Big Shed
21st September 2010, 08:12 PM
........for the steering wheel of my Kubota tractor as the old one decided to split in two.
Decided to do something a bit different and make a new one from a Banksia nut, one of several I bought at the last WWW Show in Melbourne.
The idea will be to cast one in <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym>, tinted to the Kubota orange.
Never turned these Banksia nuts before so had a play first.
148092 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148005d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2338.jpg)
They are hard but not too difficult to turn.
When you cut one in half it shows an interesting pattern, for some reason I expected the inside to be partly hollow.
148089 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148002d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2334.jpg)
Roughly turned to the shape of a small yoghurt container to be used as the mould.
148090 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148003d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2336.jpg)
Whilst the <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym> was curing in the pressure pot, I turned a nylon bush for the shaft to turn in (even though the shat sits in a bearing on the steering wheel attachment)
148091
Once the <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym> was cured, it was mounted on the (metal) lathe and a tenon cut on one end so the 3 jaw chuck could grip it properly.
148093 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148006d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2344.jpg)
Once this was done, turned it to an oversize cylinder, drilled a hole in what is going to be the small end of the knob and tapped it to 3/8BSW
148094 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148008d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2346.jpg)
Cut a 3/8 Whitworth bolt to use as a mandrel.
148095 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148009d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2347.jpg)
It was then transferred to the wood lathe and turned to roughly the same shape as the old knob.
When I was almost finished one of the seed pods lost its' <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym> and I had to mix some more resin and fill that seed pod, using some blue-tack as a little dam to contain the resin.
148096
That fixed that little problem and on to finishing. Decided to try CA and see how it goes outside.
148097
With the nylon bush pressed in and the shaft fitted it was ready to go on the Kubota steering wheel, shiniest item on the tractor!http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/images/smilies/rolleye.gif
148098 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148087d1285059818-i-need-new-knob-img_2350.jpg)
Decided to do something a bit different and make a new one from a Banksia nut, one of several I bought at the last WWW Show in Melbourne.
The idea will be to cast one in <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym>, tinted to the Kubota orange.
Never turned these Banksia nuts before so had a play first.
148092 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148005d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2338.jpg)
They are hard but not too difficult to turn.
When you cut one in half it shows an interesting pattern, for some reason I expected the inside to be partly hollow.
148089 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148002d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2334.jpg)
Roughly turned to the shape of a small yoghurt container to be used as the mould.
148090 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148003d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2336.jpg)
Whilst the <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym> was curing in the pressure pot, I turned a nylon bush for the shaft to turn in (even though the shat sits in a bearing on the steering wheel attachment)
148091
Once the <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym> was cured, it was mounted on the (metal) lathe and a tenon cut on one end so the 3 jaw chuck could grip it properly.
148093 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148006d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2344.jpg)
Once this was done, turned it to an oversize cylinder, drilled a hole in what is going to be the small end of the knob and tapped it to 3/8BSW
148094 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148008d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2346.jpg)
Cut a 3/8 Whitworth bolt to use as a mandrel.
148095 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148009d1284972670-i-need-new-knob-img_2347.jpg)
It was then transferred to the wood lathe and turned to roughly the same shape as the old knob.
When I was almost finished one of the seed pods lost its' <acronym title="Google Page Ranking">PR</acronym> and I had to mix some more resin and fill that seed pod, using some blue-tack as a little dam to contain the resin.
148096
That fixed that little problem and on to finishing. Decided to try CA and see how it goes outside.
148097
With the nylon bush pressed in and the shaft fitted it was ready to go on the Kubota steering wheel, shiniest item on the tractor!http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/http://cdn.woodworkforums.com/images/smilies/rolleye.gif
148098 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/148087d1285059818-i-need-new-knob-img_2350.jpg)