SS&S Shift Knobs
By William Brantingham
I had started making shift knobs early on when I had started my business and given up once they weren't strictly necessary. Early on they were one piece - a single aluminum shape drilled and tapped. While this may seem simple and therefore easy, it had two problems - any organic shape had to have custom jaws to clamp on for the drilling operation and the products themselves were... boring. Late one night, I was lying awake thinking about doing some other contract work when I suddenly realized the method I had been constructing would be perfect for revisiting shift knobs. The new process would be easier and come out much better looking. The design, as you might be able to tell from the pictures, consists of three pieces: two identical Delrin grips and a single aluminum core. The single core has two cylindrical shafts on either side of the rib, which make it incredibly easy to grip with a simple lathe chuck or 5C collet. Once knurled, the halves simply needed to be pressed on to make it complete. I now sell these online for a little extra pocket money. Take a look at my eBay listing below if you're interested.