loose hand plane knob

[Jay]

I am tuning a plane and have everything done but the knob. It is a wooden front knob on a block plane. The wooden knob is threaded and just large enough to fit on the metal post that is part of the body of the plane. You screw the knob onto the post and over time the knob has shrunk away from the thread s on the post so that it just barely makes contact near the sole. I am looking for any ideas how I can tighten this up so I can once again screw the knob down onto the post. Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

[Ozzie-x]

Might try just wrapping some paper around the metal threads, should work. That will be better than epoxy or some other permanent remedy, so the kob remains removable yet tight.

 

[RandyJ]

Jay, a quick fix I learned from my dad was to shove a few toothpicks or a cut off golf tee into the hole and voila, a tight fit. At least you will be able to remove it later if you want to.
Good luck,

 

[mshel]

This is just a brain **** but I am wondering what would happen if you mixed up some bondo and put it in the knob hole, thread it on and let it dry. It might be hard to get off , don't know but it might just be the thing to fill the void and the stud will make the threads. I would put plenty of it in the hold before putting it back on the stud to make sure there aren't any voids. Remember brain ***** are like opinions, everyone has one.:rolf:

Mike

 

[erasmussen]

Drill the hole out just larger then the treads and glue in a hardwood dowell8-O
just my $.02

 

[Gofor]

If you use epoxy, bondo, 3M exterior wood putty, JB Weld, Marine tex, etc, tightly wrap one layer of Teflon tape (like plumbers use, but use the thin stuff, not the extra thick for PVC)) around the post, and put two layers of waxed paper on the sole to prevent permanent attachment. After filling the hole in the knob and turning it onto the Teflon taped post let it cure well. Unscrew it, remove the wax paper, clean up any residue on the bottom and reinstall. A thin coat of silicon grease may also work. The reason for two layers of waxed paper is so that the knob will screw down lightly further after the cure, putting more tension against the threads.
The wooden dowel will be a stronger fix, providing you can rethread it. Pre-drill it to almost the base depth of the threads and gently screw it back down. A little bar soap or bees wax on the post will make this go easier.

My $.02:lol:
Just saw the post on the shavings, also an excellent idea.

 

[froglips]

Rippers Believe it or Knot......

I've done this before.

I coated the threaded metal part and the body with pastewax to keep the tote from gluing to the base.

Mixed up some epoxy and got a good coating in the tote hole. Might wanna sand or brush the inside of the tote a bit.

I ended up mixing some durham's wood putty into the epoxy. Why? Who knows. I like to mess around.

Another tip, hold the plane upside down after seating the tote to keep the glue from running out of the tote onto the body. Guess how I came to this "idea"....

I tried bondo but found it didn't seem to adhere to the wood.

Oh, leave it sit for at least 24 hours. Someone (no names please) kept checking to see if it was dry. Guess what he/she found out? It wasn't. Guess who got to do it all over again....

Good luck,
Jim

 

[Jay]

Hey guys I really appreciate all the input! You have given me a lot of good ideas. I will start with some stuff that I have in the shop first and if that doesn't work will move on to the others. Again thanks for all the great input!

Jay