[Joebie]

I was originally posting about this in a thread that I made specifically for my car and things that I do to it, but this is becoming a big and hopefully interesting enough project for me to justify making a whole new thread about!

Basically I'm after a new shift knob and I'm not super happy with anything on the market. I think the stock knob doesnt fit my hand super great. Its basically an oval. Do people like oval shift knobs? I sure dont. The shape of the stock knob also doesnt have the finger retaining properties on the "back" side of the knob that faces the dash that I'd like to see to help during 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 shifts.

The OEM knob is ~181g




DESIGN OBJECTIVES
-fit my hand better then OEM
-height as low as, or preferably slightly lower than the stock knob
-no modifying the OEM shifter shaft beyond what is absolutely necessary
-completely reversible to OEM if needed/wanted (separation of OEM boot from knob unfortunately unavoidable)
-no visible mounting hardware/seamless as possible look
-wont burn you in the summer.... well maybe a better way to put this is - wont burn you if you're careful.
-weight? well thats an interesting question. more on that later.


VERSION 1:

V1 was a totally spherical 1.9in diameter knob made of stainless and delrin.





The idea is that you tighten the 4 set screws onto the shifter shaft and then thread the delrin piece over the whole thing, concealing the screws for a totally seamless look.

I 3D printed V1 and learned a lot from this.



First off, its too small. Well, too short really. The diameter felt pretty good but my top finger didnt really have anywhere to go as shown below. For reference I am a 5'10" male with what I can only assume are average sized hands for someone my size.


Good things about V1
-diameter is great. Maybe a tad too big. V1 was 1.9in diameter at its largest section. V2 will be 1.8in
-I like the recess at the bottom of the knob that my pinky rests in
-I like the flat top, very comfortable for palm-down casual shifts
-I like the feeling that the top radius of the knob gives when my palm is on it doing a 2-3 or 4-5 shift

Ok, so I need to make it taller and give my pointer finger more support/a place to hang out. Version 2 incoming!

VERSION 2:

Taller and more of an egg shape now. That's about all that changed!



I 3D printed version 2 as well. I put a set screw in this one too, because V1 didnt have that and it just kinda spun all around and wanted to come off the shift shaft when I test drove it.

I really like V2! I'm perfectly willing and able to do V3, V4, V5, etc but I'm not really sure what I would change. I drove home from work with the 3D printed V2 knob and loved it. I'll probably drive a couple more days with the 3D printed knob before saying for sure that I dont want any more changes.





And here's V2 installed with the OEM shift boot. I actually picked up a used M2 knob + boot on ebay for $80 so I didnt have to do anything at all to my own stock knob/boot. If I ever want to go back to stock its a 3 minute procedure.



Oh, and what weight am I targeting? Well this is gonna sound weird but I actually really liked how the shifter felt with the super light 3D printed plastic knob. The 3D printed V2 is 25g. You could really feel the shifter clicking into gears without the numbing effect of a heavy knob's inertia. Version 2 weighs a theoretical 230g, which is ~25% heavier than the stock knob. Most aftermarket knobs are even heavier than this, so honestly I have no clue what a good weight is. I'll probably just make it the 230g and then see how I like it. Conventional wisdom is that a heavier knob makes for better shifts but I'm not completely convinced of that just yet. I always have options like anodized aluminum or titanium if I want it lighter. If made of aluminum instead of stainless the weight drops to just 110g.

Let me know if you have any suggestions, thoughts, or comments and I'll be updating this thread as I make progress.

[///MPhatic]

Whoa, awesome!

IMO the perfect shift knob already exists (large, heavy, smooth, and beautiful), and it's on the new Mustang Dark Horse .

[Joebie]

I thought that I wanted a spherical knob but the problem with spheres, at least in my opinion, is that they are either too big too big in the middle or too small on the tops and bottoms. I really like my flat-topped egg shape, but its obviously all subjective. There is no right or wrong.

Also I made a slight change to V2. Very subtle.



I also put a bit more effort into the engraving on the top. I'm really pleased with how this is coming together.

[Joebie]

I made a little progress at work on the shift knob today. I'm calling the latest one "Charlie" instead of V3 because of the way my CAD program works. Every time you save it calls the file V(n+1) so i had like "Shift knob V3 v2" saved and it was confusing me. So we're going phonetic alphabet now.

Anyways, I 3D printed Charlie at work today and it feels perfect. I'm a big fan of the flat topped egg shaped knob. It feels so natural.

I began making the actual knob out of aluminum. I love the light knob feel. I know that probably sounds weird but dont knock it till you try it. Aluminum is also easier to machine. I've also reduced the design to just 2 pieces instead of 3! and no welding required.





The hard part is making nice curves on the manual lathe. We dont have a CNC lathe at work. Theres methods to do this but I havent decided on a method yet.

[Joebie]

Dont tell HR, but i was polishing my knob at work tonight



poor man's CNC = just a list of Z-X coordinates


after some filing and sanding


yes i know it looks like a butt plug


still need to cut off the base and drill/thread some holes, also maybe talk the machinist at work into engraving the top with the CNC at work.

I also have access to a laser marker, but im not sure if that would look good. i can just do a test piece to find out.

[Joebie]

Charlie is in progress, but Delta has been born:

[MooMooM2]

the 1st version looks like a butt plug sorry. I do like this new upcoming version, that looks nice.

I am not sure about metal knobs though, in summer they can get too hot, in winter they are too cold.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

I am not sure about metal knobs though, in summer they can get too hot, in winter they are too cold.

But in the spring and fall.....

..... they're Just Right!

[Joebie]

I "completed" Echo today, and first impressions are that I really like it.

"completed" in quotation marks because I still need to chamfer some edges and experiment with engraving/laser marking the shift pattern on the top.

[3t3p]

Great work man keep going!

[Joebie]

omg guys i just had the best idea!!!!!

OK so as you may have read earlier in this thread I bought an extra shift knob and boot on ebay for $80. The original reason is that I wanted the boot. The knob just sat on my desk...

until tonight!!!

My thought is that perhaps I can harvest the top piece on the shift knob to use on my own. This solves 3 problems!

- The top of the knob will now be plastic so it wont burn you in the summer or freeze you in the winter

- The top of the knob will have that nice OEM look that im bound to never get with a laser mark or engraving

- the core of the knob can now have a thru hole instead of a blind hole, making accurately machining this high aspect ratio bore much easier

So I got to hacking!

The outside layer is like a thin leather


The inside layer is a really dense rubber like a hockey puck or something


The top piece with the shift pattern is just a thin ~.200in thick clear piece of plastic with the pattern printed/embossed on the back side. Its stuck on with the same type of dual sided tape that holds everything else on the car like the spoiler and badges,

[Joebie]

So the idea for foxtrot is to reshape the OEM shift pattern topper thingy into a spherical shape of 1.85in diameter. I took some measurements and it seems like theres just enough material present to do this. Then use the same dual sided tape tactic to attach it to the top of the body.

The red represents the dual sided tape


I 3M dual sided taped my calipers together to get the measurement LOL


Anyways, the hard part is going to be making the oval-ish OEM shift pattern topper thing into a circle without damaging it. Some very delicate lathe work should do the trick but admittedly I am worried that I will still damage it in the process. Luckily I think I could probably just lay some black paint on the back side if i do scratch it up. We'll see.

[Joebie]

I successfully made the OEM shift pattern knob topper into a circle without damaging it!

masking tape + super glue trick on an aluminum mandrel, held in place with a gas spring plunger i had laying around while the glue dried.



its round now




I havent yet reshaped it into a sphere, thats a bit of a scary process that i havent completely figured out yet. My current best plan is to wait until its installed on the nearly completed knob to do the final shaping to make sure it blends with the rest of the knob well.

[Joebie]

Got a start on foxtrot today. Please ignore my crappy machining, the only thing that really matters is the outside finish LOL









Here's how it fits in my hand before shaping of the top half


obviously a lot of shaping to be done on the top half but its looking really good with the shift pattern development!

[Joebie]

coming together! Very busy at work so not much time to work on this, but im really REALLY happy with how this is turning out. Still have to shape the top piece and drill some set screw holes, also chop off the bottom part thats just a workholding part.

[Joebie]

mounting holes drilled and reamed/tapped




shift pattern topper mounted with 3M dual sided tape (yeah the edges of the tape are ragged, my xzacto knife wasnt very sharp. Doesnt matter once everything is buttoned up.)


making spherical + polishing




we only had up to 600 grit at work, so im taking some 800, 1000, 2000 from home + some polishing compound to finish it off tomorrow.

[drp087]

And here I thought boring out my oem shift boot to fit my Raceseng knob was a decent DIY. Great job sir, this is just on another level.

[Joebie]

Originally Posted by drp087

And here I thought boring out my oem shift boot to fit my Raceseng knob was a decent DIY. Great job sir, this is just on another level.

Thanks, friend! This is the type of stuff i really enjoy doing. even if i scrapped the entire project right now i would have had fun and learned a thing or two along the way. Luckily its turning out great!

[Joebie]

Finished up Foxtrot today

polished with 800-1200-1500-2000 sandpaper followed by compound and polish with a red pad






hand for scale


I love the shape, I love the idea of using the OEM shift pattern piece for the top, I love the height, I love the looks, I love the feel of the knob in my hand no matter what grip style im using.... but there are 2 things that I dont absolutely love about it.

-The black delrin is a little cloudy and didnt polish as well as the top piece. It looks acceptable, but the perfectionist in me thinks that an alcantara wrap or leather wrap with blue stitching would look insanely good and more OEM. Unfortunately I have no clue how to do upholstery stuff. Maybe its time to learn.

-I think I installed the topper at a slightly wrong angle. Not sure if you can tell in the pictures but its a bit off-kilter rotated too far clockwise. This is easily fixable by just removing and reinstalling it but I just havent done that yet.

[Joebie]

[Joebie]

oh and here is my knob compared to stock. sorry i didnt get them aligned quite right for a good comparison, i was struggling to hold things and take pic at the same time LOL

[Joebie]

Its been some days with the new shift knob now and I think im completely happy with the shape. It took alot of tries but we finally got there. I wouldn't change a thing about it.

The only things I dont like are the couple of things i mentioned above.

I've designed another version that is the same shape, but better lends itself to wrapping the knob in a material like leather or alcantara, but the problem is that i dont want to use the shift knob topper that has been meticulously shaped to my current knob on a new one, and lose the perfect fit/transition i have.

I might try finding a cheap old shift knob online or something to harvest the toppers from to make a couple more versions.