Loosy goosy knobs

[oldman55]

The plastic knobs on my vintage amp have a lot of play in them. My thoughts were to either;
a) oil the pot shafts and put them on with some epoxy which will hopefully form to the shafts but still remove or b) pry open the 3/16" brass shafts (if possible)

Or any other suggestions.

Thanks
Oldman

 

[ETLS]

You'll bust the shafts trying to spread them.

 

[oldman55]

Guess that leaves me only one option. I hope that the epoxy doesnt bond to the shafts.

 

[mhardy6647]

We always used to shim 'em with some soft-ish paper (when it was inadvisable to spread the two halves of a split shaft... which I would concur is highly risky @ this late date). You could try something like Blu-tak (depending on how loose they are).

 

[oldman55]

Its wobbly loose. My only concern on using epoxy is that it would bond to the shaft and then I would have a lot more problems. Anyone try this?

 

[jcamero]

What about putting Teflon tap around the shaft to add some thickness?

 

[gadget73]

split spline shaft? Paper shims or plumbing tape would both be worth trying. Pretty easy to reverse too. I've tried to spread those shafts before, and more often than not they break.

 

[faber12]

Maybe put something in the slot to keep them from getting looser as it pinches together more, and shim the knobs with a little paper? Not too much or the knob may crack.

 

[oldman55]

Thx all for suggestions. I was hoping to make a permanent solution so that they would come on and off easily.

 

[Brickbat]

You'd get more meaningful responses if you posted a picture. Some pots with 'split' shafts can have their slots widened successfully. I've done it. I've also broken them, so you do have to be super careful.

No way should you use epoxy, unless you want to join the SPOT club (stupid previous owner tricks).

 

[oldman55]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I was able to pry the split shafts open enough to get them snug.
So I'll save the epoxy method for the one that doesnt have split shafts.

 

[gadget73]

the ones that aren't split are usually a D shaft, and you can usually tighten those up by re-arching the piece of spring steel inside the knob, or wedging paper under the spring to give some tension.

 

[soundmotor]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I was able to pry the split shafts open enough to get them snug.
So I'll save the epoxy method for the one that doesnt have split shafts.

For anyone else with split shafts, I've done this a couple times: Spread the shaft apart slightly and use a sliver of bike tire inner tube to retension it. This is tricky though as you may need to shim that to get enough tension on the knob but not so much that you damage the pot trying to put it back on. I'd pass on epoxy completely.