Bolt knob ideas????

[MBTcustom]

OK, If I were in your position................I would go to the store and buy a tube of "Quicksteel" epoxy/putty. If you have never used it, its awesome stuff! I would'nt quite say that it hardens up as strong as steel like they advertize, but I will say that its the perfect thing to build a handle out of. You just moosh it up and then form it like modeling clay into whatever shape you need it to be and in 20 minutes its hard as a petrified walnut. Its grey in apearance, but that never bothered me.
Some other uses for this stuff are:
Making a backing block for knocking out pins from a trigger group, or other assembly where you need a lot of surface area supported while pins are being hammered out.
Making a quick rear or front sight in a pinch. (My shotgun is sporting a quicksteel rear sight right now. 300 full house loads and its still going strong.)
Building up the grips on your target pistol for that perfect fit, or adding a thumb rest to the left grip panel etc. etc.
Replacing knobs and buttons on the stove, sterio, motor vehicle controls, lawn mower, you name it!
Plugging holes in your boat.
Building an arrow rest "horn" on your bowfishing rig.
I could go on all night but you get the point. If I were in your shoes, I would get that stuff and put a gob on your bolt handle and just "sculpt" it into a scull or whatever you want. A few light strokes with sandpaper makes paint stick to this stuff quite well so you can color it how you want.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I did this to my Turk Mauser .45 ACP conversion.

It took about 30 minutes to make the shank. It is threaded 5/16-18 and the knob came from McMaster Carr about $1.50.

I did my Swedish Mauser a similar way but I used a much bigger teardrop shaped knob. It is the same knob used on the Quill handle of a Lagun Mill. And I used it because it gives me a bigger knob to work the cock on closing M96 action a little easier.

The resulting bolt handle is heliarced to the stub on the bolt and then filed and worked with a scotch brite wheel until it looks like you see...

Randy

[wallenba]

How about an old Hurst four speed shifter handle. It's even threaded already. Or if you like Mopars, a pistol grip shifter.

[MBTcustom]

You know what would be cool as all get out, is a miniature 8-ball. I saw a competition woman shooter once who had an 8ball for a pistol grip on her custom rifle. Some might call it dorky, but I thought it was pretty cool. If you could get a 1" or smaller diameter 8ball to drill and tap that would be cool.
Something like this: http://www.billiards.com/gameroom/8-...ball-keychains
Its 7/8ths of an inch which is about the right size and it certainly is unique.

[Junior1942]

Man, you guys have all kinds of cool ideas..... W.R.Buchanan, that's fine work!

[Junior1942]

I've deccided to go with the "stubby" screwdriver handle. (1) it was free; (2) the rifle is named Rain Rifle for a reason--it's for deer hunting in the rain. The screwdriver handle is made for a sure grip. A wet and gloved hand on it won't slip off during the panic of loading for a second shot. The photo shows the stubby screwdriver straight from my dad's junk drawer alongside a 33¢ 1/4 x 4 1/2" NFT bolt from the local NAPA store.

[Longwood]

These days, Snap-on and other tool companies simply put a bad screwdriver blade in a vise and beat the handle off with a hammer when they replace a screwdriver.
You get the old handle back on a new blade.

[Multigunner]

A hollow metal handle from an ornate butter knife might been fitted over a ground down bolt handle shaft.

One like I have around here is in this advert
http://www.bing.com/shopping/wallace...ware&FORM=HURE

I have some odds and ends of old silver ware I've found when rebuilding my kitchen floor, and have given thought to making use of the intact handles of those pieces that are otherwise unusable due to corrosion of the underlying copper alloy of the spoons or bent or chipped blades.
Handles from old silver ware are sometimes reshaped as bracelets, and I've seen a trigger guard for a muzzle loader made from one.

You can sometimes find odd bits of silver ware at a good will store.

[ron2009]

what about a box end wrench, ratchet head ,intake valve out of engine or a cylinder from a revolver

[Bret4207]

I've deccided to go with the "stubby" screwdriver handle. (1) it was free; (2) the rifle is named Rain Rifle for a reason--it's for deer hunting in the rain. The screwdriver handle is made for a sure grip. A wet and gloved hand on it won't slip off during the panic of loading for a second shot. The photo shows the stubby screwdriver straight from my dad's junk drawer alongside a 33¢ 1/4 x 4 1/2" NFT bolt from the local NAPA store.

MY IDEA WON!!! WOW! I wonder what reward I'll get?

[Multigunner]

Since the decision has been made on this particular bolt knob project I'll only add this observation and partly as a question.

Many years ago I cleaned up a last ditch Japanese rifle that a neighbor hood kid picked up at a flea market.
This rifle was so crude the sling was a leather strap nailed to the side of the butt stock, and had the hardwood butt plate.
The bolt handle was very slim with a small cylindrical knob.

I had thought that this skimpy handle may have been intended to have a molded on bakelite knob cover.
I haven't seen any like this that had such a knob cover, but I had seen several older bolt actions that had hollow wooden bolt knobs. A molded bakelite grasping surface would have come in handy in extreme cold such as mountains of northern China and the Aleutian islands, or in Russia if the Japanese and Russia had no decided on a non agression policy.

I can't think of any other good reason for such a skimpy bolt handle.
.

[Junior1942]

I picked 1/4" because the flange (?) on the rifle bolt, into which I must drill, is .455" wide. 1/4" leaves room for error on each side. .455" - .250" = .205" or ~.102" on each side. I don't see a 1/4" diameter bolt as too skimpy/flimsy??? Do you??

The project now is awaiting the brown truck bringing a 1/4x28 bottom tap and a #3 drill. I want a bottom tap so there'll be plenty of threads inside the flange. My 1/4x28 taper tap would leave the bottom 3/8" or so of the hole untapped.

[roverboy]

Let us know how she turns out Junior?

[Junior1942]

I will, rover, but it'll take a couple of weeks. I'll write a detailed article with pictures.

[Mk42gunner]

I don't see a 1/4" diameter bolt as too skimpy/flimsy??? Do you??

No. Like Roy Dunlap wrote many years ago, "Put your small piece of steel in a vise with 3" sticking out, and see if you can break it with your bare hands." Or words to that effect.

The project now is awaiting the brown truck bringing a 1/4x28 bottom tap and a #3 drill. I want a bottom tap so there'll be plenty of threads inside the flange. My 1/4x28 taper tap would leave the bottom 3/8" or so of the hole untapped.

I usually make my own bottoming taps by breaking the taper off a regular tap after I have used it for a few holes. This lets me buy just one type of tap, making ordering simpler for me. This does work better with carbon taps, but you can cut them with a dremel and slowly grind the end flat enough to work, without destroying the temper.

Robert

Robert

[W.R.Buchanan]

Both of the bolt handles I made are 1/4" at the bottom of the radius on top of the handle. A 1/4" bolt is just fine strength wise.

In fact I could have gone smaller.

Randy

[MBTcustom]

Many years ago I cleaned up a last ditch Japanese rifle that a neighbor hood kid picked up at a flea market.
This rifle was so crude the sling was a leather strap nailed to the side of the butt stock, and had the hardwood butt plate.
The bolt handle was very slim with a small cylindrical knob.

I had thought that this skimpy handle may have been intended to have a molded on bakelite knob cover.
I haven't seen any like this that had such a knob cover, but I had seen several older bolt actions that had hollow wooden bolt knobs. A molded bakelite grasping surface would have come in handy in extreme cold such as mountains of northern China and the Aleutian islands, or in Russia if the Japanese and Russia had no decided on a non agression policy.

I can't think of any other good reason for such a skimpy bolt handle.
.

What you are describing is the quintessential "last ditch Japanese rifle" I have seen quite a few exactly as you describe, and no, they did not have a Bakelite handle, They just wanted to run those babies through the mill as fast as they could using as little metal and time as possible. It realy is sad. The Japanese make a religion out of attention to detail. They always have. Looking at the earlier Jap rifles, its clear that they knew how to make a very fine piece of equipment, but by the end of the war, they were fighting a losing battle and they knew it. The desperation of their predicament is emblazoned all over such rifles as you have described. Sad.

Sorry for going off on a tangent Junior! I'm glad you found something that will work for you. I think I'll find a way to do the eight-ball thing myself. There certainly were a lot of good ideas on here!

[leadman]

Put a box end wrench on the shaft of the screwdriver before clamping it in the vise. This gives you a surface other than the plastic to hammer against to remove the blade.
That plastic will buff up with care to a nice shine if you want that.

[Longwood]

Both of the bolt handles I made are 1/4" at the bottom of the radius on top of the handle. A 1/4" bolt is just fine strength wise.

In fact I could have gone smaller.

Randy

If he is going to screw the 1/4" bolt into the rifle bolt, then the weak point (stress-riser, aka, where it will/may/could/will, break,) will be the small diameter at bottom of the thread right at the point of the most bending force.

Right where a bolt handle should be the strongest, not the weakest.

I would use a larger fine thread, 5/16" grade 8 bolt.
Or,,,, better yet,,,, forget threads and weld it.

[Junior1942]

If he is going to screw the 1/4" bolt into the rifle bolt, then the weak point (stress-riser, aka, where it will/may/could/will, break,) will be the small diameter at bottom of the thread right at the point of the most bending force.

Right where a bolt handle should be the strongest, not the weakest.

I would use a larger fine thread, 5/16" grade 8 bolt.
Or,,,, better yet,,,, forget threads and weld it.

From http://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-in...ade-Chart.aspx

Minimun tensile strength of a 1/4" Grade 8 bolt = 150,000 psi. I doubt I could break it if I tried.