Here's my first attempt at a new shift ****. It's made from a chunk of rosewood I've been hanging onto since the mid 70's.
Funny how one finds out they've run out of something in the middle of a project. (All of my superfine sandpaper) Managed to finish with 400, then 0000 steel wool with Simonize, ran it fast enough to melt the wax, then just kept applying. No set screw, just tapped with a 9/16-18 thread since rosewood is so hard.
AND a pic of my hood 3 days since I Zaino Z-5+6 'ed it.

 

Nice work on the shift ****. And looks like your detailing skills are good too.

 

Nice job!

 

Got a pic of more of the interior with the ****?

 

It's funny seeing wood in the interior of a Corvette.

 

Looks nice!

 

 

Man...that turned out awesome. Can't even make a birdhouse...you have some skills for sure my friend

 

looks great

 

 

damn, that is clever! I've been around rosewood as a fretboard material for guitars all my life...never thought of it as a hunk of wood as you have displayed. gives me some ideas...I have some iron wood from the Arizona desert that is extremely hard....I wonder if it can be shaped into a shift ****....did you use a router, shaper, or saw, or carving tools? I have all of that available to me...more info appreciated.

 

I do, but they are about the same distance, and I'm not thrilled with the flash 'spot' on the ****. I will take more.

Frumnuttin, I grew up in a family of wood-workers/lovers. I would spend time with my Dad and his brothers and we would just sit there and bs about wood, sort of like we do with Corvettes. Ironwood, if I remember right has some interesting grain. I used my Shopsmith in wood lathe mode, then did a ton of smoothing/polishing. VERY hard woods like these are great for turning and polishing without going crazy trying to give them a killer finish. The other thing is by not using a surface finish like a varnish or poly, the 'feel' of the wood is retained. It's a "softness" that is reduced with a coating. I've always been addicted to lathe treatment of wood because of the graceful lines that result. The same can be said about other methods, but the 'feel' is different.
I'm probably going to laminate some other woods now that I have the 'bug' back, maybe some crazy combos. Another favorite of mine is burl, and spalted wood. (spalted wood is usually from dead sections, and is caused by a fungus or catching it right before rot sets in.) I'm sure you have seen it on guitar bodies.

Thanks for all the kind words guys!!

 

I can appreciate the time and effort put into making that ****, but it just looks so ridiculously out of place in a Corvette. It doesn't match anything at all in the interior. I love exotic hardwood grips on all my handguns, but I would save the wood interior pieces for Cadillacs and other luxury cars, where they might actually match something.

But, hey, as long as it makes you happy, right? It does look like a nice piece. If I might make a recommendation, you may want to reduce the diameter of the **** base. That way, it will better match up with the smaller diameter of the neck of the shift boot. Just a thought. It looks pretty awkward currently.

 

fyr, sometimes your "complements" are truly underwhelming. Wood shift ***** were the standard for all manner of cars since Gottlieb sold his horse, and the inspiration for my first attempt in over 30 years. An accent piece does not have to match anything to fit into an interior design, which I wanted to bring some brown color into. As for the base size, I knew I would be drilling a hole in an untested piece of wood and wanted enough 'beef' to withstand the stress of a fairly large drill, and I wanted it to have a 'skirt' to overlap the top of the boot..

 

Yes, they were. No denying that. Carburetors and manual chokes were the norm, too.

If you say so. Not sure how it fits in, really. Everything is black and plastic.

Again, the **** looks great, and I know you put a lot of time into it. I would have no problem installing one in my wood dash outfitted Lexus.

 

Yes, they were. No denying that. Carburetors and manual chokes were the norm, too.

yeah, and they weren't so bad either. I'm sure this guy would disagree with you:

http://www.robincasady.com/ShiftKnobs/index.html

OR this guy:
http://www.customwoodshiftknobs.com/Knobs2.html


If you say so. Not sure how it fits in, really. Everything is black and plastic. Please don't insult my perforated leather

because it's WOOD and it goes with everything. Good style and design does not depend on matching a dominant material. I refer to my ancient training in art and industrial design and my Daughter, who has a Master's degree in the field.

Again, the **** looks great, and I know you put a lot of time into it. .Thanks, I spent the better part of a day on it. btw, as for your Lexus, just think about what it would look like withOUT the wood.

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FWIW, I really like it. Nice job!

The black growth rings in the piece are and pull it together with the dash.

So how did you clamp it to drill the hole without damaging it? Or did you drill the hole early on?

 

I think it looks great.

 

That's awesome - I wonder how it would look with a BLACK Stain on it?

Thanks,Matt

 

Wow! The shift **** looks great and so does your car.