The hardest metal known, with no known substitute.
It's also the 2nd hardest substance in the world, the first being diamonds.

Wouldn't it be very cool to have a knob like that?

 

What would it look like?

 

What would the raw billet cost, and what would machining cost? It can't be cheap.

 

no, it's not cheap at ALL, but when i asked about a sturdy, heavier, and strong material to make a shift knob, everyone (engineers) said (half jokingly) that tungsten is the way to go.

 

I don't have any references around, but I think you are thinking of Tungsten Carbide. Tungsten in pure form I don't believe is all that hard.

In any case, forming a sphere would be quite a challenge. Ever seen a spherical diamond? Same reason... When things are so hard, they are 'cut' by fracturing along atomic structure lines .

The virtually impossible part would be an interior thread. It would probably have to be epoxied on.

Anyway, I'll settle for ebony.

Dan

 

I would rather have a depleted uranium knob, that way it would be warm on cool days and a nice little cockpit glow in the evening.
Mark
01 TheBlackBeast#0090

 

Thats it, Richard!

Diamond shift knobs for everyone

j/k

 

LOL! our cars would be the most expensive cars in the world! think of the size of the rock we'll need!

 

You'd probably have increased break-ins too

imagine that Civic with the S2000 Diamond Shift Knob inside...

 

Tungsten/Steel is used in really good Darts. I have two sets and they are threaded and machined just fine. They are VERY heavy for their size.