Projects Who Sells Acrylic Teardrop Stlye Dash Knobs??

Those parfait plastic knobs are "traditional" in every sense.
Once in a while, I get a survivor that I can refurbish and pass along.

 

You don't need to use colored acrylic to get an unusual effect... The "glues" (solvents, actually) are tintable, so you can use clear and tint the joint(s) whatever you want to get a different look. Acrylic can be drilled and tapped with normal SHARP tooling.... just go slow and easy. The outside can be shaped with normal woodworking sanders, just don't try to hog off too much material at a time: heat is your enemy. Sand with progressively finer grit and polish..... Presto.. Bob's yer uncle!

 

What if you used a stock wheel with the plastic removed for the core?

IIRC back in High School we made the glue from small pieces of clear plastic dissolved in acetone. You could tint it with a small piece of colored plastic in the batch, or with colored die.

 

Oh, sorry... I didn't realize that all those parts I've made over the years really couldn't exist because I didn't buy specialized tooling. I guess some of us are just too fucking ignorant to know tasks we've successfully performed can't be done! Excuuuuse me!!!
For a one-off deal, I guess we always need production shop tooling.... Hot rodding and improvising have no place in this discussion!

 

I had my girlfriend pour me a test shift knob this weekend, she makes crafty stuff and saw this post on Friday.

It's blue and sparkly, it'll look great in the sun. It shrank in the mold a bit leaving a spot on the bottom but I'll still finish it.



Hope the IG link works: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp_BisbgIsA/?hl=en

With the right molds she can do knobs, does everyone generally like them shaped like christmas light bulbs? How many knobs in a set?

I'm gonna have her do me some more test balls. I think a buddy needs a copper flake one...

 

Usually balls come 2 to a set.

 

She got a silicone sphere mold from a craft place to pour in from the top. A few actually, in different sizes because she wasn't sure what size they are. I've been bugging her about making a shift ball for a while but when I showed her there was some interest in this stuff she got excited. She likes crafting for the challenge/sake of it.

I can help her make molds out of silicone so I was wondering about the dash knob shape. Seems similar to a C7 or C9 Christmas bulb shape so I was thinking about making a mold off those for her.

 

metallic will not work with acrilyc it will separate i tried it !!!!

 

If you use a steering wheel like this to start with, the acrylic is just decoration. I took this one apart and had the framework rechromed then put the wood back on. It could have been layered acrylic instead of wood.

 

I nave cut them out them out on a ban saw, shape them on a belt sander and polished them on buffing wheel

 

Yeah I was just being funny because Mark made them on a lathe. It was a joke

 

A lathe would be faster or maybe not

 

I’ve been interested in this stuff for a long time. I used to play around with fiberglass, and have made several molds. Haven’t used silicone for molds, but it might be the easiest way? Long story, but I bought these wheels recently. I like the overall style, but these yellow plastic caps have got to go. I’m thinking maybe buy a sheet of colored, metal flake plastic, then pour over clear acrylic, and mold. That would give it some depth

 

I was reading up on that. There is so much info out there, you can get analysis paralysis.

 

Mooneyes sell dash knobs: Tear Drop Dash Knob (mooneyesusa.com)

And Sparkle Metalflake knobs: Sparkle Metal Flake Bullet Teardrop Dash Knobs: Six Colors (mooneyesusa.com)

Twisted Shifterz makes about everything: Bullet / Tear Drop style shift knobs (twistedshifterz.com)