Remade gearshift knobs.

[mr bump]

In a previous thread regarding the astronomical price for the wooden gearshift knobs, I mentioned I was doing a small run of wooden gearshift knobs made out of cherry, pics below are the results. I cannot find the emblems for the knobs, but I've copied these from an original exactly. Two sizes, one size is the original and the other is slightly bigger to take a steering wheel emblem, but still feel good when changing through the gears.

Prices are £50 plus what ever the postage is to your chosen country.

The original knob is the one smack in the middle of the row.

Like I said, I've only made a small number of them and have already sold two at the classic car show just gone at duxford.

Please pm for more details.

 

[mr bump]

Another, can't seem to upload more pics per post so sorry.

 

[mr bump]

Another

 

[mr bump]

Last

 

[coupeguy]

Sorry to have to tell you none of those are original knobs, the originals were plain and made of walnut to match the dash wood. No E9 was equipped with a knob with an emblem inset in the top. If anyone needs one I can send a pic of an original.

 

[E911]

like this...

This weekend it occurred to me (when I got the coupe out for the first time this year) how many times the BMW logo is present on our cars...

 

[deQuincey]

Sorry to have to tell you none of those are original knobs, the originals were plain and made of walnut to match the dash wood. No E9 was equipped with a knob with an emblem inset in the top. If anyone needs one I can send a pic of an original.

my knob is original and it has an emblem in the top
i am NOT saying that you ARE wrong, but probably you would need to discriminate the field for your exclusive objection: i.e."none of those...", "no e9...", may be under certain conditions, country, LHD/RHD, year, ....what you say IS true ! ?

 

[deQuincey]

This weekend it occurred to me (when I got the coupe out for the first time this year) how many times the BMW logo is present on our cars...

+1
i count 10 times

 

[mr bump]

Sorry to have to tell you none of those are original knobs, the originals were plain and made of walnut to match the dash wood. No E9 wads equipped with a knob with an emblem inset in the top. If anyone needs one I can send a pic of an original.

How come the original I have has an emblem? The leather ones had an emblem And yes, im fully aware what they were made of, I only had cherry to hand when I mae them .

But thanks all the same for your input, and il make you a special one without an emblem cut out just for little old you eh coupegay.:-D

 

[mr bump]

+1
i count 10 times

+2 theres 8 on the outside and 2 inside ( or 1accordkng to coupeguy)

 

[deQuincey]

+2 theres 8 on the outside and 2 inside ( or 1accordkng to coupeguy)

exactly, and another one if you have an emblem in you key holder (or whatever is the correct name for it in "doch englisch")

btw, your knobs look very beautiful, great job !

 

[mr bump]

exactly, and another one if you have an emblem in you key holder (or whatever is the correct name for it in "doch englisch")

btw, your knobs look very beautiful, great job !

DeQuincey, il pm you my email and if you clould send me the materials list for the process of putting all my electric windows on relays that would be brilliant, mine are getting slower and slower.

The knobs do look nice thank you, the knobs were something i did for forum and e9 owners who are not privileged to have an original, ive been doing this batch on and off since last year theres at least 6 good hours in the finished product by the time they are stained with at least 5 coats to get them to the right shade to match the dash, then 3 coats of laqure to finish. The price covers materials and machine time, if I added the labour they would stand at nearly £250.

And theres only a few left, and special orders are being asked for aswell, so looks like they wernt a waste of time after all.

I read some article a while ago regarding the emblems outside and inside the car, bmw's thinking was put loads of logo's kn the outside to let people mnow what your driving, but wery little on the inside as the driver will know hes driving a bmw because of the way the car drove. Pure brilliance from the marketing point of view.

 

[deQuincey]

DeQuincey, il pm you my email and if you clould send me the materials list for the process of putting all my electric windows on relays that would be brilliant, mine are getting slower and slower.

yes i can do that for you
i did that only in the rear windows, but i assume you just need to double it for the front
do not forget to pass a new-fresh-direct from battery-thick positive cable to the relays
i assume that you are following my post, which was also following stevehose's and the original idea from...(that was mr.mackro ?, please forgive me for this i am not sure about it)
if you experience any problem on finding the materials i can buy and send them to you, as it is little weight shipping will be cheap enough

 

[mr bump]

That's superb, I'm going to attempt it before I go to a show in England called gaydon, It's not what it sounds like honest.:shock:

 

[coupeguy]

my knob is original and it has an emblem in the top
i am NOT saying that you ARE wrong, but probably you would need to discriminate the field for your exclusive objection: i.e."none of those...", "no e9...", may be under certain conditions, country, LHD/RHD, year, ....what you say IS true ! ?

Did you buy your car new or did it have previous owners? Check all the period tests and sales literature and find me one photo of a knob with an emblem and I will eat my words, depending on which ones are edible.

I have enough knobs without your replicas thanks, mr. bump. They were actually veneered on top to assure the grain was in the right direction, a nice little domed cap of walnut veneer on a solid walnut knob, all that trouble just to make sure the grain was in the right direction. What could be more German?

 

[mr bump]

Did you buy your car new or did it have previous owners? Check all the period tests and sales literature and find me one photo of a knob with an emblem and I will eat my words, depending on which ones are edible.

I have enough knobs without your replicas thanks, mr. bump. They were actually veneered on top to assure the grain was in the right direction, a nice little domed cap of walnut veneer on a solid walnut knob, all that trouble just to make sure the grain was in the right direction. What could be more German?

I know, those were the days when bmw had pride in their work and end product and engineers built cars NOT accountants.
Id like to use vanneer to dome the top, but the 5 square metres I have is for covering the dash and cappings ive re-made as we'll, wallnut is very expensive in the uk but like I said, special orders have been taken so im ordering more vaneer.

 

[ccr2002]

Did you buy your car new or did it have previous owners? Check all the period tests and sales literature and find me one photo of a knob with an emblem and I will eat my words, depending on which ones are edible.

I have enough knobs without your replicas thanks, mr. bump. They were actually veneered on top to assure the grain was in the right direction, a nice little domed cap of walnut veneer on a solid walnut knob, all that trouble just to make sure the grain was in the right direction. What could be more German?

You are right. But I just had one refinished by a master wood worker and he says the veneer top is actually mahogany. Or at least it was on that one which was original to the car. Why they'd choose mahagony over walnut for the veneer I don't know. It was slightly dyed to match the walnut. As you said, it was done to show the long grain.
Chuck

 

[coupeguy]

There are some similarities between mahogany and European walnut, they are both very plain, straight grained woods, but I stick with my statement that it was walnut thruout. I have had other people swear all the wood on the interior is mahogany, but I have dismantled, repaired, reveneered and refinished enough coupe wood and owned enough coupes to be able to make the statement they were all walnut since out of over fifty total all of them were walnut wood thruout.

The walnut veneer on the knob cap was done so you did not get the end grain showing on the top of the knob. Anyone able to show proof their knob with emblem is original yet? I would love to see proof, I don't mind being wrong on occasion. Have been at least twice in my life, but I divorced them both.

My supplier in Germany is sending me some new reproduction walnut knobs with emblem which I will be selling in quantity soon, fairly cheaply at that if any of you are interested in a new replacement that is clearly not correct. ;]

 

[coupeguy]

I know, those were the days when bmw had pride in their work and end product and engineers built cars NOT accountants.
Id like to use vanneer to dome the top, but the 5 square metres I have is for covering the dash and cappings ive re-made as we'll, wallnut is very expensive in the uk but like I said, special orders have been taken so im ordering more vaneer.

I have quite a bit of correct European/French/Italian veneer (same wood with at least three different names -- odd) that I can sell to whoever needs it, just inquire to [email protected]. I bought it to veneer to coupe wood but cannot use it since I do not have a vacuum chamber to remove the air from beneath the veneer when gluing it in place. I did find a usable alternative that really IS expensive and only sold in 4'x8' sheets, a life time's worth. It has a phenolic substrate making it stiff enough but not too stiff to do the 2 curved dash pieces. The instrument bezel is a real bugger, cannot use the phenolic based stuff on that bugger, even have to soak plain veneer in water for some time. Somehow contact cement will stick down the wet veneer even on the curved ends with some relieving in some places..

Amazing stuff, wood. I have been a student of rare woods for a life time, personal favorite is Brazilian Rio Rosewood, no longer exported from Brazil by law since the trees were nearly made extinct in the sixties and seventies by being used on virtually all Danish design furniture. Back then everything that wasn't teak was rosewood. I still collect pieces from that era, eBay is a font of mid century modern Danish rosewood gems. I even still have a rosewood sofa with a canopy I bought in the sixties, I am that old!

 

[mr bump]

Wood is indeed a fantastic thing and can be shaped into whatever one wants it to be. My supplier of vaneer imports his in from a baltic region, he wont tell me where but itd a fantastic quality.

Hes bringing in a vaneer which is a composite plastic and in his 55 years of wood machining says its very difficult to spot the differance between the two by looking at them, so il let you know what its like and how it goes when in use, but if it is good, imagine not havng to restore the wood in an E9!!!

We use a template in a 22 ton press when using any vaneer and the glue we use in an old fashioned animal bone base glue and if we on the rare occasion get an air lock, we pinch it and apply the press again.

With modern stains now days its easy to gain the correct shade of colour, and modern laqures bring the colour out even more.

Im going to make 3 sets of complete woods for the cs out of good old fashioned english oak soon and leave it bare when fitted into the car. It will be a plesure watching the oak move when the seasons change.