Secret Senna!

[Rusty Vandura]

@CobraJoe sent me a custom shift knob turned from a cue ball. What a fun and thoughtful present! The package arrived and the knob was wrapped in lots of paper and I had to keep unwrapping to figure out what it was. Dee Lightful! Seems very well made. Then Mrs. Vandura and I went out and did some errands. Great fun. THANK YOU!!

Gave me a Mando flashback...

[RallyDarkstrike]

@rusty-vandura Oh, that is super cool!

[sn4cktimes]

@rusty-vandura That is neat! I've never thought of a pool-ball as material to be turned on a lathe.

[Rusty Vandura]

@rallydarkstrike Yes, it really is cool and totally unexpected.

[Rusty Vandura]

@sn4cktimes I am waiting to learn whether @CobraJoe makes these himself or just geeks on them. Either way is fine with me!

[Snakesm13]

@rusty-vandura This is one of the communities best traditions, behind chicken parm of course.

That is a truly thoughtful and unique present.

[Taylor Martin]

@rusty-vandura Ooooh that's nice. I've seen 8 balls but this one is more original (and honestly, more dynamic-looking).

[Rusty Vandura]

@snakesm13 Not only that, but in the note he sent, he said it's for the Mazda 3, so he's been paying attention to my posts. And I haven't mentioned the Mazda in months that I'm aware of.

[sn4cktimes]

@rusty-vandura I have access to a lathe at work... I'd be interested in knowing. Tag me when you find out.

[Rusty Vandura]

@taylor-martin I'd think if you turned the 8-ball any, you'd cut through the black and it would be some other color.

[Chariotoflove]

@rusty-vandura Neat and unique! The perfect Senna gift.

[CobraJoe]

@rusty-vandura I'm glad you like it! (And I'm glad it fit too)

And yes, I made it myself. I bought a mini-lathe a few months ago, and I'm having a blast figuring out what exactly I can do with it.

BTW, that offer stands for a different threaded insert if you want to put it on something else.

[CobraJoe]

@sn4cktimes If you can hold onto the ball, it's quite easy to cut. I'm pretty sure there are people that cut them on wood lathes, so my mini metal lathe is almost overkill.

[CobraJoe]

@sn4cktimes Can confirm, they're very easy to cut on a lathe, but very hard to hold if your chuck is too small.

[CobraJoe]

@rusty-vandura I bought a decent quality set of pool balls just for that reason. Aramith showed on their website that the color went all the way through, so I got a used set to experiment.

I can confirm that the colors on the Aramith Crown pool balls go all the way through, but it does look inconsistent sometimes. The numbers aren't very deep, and you can't trust the white spot to be centered. I drill the 4 ball dead center on one spot, and the other is about 1/8in off center.

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@cobrajoe i want one for my Miata. Now red pool ball. What do I need to pay? Time is not important, I can supply materials. Please please please?

[CobraJoe]

@poor_sh I was planning on selling a few of them, maybe even giving an Oppo discount...

I'll make a post on the main page sometime soon, and I'll try to tag you in it so you don't miss it.

(And I still haven't used the red 3 ball for anything yet.)

[davesaddiction]

@cobrajoe said in Secret Senna!:

I bought a mini-lathe a few months ago, and I'm having a blast figuring out what exactly I can do with it.

Cool! Which one did you buy?

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@cobrajoe thanks!

[Rusty Vandura]

@cobrajoe All the better. And it fits just fine. I was surprised when I removed Mazda's knob by how much mass it had. I thought it was especially thoughtful of you to note what I was driving and mention the 3 specifically. Thank you.

[sn4cktimes]

@cobrajoe Too small of a chuck’s not an issue. I can outside grab 1.25”-18”.

[Rusty Vandura]

@cobrajoe Have you made any video for YouTube of your pool ball escapades?

[orneryduck]

@cobrajoe that' an awesome idea and good info. I'm going to be venturing into a manual transmission conversion on my Mach1 in the next year or two, and was planning on a white ball shifter for the old school look. A cue ball, or even a yellow(?) '1' ball may be neat alternatives to consider.

Do they sell them individually, or was as a set the only option?

[CobraJoe]

@rusty-vandura No videos yet, but that's not a bad idea.

Well, as long as people don't mind my "just make it work" type tooling...

[CobraJoe]

@orneryduck Pool balls make for great shift knobs. Easy to modify, fairly cheap to acquire, and fairly comfortable in extreme temps. (Very unlike the aluminum pistol grip I had in my Mach 1).

You can find pool balls individually on amazon or ebay or Etsy, usually around $10 each, and the hardest part about drilling them is getting the hole on center.

But, you can also find people on ebay or Etsy that drill and tap them to the size you want for $25-$30 each. The threads will be directly in the resin, which is somewhat soft, but it's hard to argue with the price for a custom fit shift knob.

Personally, I always thought an unmodified pool ball was just a little too large for a shift knob, which is why I tried carving one on my lathe.

BTW, be sure to post some pics of the Mach 1, I really miss my '04.