Been checking out a lot of videos on woodworking and tools and i will say, you are by far one of the best out there. No dramatics or awkward attempts at being funny. Just good solid techniques and brilliant innovation! My regards!
Excellent design and presentation, thank you. I like that you clearly described each step & the reason for each with a quick demo of the machining process without having us watch you drill holes. I'll be using a lot of information from this video in upcoming projects.
Glad you liked it. Check out the other videos on my channel as you will find many more useful ideas. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe! That is what keeps this channel going. Ron
PROFESSIONAL VID! Fantastic. As I note to most guys...the less echo... the more professional. I am sure that will come. Wireless mikes cost money but the result is worth it! THANKS dude, you are awesome.
I just made a few of these for a machine I'm building! Same method that you explain here in your video. You did a great job here . The only thing I did different was press in the T-nut using my vise. Better to make your own because you can make them any size you wish! Good Job Ron!
Actually, I used particle board because I had some scraps of it lying around. It is low quality material but it is good enough for a star knob and looks pretty good when varnished. You could use anything for these… plywood, MDF, hardwood and possibly Plexiglas if you heated the t-nuts before inserting.
Exact dimensions are not critical as these knobs can be made any size to suit the application. The spacer shown is a 1-5/8” diameter disc (which fits inside the 1-5/8” spot face recess) with a 5/16” hole drilled in it. I sanded it round (see video: Disc Sander - Circle Sanding Jig) and then rounded over the outside edge. The spacer is what traps the T-Nut in position when the pieces are glued together.
best video of this I've seen, clear, common sense, easy to follow instructions, no stupid music. I was thinking that if I'd use a threaded bolt instead and epoxied it into the knob, then it might add a little extra strength. Then the t-nut would be in the piece I was screwing it into. Have you experimented with that? If so which have you found better?
The T-Nut in the knob (as shown) is probably stronger than the head of a bolt epoxied into the knob because the T-Nut is larger in diameter... have not tried it.
Thanks Ron... I am curious to know why you chose particle board for these knobs.... particle board crumbles so easily and is such low quality material. Wouldn't some sort of hard wood be better for this application? Thanks again for all your instructional vids!
Instead of t-nuts you can do the same with just a regular nut. Measure the distance between two parallel sides of the nut, countersink a hole that side, a little epoxy, and either hammer or press the nut into the hole. Its slightly cheaper and sometimes easier to find regular nuts rather than t- nuts.
I do the same thing. I counterbore just a bit smaller than the nut using a Forstner bit, then use the visible tip dimple as a guide to drill the rest of the hole just a tiny bit smaller than the bolt itself. I screw the bolt through onto the nut and draw the nut in so it seats securely. I've made several knobs and none has failed me yet. I use simple round knobs I have made out of square pieces, using a stationary sander and a drill, so they're perfectly symmetrical.
Ron, you are an excellent teacher and your videos are very well done. You should go to Washington D.C. and try to teach those morons a thing or two ! Thanks for your efforts, Kenny C. Oregon
Just a thought, but it seems like the threads would be stronger if the T-nuts were flipped over and pressed into the spacer since that's basically how they're made to work. The only problem is that when tightening the knob, all the force is applied to the epoxy holding the two pieces together. Just curious if you tried it both ways and found that your method here is stronger.
***** This way the prongs of the T-nut are into the body of the knob which is where the applied torque is. I have had no reason to try it with the T-nut in the spacer. I have not had a failure but then again I have not tried to make one fail.
360 divided by 5 equals 72 degrees, so use a protractor to measure your angles. No protractor… guess at the segment length (roughly half way between 60 and 90 degrees) then use a compass or dividers to walk around the circumference, fine tuning the marks until you have 5 equal segments. Or Google it for a much more sophisticated geometric approach, which is totally unnecessary for this project.
Hi Ron..Just looking around the youtube to see what some people did for a drum sander and ran across the one that you built.I need to make one and wonder if you have any prints on the one that you built.If so are the plans available to purchase? Please let me know.
The original plans were ShopNotes Vol 15 Issue 86 published May 2006 titled “Build Your Own Thickness Sander” However, I hacked their plans quite a bit and what I ended up with is quite a bit different. Read the construction article on woodgears.ca The link is in the description for the sander video. This sander was originally designed to be powered by your table saw, which I thought would be a big pain so I made the unit taller for its own motor. It also had a hand-crank conveyor, which did not work out for me.
Ronald Walters I guess there is no way I'm going to find the plans for this sander as I'm sure I don't have the article that you mention in your reply to me. I guess I'll have to see if I can draw up some plans after relly taking a hard look at what you have done. I used to get Shopnotes but I do not remember this sander.Thank you so much for your reply and hopefully some one reading these posts will find this information and drop me a note at wm.goyman@gmail.com.Thank you again Bill
William Goyman Google search for “ShopNotes Vol 15 Issue 86” and you will find various sellers including Amazon-dot-com for around $12.00 and it has a thumbnail of the cover showing the sander (at least you’ll know what you are looking for).
Why does the plastic version of these from Westlakes spin around threaded shaft if much torque is applied. drives me crazy to buy them, then find they don't allow you tighten something down without it slipping, and then not being able to loosen nut because knob spins. Junk. Guess one has to make these in house to get one that works well.
Ronald Walters I did thanks but all rather complicated using a protractor which I don't have so just thought you may know off hand what distance you measured. I was planning on making one the same size as this. Thanks anyway.
***** OK... I made this several years ago and do not remember the measurements. Here are three different ways to do it. 1). 360 degrees divided by 5 = 72 degrees. You can approximate what 72 deg would be and take a compass or better yet use a pair of dividers and walk around the circumference of the circle approximating what 5 equal divisions would be. Increase or decrease your compass or dividers setting until you obtain exactly 5 equal divisions. It doesn't take very long to zero in on it and that is probably what I did on that project. 2). Go to woodgears.ca and click on the gear template generator. Click on Dividing Plate Mode and set Gear 1 Teeth to "5". That will give you 5 equal divisions and you can print that. I have also used this method of dividing a circle several times for various projects. 3). Google - Printable Protractor and use one of those to layout 72 degree segments.
shouldn;t the T-nut go to the bottom part instead of the top one. In your build when you tighten the screw it will try tear the nut out of the top knob.
peter smith I made them this way so the barbs of the t-nut are going into the larger stronger piece of material. Good chance the smaller piece could split when the barbs are driven in. Built as shown and assembled with epoxy I have never had one fail and I have also made them using baltic birch plywood. These are not meant to hold something nut & bolt tight. These are used on jigs & fixtures for the shop and just snug or hand tight is good enough. Manufactured star knobs often only have a regular hex nut or threaded metal insert inside the plastic knob so I know this is considerably stronger than that. If you assemble with epoxy and then manage to tear the barbs loose from the wood handle, you would be using it for the wrong application.
Been checking out a lot of videos on woodworking and tools and i will say, you are by far one of the best out there. No dramatics or awkward attempts at being funny. Just good solid techniques and brilliant innovation! My regards!
Excellent design and presentation, thank you. I like that you clearly described each step & the reason for each with a quick demo of the machining process without having us watch you drill holes. I'll be using a lot of information from this video in upcoming projects.
Glad you liked it. Check out the other videos on my channel as you will find many more useful ideas.
Thanks for watching. Please subscribe!
That is what keeps this channel going.
Ron
PROFESSIONAL VID! Fantastic. As I note to most guys...the less echo...
the more professional. I am sure that will come.
Wireless mikes cost money but the result is worth it!
THANKS dude, you are awesome.
I just made a few of these for a machine I'm building! Same method that you explain here in your video. You did a great job here . The only thing I did different was press in the T-nut using my vise. Better to make your own because you can make them any size you wish!
Good Job Ron!
Beautifully implemented - the extra effort and attention to detail clearly pay off in the end result.
Actually, I used particle board because I had some scraps of it lying around. It is low quality material but it is good enough for a star knob and looks pretty good when varnished. You could use anything for these… plywood, MDF, hardwood and possibly Plexiglas if you heated the t-nuts before inserting.
Thanks Ron, excellent video... I'm curious about how you cut threaded rod to length so that the threads aren't damaged.
Exact dimensions are not critical as these knobs can be made any size to suit the application. The spacer shown is a 1-5/8” diameter disc (which fits inside the 1-5/8” spot face recess) with a 5/16” hole drilled in it. I sanded it round (see video: Disc Sander - Circle Sanding Jig) and then rounded over the outside edge. The spacer is what traps the T-Nut in position when the pieces are glued together.
Couldn't ask for a better explanation then this. I was wondering why not use a hole saw to drill the spacer? Thanks for all your effort.
excellent video, will definitely be using these when I set up my workshop
Hmm, great idea... Finding the plastic ones is close to impossible where I live so this is a decent alternative.
Your description was very clear. As a beginner woodworker that helped. Thank you!
best video of this I've seen, clear, common sense, easy to follow instructions, no stupid music.
I was thinking that if I'd use a threaded bolt instead and epoxied it into the knob, then it might add a little extra strength. Then the t-nut would be in the piece I was screwing it into. Have you experimented with that? If so which have you found better?
The T-Nut in the knob (as shown) is probably stronger than the head of a bolt epoxied into the knob because the T-Nut is larger in diameter... have not tried it.
At 2:33 in the video I use a 1-inch Forstner Bit to make the finger grips. If this does not answer your question, please ask again. Thanks! Ron
Thanks Ron. Very cool and practical.
thanks for a great idea,great demo keep them coming.
Very well explained! Thank you for the vid.
Very Nice!! Great job!!
Perfect! I was just looking for something like this.
Thanks for the vid!... What is your method for finding the 5 equal sections after laying out the 3.5 dia circle on the blank?
Thanks Ron... I am curious to know why you chose particle board for these knobs.... particle board crumbles so easily and is such low quality material. Wouldn't some sort of hard wood be better for this application? Thanks again for all your instructional vids!
Great Video, Thank You much...
Instead of t-nuts you can do the same with just a regular nut. Measure the distance between two parallel sides of the nut, countersink a hole that side, a little epoxy, and either hammer or press the nut into the hole. Its slightly cheaper and sometimes easier to find regular nuts rather than t- nuts.
I do the same thing. I counterbore just a bit smaller than the nut using a Forstner bit, then use the visible tip dimple as a guide to drill the rest of the hole just a tiny bit smaller than the bolt itself. I screw the bolt through onto the nut and draw the nut in so it seats securely. I've made several knobs and none has failed me yet. I use simple round knobs I have made out of square pieces, using a stationary sander and a drill, so they're perfectly symmetrical.
Ron, you are an excellent teacher and your videos are very well done. You should go to Washington D.C. and try to teach those morons a thing or two ! Thanks for your efforts, Kenny C. Oregon
Great post, thank you.
Good stuff my friend nice
Good stuff Ron, should save a few bob in costs as well. (English term)
you might mix some of you sawdust with epoxy to fill in the hole where the threaded rod shows through.
Thank you for the lesson! :)
Just a thought, but it seems like the threads would be stronger if the T-nuts were flipped over and pressed into the spacer since that's basically how they're made to work. The only problem is that when tightening the knob, all the force is applied to the epoxy holding the two pieces together. Just curious if you tried it both ways and found that your method here is stronger.
***** This way the prongs of the T-nut are into the body of the knob which is where the applied torque is. I have had no reason to try it with the T-nut in the spacer. I have not had a failure but then again I have not tried to make one fail.
Ronald Walters I figured that's why you did it that way, and it makes sense. Thanks for your reply.
Great stuff,,,,,thanks.
what exactly was your method for making the spacer? I'm trying to make some and can't find a perfect system
Nice explanation.
that that's what I mean precisely that this drill at 2:34 means it is 1 inch thank you very much for your response
GREETINGS FROM SERBIAN
thank you my friend
gratifying
Nice work
360 divided by 5 equals 72 degrees, so use a protractor to measure your angles. No protractor… guess at the segment length (roughly half way between 60 and 90 degrees) then use a compass or dividers to walk around the circumference, fine tuning the marks until you have 5 equal segments. Or Google it for a much more sophisticated geometric approach, which is totally unnecessary for this project.
Hello my new friend 😃👍👏🎁
Hello. Thank you for visiting my channel.
You should find many projects of interest here.
Please subscribe! Ron
that the diameter of the drill bit you used to hand around the edges
Hi Ron..Just looking around the youtube to see what some people did for a drum sander and ran across the one that you built.I need to make one and wonder if you have any prints on the one that you built.If so are the plans available to purchase? Please let me know.
The original plans were ShopNotes Vol 15 Issue 86 published May 2006 titled “Build Your Own Thickness Sander” However, I hacked their plans quite a bit and what I ended up with is quite a bit different. Read the construction article on woodgears.ca The link is in the description for the sander video. This sander was originally designed to be powered by your table saw, which I thought would be a big pain so I made the unit taller for its own motor. It also had a hand-crank conveyor, which did not work out for me.
Ronald Walters I guess there is no way I'm going to find the plans for this sander as I'm sure I don't have the article that you mention in your reply to me. I guess I'll have to see if I can draw up some plans after relly taking a hard look at what you have done. I used to get Shopnotes but I do not remember this sander.Thank you so much for your reply and hopefully some one reading these posts will find this information and drop me a note at wm.goyman@gmail.com.Thank you again Bill
William Goyman Google search for “ShopNotes Vol 15 Issue 86” and you will find various sellers including Amazon-dot-com for around $12.00 and it has a thumbnail of the cover showing the sander (at least you’ll know what you are looking for).
Why does the plastic version of these from Westlakes spin around threaded shaft if much torque is applied. drives me crazy to buy them, then find they don't allow you tighten something down without it slipping, and then not being able to loosen nut because knob spins. Junk. Guess one has to make these in house to get one that works well.
Traduire en Francais.Mercie
Subtitles are now available in French.
Thanks for watching.
Ron
ahhhhhhhhhhhhh I see, thanks!
I'm from BRAZIL
recomendo
Hello Sergio. Thanks for watching! Please subscribe.
Ron
How do you work out what distance apart each of the five sections are?
***** Google - How to divide a circle into equal parts (or 5 equal parts).
Ronald Walters I did thanks but all rather complicated using a protractor which I don't have so just thought you may know off hand what distance you measured. I was planning on making one the same size as this. Thanks anyway.
***** OK... I made this several years ago and do not remember the measurements. Here are three different ways to do it.
1). 360 degrees divided by 5 = 72 degrees. You can approximate what 72 deg would be and take a compass or better yet use a pair of dividers and walk around the circumference of the circle approximating what 5 equal divisions would be. Increase or decrease your compass or dividers setting until you obtain exactly 5 equal divisions. It doesn't take very long to zero in on it and that is probably what I did on that project.
2). Go to woodgears.ca and click on the gear template generator. Click on Dividing Plate Mode and set Gear 1 Teeth to "5". That will give you 5 equal divisions and you can print that. I have also used this method of dividing a circle several times for various projects.
3). Google - Printable Protractor and use one of those to layout 72 degree segments.
Printable protractor!! Aha, never thought of that. Excellent! Thanks so much for that you have been extremely helpful.
shouldn;t the T-nut go to the bottom part instead of the top one. In your build when you tighten the screw it will try tear the nut out of the top knob.
peter smith I made them this way so the barbs of the t-nut are going into the larger stronger piece of material. Good chance the smaller piece could split when the barbs are driven in. Built as shown and assembled with epoxy I have never had one fail and I have also made them using baltic birch plywood. These are not meant to hold something nut & bolt tight. These are used on jigs & fixtures for the shop and just snug or hand tight is good enough. Manufactured star knobs often only have a regular hex nut or threaded metal insert inside the plastic knob so I know this is considerably stronger than that. If you assemble with epoxy and then manage to tear the barbs loose from the wood handle, you would be using it for the wrong application.
Ronald Walters
I see your point. thanks