Scrap walnut star knob for benchtop jointer.

[dbhost]

So in beginning to prep stock for the mission dog kennel / end table, I pulled the jointer over onto the bench, and went to square up / adjust the fence when one of the push paddle handle things on the fence in / out control decided that plastic wasn't an optimum choice of materials for this function, and fell to pieces...

Now my jointer, a Sunhill SM-150B is out of production, well not exactly, but it is a rebranded Geetech 6" benchtop jointer, and parts aren't super easy to come by, not to mention that I needed my jointer working NOW now in 6 days to whenever whomever I can get parts from ships and I receive it... So what to do?

Knowing a bit about how these are made, and the space involved at full extension / compression I knew I had room for a 2" star knob. However the thread I needed to deal with is a 6MM fine thread, not something I had handy in my star knob collection, so what to do?

Make one!

I will spare you the windy verbage of my how I did it, but if you are interested, go to my blog at http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com/2...-benchtop.html and check it out.

Using the hole saw on the drill press is a LOT easier than with a handheld drill.


A simple tung oil finish brings out the beauty of the walnut sapwood.


And of course lacquer gives it the shiny bling factor...

[LCHIEN]

I see you used a spindle sander to cut the finger detents in the side.
Another way I've done this is to use the drill press to cut a series of holes around the perimeter before cutting out the main knob. You can either drill holes on the diameter of the knob for deep detents or on a larger diameter for shallower detents. I keep a large circle and a small circle drafting template in the shop to mark circles. Use a protractor to set the angles - 60 degrees between for 6-star or 72 degrees for 5-star.

Doing it this way does not require a spindle sander and you already have a drill press. Drill the detent holes first, its easier that way as sometimes drilling holes on the edge of a piece makes the workpiece want to shift due to the uneven pressure.The upside of this is that you don't have to worry about an oops when hand feeding the sander.

You can use a router and a small parts holder to chamfer the knob.

[Black wallnut]

Did you thread the knob or use a t-nut?

[dbhost]

Neither. I drilled the hole for the bolt head just a shave smaller than the outer points of the hex, then tightened the bolt down so that the hex head cut its way into the wood until it stopped at the smaller diameter for the shaft. I can drive the bolt out if need be.

For the most part, when I use threads in wood for machine screws, I use regular thread inserts, although I have had one project where i used tee nuts as it was on the end of plywood, and I didn't think there was enough thickness to support a thread insert...