FILENAMES: Fluted_Knob1.jpg Fluted_Knob2.jpg Fluted_Knob3.jpg DESCRIPTION: These are pictures an aluminum knob made to replace a broken plastic one. Posted by Ted Edwards . The following description was provided: ================================================================= Making a Fluted Knob by Ted Edwards We have a heavy duty tripod that we bought for a large and heavy video camera. It has proved usefull for our spotting 'scope and even as a rigid mount for a 35mm camera with a telephoto. This tripod has springs that tend to move the camera mounting surface to a level position. This is very usefull for a top heavy load. With a light load pointing significantly up or down from level, the clamping screw has to be tightened rather firmly to hold position. Eventually the molded-on plastic knob gave out and I decided to make an all aluminum one. The finished product can be seen in Fluted_Knob1.jpg. I started by drilling and reaming a piece of 6061-T6 7/8" rod to fit the existing mounting protrusion. This was cross drilled and tapped for two 10-24 set screws and cut to length. I then band-sawed out a piece of 1/4" plate, drilled and reamed it to fit on the rod and welded it to the end of the rod. A useful accessory to my 3-in-1 is a piece of UHMW polyethylene milled to the thickness neccessary to raise my spin index axis to accurately coincide with the lathe axis. You can see this and the partially cut knob in Fluted_Knob2.jpg. I have sometimes found it more convenient to use this setup than the mill configuration. An overview of the setup is seen in Fluted_Knob3.jpg. The cutter is a very nice 1" diameter carbide edged mill picked up at Boeing Surplus.