbscrews are just too small to get enough leverage. There are nice factory made knobs available but they cost money and usually I want one now so I have been making them out of wood. I use hardwood or baltic birch plywood at least 1/2" thick. |  |
This is how I mark the wood to make a 2" diameter knob. Mark off two lines 2 1/2" long that intersect at right angles, drill 7/8" diameter holes centered at the end of each line.
With a 2 1/8" hole saw cut out the knob, the actual size of the knob will be the size of the inside of the hole saw, in this case 2".
To use the knob as a nut, drill out the center hole to 5/16" and press a t-nut into it. Drill a 5/16" hole through the center of a 3/4" long, 3/4" diameter dowel, glue this to the back of the knob, slip a 1/4" bolt through the hole and tighten it to hold the dowel until the glue dries.
To use the knob with a threaded stub on it you do not need the dowel, press the t-nut into the knob, thread a length of ready rod into the t-nut then add two ordinary nuts with a washer to the ready rod and lock them to each other.
I prefer to use "fender washers" with the knobs, they tend to do less damage to the surface of the jig.
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