Good evening Keith (and anyone else reading this), can Flyin Miata do laser engraving on the Delrin shift knob that Flyin Miata sells? I have been smitten by one of these for my NA. Except I have a 5 speed. I have seen stainless steel and aluminum knobs listed online, but I want Delrin and the Japanese script is just so JDM.
You got lucky, I checked the GRM forum as a break from staring a BOMs for a circuit board :)
There's no engraving on that knob at all, so it doesn't matter if you have a 5 or 6 speed. I don't know what Japanese script you're talking about. Unless it's the pic on the website that shows stock NA/NB, stock NC, stock ND, the delrin knob and the Cravenspeed.
I have a laser engraver, but I don't think I could engrave the rounded top surface satisfactorily.
That does seem like it would be difficult to engrave with a normal laser engraver, which works at a set distance for a given flat material. You'd need an engraver with height control or a means of inputting the material shape into programming via CAD for a laser or mill that had a movable Z axis.
I meant the Japanese shift pattern in the picture above. Well, darn. Mumble mumble. Thank you for replying.
This feels like a CNC thing, not necessarily a laser engraver.
In reply to Noddaz :
It's not the design that's the problem, it's the shape of the knob. A laser engraver generally has CNC movement in two axes, X and Y. It focuses a laser at a specific, known distance at a flat workpiece. The depth (and cleanliness) of the engraving is a function of distance and power. If you were to attempt to use a normal laser engraver on a spherical piece, the distance from the lens to the piece would vary; you'd have an area of high power and clarity in the center, and it would the engraving depth would diminish as power dropped off and distance (and therefore the focal point) increased away from the center.
There are other ways to achieve the desired design outcome: You could do a transfer applique, water transfer printing, or CNC milling, for instance. If you truly wanted the pattern debossed, milling would be the best bet but would be the most expensive as you'd be absorbing the cost of programming and setup into a single unit.
Noddaz said:I meant the Japanese shift pattern in the picture above. Well, darn. Mumble mumble. Thank you for replying.
Ah, it didn't show up until I turned off my ad blocker. I had no idea there was a picture - sorry for the confusion.
I agree, that looks like a milling job. I suspect the Delrin knobs we sell (we don't manufacture them) are done on a lathe anyhow. What you need to find is someone with a little CNC mill and a desire to take on a challenge.
what if you first machined a flat surface on the top of the shift knob? assuming there is enough material, could you make the shape similar to the ND3 shift knob that is flat across the top, alternatively could you machine a coin like recess in the top and then use a laser etched / engraved thin piece of polished metal that you could glue to the top of the shift knob?
i'm guessing a lathe could flatten the delrin pretty easily and even mill in the shallow depth for an engraved coin, and then you could probably order a coin from any number of metal fabricators (maybe even somebody like send cut send)
Heck, you could possibly sand the top flat to glue a coin on top.
There are CNC controlled machines that can work on a curved surface. I've seen it done at the hobbyist level by a woodworker with a CNC router, for example. There has to be someone out there who has a machine that could do the engraving on a shift knob. I think laser engraving is possible as well.
Yes, 5-axis CNCs exist. You could maybe do this with a standard 3-axis but the penetrations would be tangential rather than orthogonal. Most laser engravers, however, are only 2-axis.
There's the question of "can it be done" (which is "yes," of course) but also "can it be done at a cheap cost for a one-off product," which is perhaps a different answer altogether unless you're doing it yourself or have a good buddy with a decent amount of time and equipment on his or her hands.
If the knob had a flat top it would be relatively trivial. Knocking the top off would be easy enough to accomplish with any mill or lathe. Dropping a coin or token in the top would not be difficult; mill or turn a pocket and drop in the piece and you're off to the races. I'd seal it with a UV-cure epoxy, which is also generally easy to work. If it were a flat top I know exactly how I would do this in my shop and I could do the basic machine work (building an arbor and turning in a flat and a pocket) in probably half an hour; I also have mills and lathes and a lot of fab equipment (and a friend with a laser engraver).
But again, if we're talking about "can this be done on a curved surface" the answer starts to lean towards "how much time and/or money do you want to invest."
Couple of ideas
Check with a Trophy shop , they engrave all kinds of stuff ,
Check with a large Chrome shop , they often buff off the original logos and send the part to an engraver to put it back on , common problem with headlight and tail light rims ,
Only doing one is not going to be cheap !
One more idea , can you find a blank piece of delrin , put it in a lathe , cut the top arch , off cut it to thickness you need , polish the back flat and then have it engraved from the back in reverse , lastly fill in the engraved part with paint ......
Or just buy one from Yahoo Japan .
and farther down the rabbit hole , search Google images for "japan miata yahoo shift knob kanji" there are a bunch of shift knobs with kanji characters , maybe buy a cheap round one and cut off the shift pattern !
About lasers - not only are they two axis, but they have a very narrow focus range. The surface of the material has to be very accurately positioned relative to the lens. You can get single axis rotating mounts for things like water cups, but in order to engrave this spherical surface you'd have to be able to rotate on two axes. I've never seen that.
Mr_Asa said:This feels like a CNC thing, not necessarily a laser engraver.
Or maybe even a 3D printing & electroplating thing...the knob would come out pretty lightweight and then the weights could be added, like a gaming mouse.
I don’t see anything like that in the Razo catalog. (But I had fun looking.)
I would just look for a clear plastic coin and put a printed image under it. Probably a bit cheap looking but also cheap/quick/easy to do.
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