917 balsa shift knob specs (now a progress thread), MK1 made, pics included Options

[VaccaRabite]

Does anyone have the specs for the 917 shift knobs? I am talking about the ones that were laminated wood.

I am looking for:
What wood was used in the lamination
What are the dimensions
How was it attached.

I know someone already makes these, and I could just buy one. However, I am interested in learning how to use a wood lathe and my grandfather is going to give me his and all his tooling for it. Instead of just turning eggs until I get the idea of what I am doing, I figured this would be a more useful project to start with.

Zach

[VaccaRabite]

PROGRESS!

Okay, my grandfather, who owns the lathe that I was going to turn these on, has been hard to schedule time with. For a 94 year old man, he is busy nearly every day. The other side, though, is that he gets tired very quickly. Its important for me to spend as much time with him as I can, while I can.

But, long story short, I had time last night, so I made this without the use of a lathe. I used to do a lot of wood carving, so I carved it. I did most of the shaping with a 1/2 round cheese grater type file, and then chucked it into my drill press for sanding. I raised the grain 3 times, and the last sanding was at 400 grit. It is baby butt smooth. Then I threaded the aluminum shank so I could screw it in to my Rennshifter.

it is not *perfectly* round, but it is pretty damn close.

I think that I will finish it with some boiled linseed oil, or maybe tung oil. Something that will deepen the color and natural luster of the wood w/o staining it.

Pics!
I still don't have my good camera. I took this one at my office with a P&S, then fixed the white balance in photoshop.
(IMG:http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/3271133109_551a3643bc.jpg)

This really bad picture was taken with my cell phone. Please excuse its crappyness.
(IMG:http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3395/3271142255_bc3796efb2.jpg)

Due to the fact that I threaded the shank after I made the knob, I'll need to add a small aluminum spacer between the knob and the shifter, or drill out the first 2 or 3 threads in the shifter. Right now there is a 1/16 inch gap between the ball and the shifter. I did not want to thread the shank before I glued it in place because I was worried about damaging the thread when the shank was chucked into the lathe (or drill press in this case).

I am going to make 4 more of these, using the lathe. Again, its more about the time with Pop pop then the need to use the lathe, but learning a new skill is always a plus too.

Zach