Cheating To Make Small Knobs

Buy a shcs and press it into a handle that you bore, face, knurl and part off.
 
Or just buy the plastic knobs that press on a shcs.
 
Drill, c'bore, tap and knurl the knob. Thread in shcs and braze or loctite it in.
 
I have a slightly different view....

Start with Socket Head Cap Screws because that's the best grade of bolt you can generally get. That gives you a long wearing thread, good strength, and the advantages of starting with a round, serrated head.

m5%20socket%20head%20cap%20screw.jpg

Then for the "knob", knurl 1" or 1.25" aluminum round rod and drill/turn the ID to 0.001/0.002" under the SHCS head diameter. The aluminum is going to be easy to work and readily take a heavy knurl for extra grip. This is also going to give you the pleasure of using your lathe. Assembly can be done in your bench vice. The serrated head of the SHCS is going to grip the inside of the knob, with or without your favorite Loctite or epoxy.

► Obviously a larger OD is going to give your hands more ability to tighten/loosen with less effort.
► If you are afraid the bolts will become stuck over time, then you can drill the knob to expose the hex socket giving you the additional ability to use an Allen wrench as a 'backup plan'.

Hope this helps.
 
I have never had a problem getting bolts out after using red loctite. We used the red all the time on special machinery. They will not come loose from vibration but we were always able to take them out to change parts.
 
Any number of names, depending on supplier. Press fit, press-loc, socket knob. "Press-on knobs" is a good Google search term.
 
Buying the plastic press on knobs would be worse than cheating.:angry no:

I have used Tony's method many times.
 
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