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Wood knob installation

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Wood knob installation

10/5/20, 2:11 PM #1

Bill Tindall, E.TN.
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18,137 posts

Registered: 9/28/04

Wood knob installation

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I have had good success screwing a knob on with a brass machine screw, in this case 8/32 thread. The screw will cut the treads without need for a tap....however. A difficulty is getting the screw to start perpendicular to the knob. This difficulty is avoided by tapping the first 1/4" of the hole. I use a drill press to hold the tap to ensure it is perpendicular to the back surface of the knob. The hole is drilled as specified by the drill size for tapping whatever screw thread is used, in this case #29..

Re: Wood knob installation

10/5/20, 3:06 PM #2

Barry Irby
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Registered: 1/27/05

Re: Wood knob installation

Barry Irby

That works well.

If you don't have a matching tap, you can make one out of a similar screw. Cut off the head, chuck it in a drill, file a taper on it similar to the tap, and file a slot in it with a knife edge file. Slot should be parallel to the shaft. Works really well if you have a steel screw similar to the brass ones. I have also filled the threads off the first 1/8 or 3/16" to make a "Lead" cylinder the same size as the pilot hole.

Or you can just screw the screw in crooked. Those little brass screws are pretty easy to bend to get the knob to sit right.