Want to buy a custom shift knob?
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I'm wanting to start a little side hustle, making custom shift knobs from pool balls. But before I open an Etsy store, I thought I'd offer a first run here at an Oppo discount.
Piston knob in my '84 MustangPool balls make great shift knobs, though just a little too large to comfortably fit in my hand. The solution should have been obvious: Make them smaller!
Small Diamond knob in a 2011 Prius (Please excuse the dust)Since I have access to CAD (and spent way too much time working on designs), here are 9 styles that should work well and I know I can make.
Please note the diameters! The small ones are quite small. (My favorite so far is the Jumbo Type R, but I have big hands.)
Plus, I'm adding a brass insert for the threads (stronger threads than the pool ball resin), and I'll tap them to fit whichever application you want. (I haven't tried an unthreaded install yet, but I'd be willing to try).
I've used a few for prototypes, so these numbers are still available:
2 @HoustonRunner
3 @Poor_sh
5 @t0ast
6 @CivicWagonEngineer
7 @flatisflat
8 @SmugAardvark
9 @Miss-Mercedes
10 @jminer
12 @just-a-scratch
13 @way2blu
15 @davesaddiction
(I'll cross them out as they get claimed)I'm asking $35 (including shipping in the US, I'll have to do some calcs for international) for your choice of number, cut to your choice of shape, threaded to fit to your car.
EDIT: For the "ordering", I think it's a good idea to reply here to claim the number you want, and then we can use chat (or email) to fill in the rest. I usually use Paypal, but let me know if that wouldn't work.
You can get a fairly cheap custom knob, I'll get some practice to iron out my method. Win win!
Please ask if you have any questions! (I have a couple more prototypes I could show, but one is best chalked up as a "learning experience").
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@cobrajoe Ooohhhhh this is so awesome!
I'm going to take advantage of your poor planning at posting this after midnight eastern though and claim one! You should probably edit the post and add in how to you want us to contact you (chat, email, or so on).
The 10 ball if it's still available in Jumbo Type-R if those are the options I get to pick!
Again this is very cool.
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Please accept this Oppo Gold endorsement.(It’s worthless coming from me, but you have it)
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@cobrajoe I am interested in the 12 as the piston shape. Message me with info on payment. I'll have to check on the thread type for the shifter.
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I could go for the #5 in tapered form. Would serve as a nice replacement for the Exocet's tired OEM knob
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@cobrajoe Sign me up for an 8-Ball in the "Grooved Cylinder" design, if possible.
The C5 has a 9/16" x 18 thread. Just let me know if you can add me to the list and where to send you some money.
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@cobrajoe Ooo, these are awesome!
Are the Skeleton ones the same size as normal balls, just with the lines cut in?
I ask as I wouldn't mind getting one for my Accent sometime made from a cue ball if that were possible...but I've love for it to just be plain old white and spherical...always liked those old-school ones! Though maybe a bit smaller than a pool ball (if you could shrink it down? I have smaller hands...)
Probably be while 'til I could get one though with holiday spending and whatnot...$35 USD is a million Canadian, plus shipping, haha!
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Is good stuff!
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@cobrajoe If you are up for trying the BMW unthreaded fit type knob, put me down for 2 ball (blue to match the Pacific Blue interior of my E28), piston style. Let me know if I need to research dimensions for the fit.
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@rusty-vandura said in Want to buy a custom shift knob?:
Is good stuff!
My only problem with these is shown in this pic (I've been looking at that second gen Mazda3 dash and console for 5.5 years). With the "floating" boot in this car the knob needs to go down low enough to sit on top and hold it down and cover the gap. The threads are higher up on the rod so the insert needs to be deeper and have a smaller diameter at the bottom to sit further down. The complication here is there is no way to properly orient a numbered ball with this construction.
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Great job !
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@rallydarkstrike Right, the skeleton ball is full size. I'd love to be able to make a smaller sphere, but I don't have the tooling to do that yet.
But if you want one in a few months, a cue ball shouldn't be hard to find!
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@cobrajoe Sign me up for # 13 in the large diamond size! Contact me @ way2blu on instagram or we can use the chat here too.
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@houstonrunner I think the most straight forward way of attaching to an unthreaded shaft is with a set screw (or two) through the side of the brass. Maybe I can add a sleeve too, but that depends on the shaft diameter.
I'll mark you down as wanting the 2 ball, and I'll start looking into mounting requirements, though you might be able to get them faster. (I think I would only need shaft diameter, and mounting depth)
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@cobrajoe I can definitely find part numbers and pictures, I'll have to look and see if I can find dimensions. BMW from that era (and up to the 2000's at least) use a tension fit - to remove you basically just need to pull straight up really hard. (Though there is technique needed so you don't end up with a self-inflicted black eye.)
EDIT: A very quick google search found this: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/bmw-e30-shift-knob-insert
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@zaphod-s-heart-of-gold said in Want to buy a custom shift knob?:
With the "floating" boot in this car the knob needs to go down low enough to sit on top and hold it down and cover the gap. The threads are higher up on the rod so the insert needs to be deeper and have a smaller diameter at the bottom to sit further down. The complication here is there is no way to properly orient a numbered ball with this construction.
If you want a knob that is low enough to fit the boot, that is a problem. Some shift knobs are taller than the 2 1/4 diameter of the pool ball, and if they have a deep hole for the threads, I'll never be able to drill and tap deep enough to cover to the same depth. (Well, not without a lot of brass showing below the knob anyways. That would be very possible but I'd need some dimensions to work with.).
Another problem is reverse lockout rings. Some nest inside the bottom of the shift knob, and I'm not certain I can accommodate those with the "standard" set of designs. I might be up for trying something out, if someone has a specific application and a set of calipers for measurements.
But good news! There is a way to properly orient the number! Using a separate insert for the threads means you could screw the brass insert on the knob first, and then slip the knob on with a bit of glue to keep it from slipping off.
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@cobrajoe said in Want to buy a custom shift knob?:
@zaphod-s-heart-of-gold said in Want to buy a custom shift knob?:
With the "floating" boot in this car the knob needs to go down low enough to sit on top and hold it down and cover the gap. The threads are higher up on the rod so the insert needs to be deeper and have a smaller diameter at the bottom to sit further down. The complication here is there is no way to properly orient a numbered ball with this construction.
If you want a knob that is low enough to fit the boot, that is a problem. Some shift knobs are taller than the 2 1/4 diameter of the pool ball, and if they have a deep hole for the threads, I'll never be able to drill and tap deep enough to cover to the same depth. (Well, not without a lot of brass showing below the knob anyways. That would be very possible but I'd need some dimensions to work with.).
Another problem is reverse lockout rings. Some nest inside the bottom of the shift knob, and I'm not certain I can accommodate those with the "standard" set of designs. I might be up for trying something out, if someone has a specific application and a set of calipers for measurements.
But good news! There is a way to properly orient the number! Using a separate insert for the threads means you could screw the brass insert on the knob first, and then slip the knob on with a bit of glue to keep it from slipping off.
On the last point yes, I thought of that afterward. I had a knob in a previous car that had this and it was fiddly but did work once I got it set. It was a crazy heavy steel knob though that didn't last long with me and it got way too hot in the summer.
I went through many shift knobs on my car before I settled on a delrin Cobb shift knob that has been with me for years now. I understand my car is a specific case (luckily no reverse ring, the stick pushes down to pass the detent instead), just pointing out the only flaw I see based on experience.
Unclear but are you making them out of actual pool balls? If so that's even cooler, i wasn't sure if these were made to shape and finished like pool balls or made from actual balls
Balls and knobs...this thread is going to go off the rails
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@houstonrunner "Tension fit" is new to me! (Thanks for the info, that was a lot quicker than my efforts).
I'm willing to give it a shot, let me see if I can design something that works.
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@zaphod-s-heart-of-gold Actual pool balls! (The color goes all the way through, at least on the ones I'm using now).
And I've felt your pain with the metal knob, I had a couple of cars with aluminum knobs. Way too hot in the summer, way too cold in the winter. That's why I like using pool balls, they're a lot more comfortable in the hot and cold seasons.
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@cobrajoe said in Want to buy a custom shift knob?:
@zaphod-s-heart-of-gold Actual pool balls! (The color goes all the way through, at least on the ones I'm using now).
And I've felt your pain with the metal knob, I had a couple of cars with aluminum knobs. Way too hot in the summer, way too cold in the winter. That's why I like using pool balls, they're a lot more comfortable in the hot and cold seasons.
Aluminum is THE WORST. I refuse to use them again, been burned (literally and figuratively) too many times.
Cool to hear on the construction, I am more interested now but would have to discuss actual possible dimensions
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@jb-boin Excellent. Just straight excellent memes!
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@cobrajoe Woah, this is WAY more shapes than I thought you were going to come out the gate with! This is very cool, very cool indeed.
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@cobrajoe could you press fit the inserts as part of the user's install? Drill the hole a few thousandths too small for the insert, thread the insert on, then fit the ball with like a rubber mallet or something?
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@zaphod-s-heart-of-gold Get @CobraJoe to mill you a black plastic sleeve to go between the boot and the bottom of the knob.
