Knobs - Not sure how to do them

[bobscarle]

I am in the process of making some bedroom furniture, including a chest of drawers and two bedside cabinets, all in oak. The bedside cabinets will have three drawers each and the chest four. This means that I need to make about 14 knobs.

Now I have turned one or two knobs before and they have not been too bad, but I have never done this amount. I have to say that the prospect of getting all of them right and matching, I find daunting. What I don't want to do is ruin the pieces with knobs that look poor. I am nervous enough about this to consider buying them!

How do I get all of the knobs the same? I don't particularly like screws through the drawer front so I had thought of cutting a tenon and putting that into a chuck to turn the rest of the knob. Do all 14 one at a time. Or is it easier to do a spindle of 4 or 5 in one go?

Any help would be appreciated.

Bob

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Bob.

I have made a few knobs in the past and if I am making a batch as you will be I would go about it this way. I would cut a dozen blanks as this is the number of knobs you need. I would drill for example a half inch hole in each one and then glue half inch dowel in them. For this sort of job I use the Axminster junior chuck, its brilliant for dowel work, especially bottle stoppers. obviously if you have small jaws then use those but be very careful you don't apply too much pressure on turning tools as the dowel can snap under pressure. Anyway. After the glue has dried I would mount the blank with dowel into the chuck and bring the tail stock into play. Try and keep the design simple and make a plan or even better a half template to the profile you want. Mark down sizes etc and use callipers or a sizing attachment that will fit on to your bedan or parting tool. I know it all sounds daunting Bob but with a bit of practice you will soon be a master at it and before you know where you are you will be going into the knob making business.

 

[Chippygeoff]

I forgot to mention Bob. I said use a dowel as you wanted knobs with a tenon. When you have finished the knob it is just an easy matter to mark the tenon for the length you want it and then part it off. Job done.

Geoff

 

[nev]

learning from the infamous egg cup challenge earlier this year, even some of the more er... seasoned turners found it difficult to make multiples of the same item, especially when they're lined up together. Geoffs suggestion with the dowels is a good one, and i'd agree that a template is a must. if the knobs are to be lets say, half round, cut a template (quarter circle ish) out of thick card or thin ply and offer up as you are going. I'd practice on some slightly larger ones first that way by the time you get to the tenth one and youve got the hang of it, you can can go over the big ones again to make them match the smaller ones. less wastage