# Shop-made knobs and fence clamps



## GarryP (Sep 14, 2013)

I made my own knobs using some 1/2" plywood cutout discs from a 3" hole saw that I've been saving.










First, place a nut and two washers on the 3/8" threaded shaft, then a 1/2" plywood disc and a bare nut. Tighten the nut with the washers while holding the disc and the bare nut in place until the nut is buried halfway in the plywood.










Spread some glue on the disc, add a second disc, then two more washers and another nut. Tighten the last nut until the two discs are tight and let the glue dry.










Remove the two outer nuts and you have a 1" thick round disc with the 3/8" nut locked inside. The discs are the right size to get a good grip with my whole hand.










Since the wood had been compressed, I redrilled the center hole down to the nut on both sides to get the knob to turn freely. So far they work great. Here they are being used with my shop-made fence clamps (based on mikedrums' idea).










Note - instead of a simple L-clamp, I'm trying a "three-way" L-clamp idea. Three 1" x 3" blocks glued together at right angles make a clamp that can be rotated for different clamp heights. These can also be used with holes in my table as hold-down clamps. Here's a pic holding a piece of scrap 2×4 using the mid-position block.










Hope my ideas trigger some of your own.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Here is a hand wheel I made. It might make your knobs easier to turn…or not. 

Note: Right click image and select View Image.


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