Best Ultimate Tech Talk Hang Out Loud Edition Season V

[PaperTigre]

Oh my god. I want it. Now.

[Toodles]

Looks like they’re using an EL panel to light everything up except for the cool LEDs under the dust washer. Let’s hope they do start making transparent buttons in the near future.

[Sleazoid]

[LIST]
[]How would I get the pages to stick together?
[]How will I get the square cut once I get that accomplished?
[/LIST]

Glue. Brush it along the outside of the book, let it dry, open up the book and use a knife to hollow out the book. Use a knife that lets you control the length of the blade (and thus, the depth of the cut), and use a ruler to ensure that your cuts are straight. Then brush glue along the inside of the book. Use a second coat on the inside.

You will probably want to brush on some glue when you drill the button holes and everything as well. You should probably also try to hollow out as little as possible so that the book doesn’t collapse when you put pressure on it.

I’d imagine it would be best to drill a hole in the spine of the book, I don’t think glued pages would take to well to being drilled, and cutting out a notch in the pages would be difficult as you’d have to brush glue in that tiny notch to keep it firm afterwards.

[NRX]

It’s totally EL, isn’t it? I wonder if someone at Sanwa saw VMS’s Tron HRAP

[Nerrage]

So as I was dozing off in class, I had an idea for making a stick out of an old (hardcover, duh) book. My plan was to get some old book, cut a square in it (sort of like those secret compartments you see in TV shows) and pop in the stick parts. I’m wondering about a few things:

[LIST]
[]What should the minimum dimensions for the book be in order to fit a cthulu board, 6 face buttons, 2 side buttons and a stick?
[]Would the USB cable that goes into the PS3 go out of the spine side or the page side? (I’m thinking page)
[*]All I need is buttons, a board, a stick, and all the wires needed with those, right?
[/LIST]

Just make it like a secret-storage book. Get yourself a ruler, and an exacto knife, open it down the middle and carefully cut out the book pages, a few at a time, leaving about a half an inch of space (Or more for extra sturdiness), and make about a 1 to 2 mixture of plain elmer’s glue to water and brush it onto the pages that have been removed. It helps to do this in layers and go slowly, but also takes a bit longer for extra time. Apply liberally on the inside, and lightly on the outside so nobody can see the glue.

Also, you cut out the pages first. Then stick them together. Be sure to do it halfway on either side so that you can open up the book before you start sticking them together.

Dimensions… hmm… I can’t be exact. Even though I have the buttons, stick, and Cthulhu here, I’m not sure how much you want to take up for wiring. Get a big book. Lol. Go yard-sale diving.

I think spine side would be cooler. But, that’s me. You could probably do either safely as long as it is a small cut.

You may want to look into some quick disconnects for the buttons. They make it much easier to wire up. Other than that, though, you’re good. Also, stranded hook-up wire. Don’t go solid. You’ll thank me later.

[Deepfriedasian]

Glue. Brush it along the outside of the book, let it dry, open up the book and use a knife to hollow out the book. Use a knife that lets you control the length of the blade (and thus, the depth of the cut), and use a ruler to ensure that your cuts are straight. Then brush glue along the inside of the book. Use a second coat on the inside.

You will probably want to brush on some glue when you drill the button holes and everything as well. You should probably also try to hollow out as little as possible so that the book doesn’t collapse when you put pressure on it.

I’d imagine it would be best to drill a hole in the spine of the book, I don’t think glued pages would take to well to being drilled, and cutting out a notch in the pages would be difficult as you’d have to brush glue in that tiny notch to keep it firm afterwards.

Ah, I didn’t think of those things, thanks! Guess I shouldn’t have edited my post :<
Good point about the drilling…I guess I’ll go spine when the time comes.

Just make it like a secret-storage book. Get yourself a ruler, and an exacto knife, open it down the middle and carefully cut out the book pages, a few at a time, leaving about a half an inch of space (Or more for extra sturdiness), and make about a 1 to 2 mixture of plain elmer’s glue to water and brush it onto the pages that have been removed. It helps to do this in layers and go slowly, but also takes a bit longer for extra time. Apply liberally on the inside, and lightly on the outside so nobody can see the glue.

Also, you cut out the pages first. Then stick them together. Be sure to do it halfway on either side so that you can open up the book before you start sticking them together.

Dimensions… hmm… I can’t be exact. Even though I have the buttons, stick, and Cthulhu here, I’m not sure how much you want to take up for wiring. Get a big book. Lol. Go yard-sale diving.

I think spine side would be cooler. But, that’s me. You could probably do either safely as long as it is a small cut.

You may want to look into some quick disconnects for the buttons. They make it much easier to wire up. Other than that, though, you’re good. Also, stranded hook-up wire. Don’t go solid. You’ll thank me later.

Good stuff! Thanks! There’s an independent bookstore up here, so I’ll go scrounging around that for an old, affordable book.
I’ll keep all of that in mind when I get around to doing this

For the buttons, should I go screw or snap-in?

Also, thought of another thing…Would mounting the stick via (strong) glue be a bad idea? I’m not too sure about putting a bunch of screws into the book.

[Nerrage]

Ah, I didn’t think of those things, thanks! Guess I shouldn’t have edited my post :<
Good point about the drilling…I guess I’ll go spine when the time comes.
Also, thought of another thing…Would mounting the stick via (strong) glue be a bad idea? I’m not too sure about putting a bunch of screws into the book.

I wouldn’t trust glue, personally. It may work, but you’re going to be sticking it to paper or carboard. The glue might not fail, but the material it sticks to could. But then again, I mounted my roommate’s stick onto a piece of tupperware! Heh. You could mount a more complicated way in order to hide the bolts: Joystick Controller - Panel Mounting and Layering

[PaperTigre]

I finally broke down and made a thread in the trading post, I’ve been putting off doing this for months now lol. May as well get some positive feedback for the stick mods I’m doing

[Deepfriedasian]

I wouldn’t trust glue, personally. It may work, but you’re going to be sticking it to paper or carboard. The glue might not fail, but the material it sticks to could. But then again, I mounted my roommate’s stick onto a piece of tupperware! Heh. You could mount a more complicated way in order to hide the bolts: Joystick Controller - Panel Mounting and Layering

I’m looking at all the mounting techniques, and I’ve got nothing. :\ All of them seem like they’d have to screw through the paper, and the cover of the book probably won’t be very thick. Any ideas?

[d3v]

Transparent is nice, but those look like they wont be a proper alternative to clear Seimitsus.

[spenzalii]

Never considered the EL panel lighting the buttons. Wonder how that could work…

[Icy_Black_Deep]

I’m looking at all the mounting techniques, and I’ve got nothing. :\ All of them seem like they’d have to screw through the paper, and the cover of the book probably won’t be very thick. Any ideas?

My best idea, though not very purist, would be to get a metal plate to hide inside the cover. Hollow out the first pages most of the way to the edge for the plate to sit inside, and then the main hollow portion would be narrower so there’s a solid “ledge” for the plate to sit on. I’m guessing that if you used screw-in buttons that would do most of the job holding the plate to the cover (though some glue to keep it in place wouldn’t hurt), and then you can mount the joystick to the underside of the plate. Also, it would probably be a good idea to try to fit some vertical supports in for when you’re really pounding on the buttons.

Actually, if you’re not too strict on the book idea you could basically make the entire joystick out of a metal (or even plastic) box and hide it inside the book; you ought to be able to make it plenty sturdy then.

[rtdzign]

So as I was dozing off in class, I had an idea for making a stick out of an old (hardcover, duh) book. My plan was to get some old book, cut a square in it (sort of like those secret compartments you see in TV shows) and pop in the stick parts. I’m wondering about a few things:

[LIST]
[]What should the minimum dimensions for the book be in order to fit a cthulu board, 6 face buttons, 2 side buttons and a stick?
[]Would the USB cable that goes into the PS3 go out of the spine side or the page side? (I’m thinking page)
[*]All I need is buttons, a board, a stick, and all the wires needed with those, right?
[/LIST]

someone may have beat you to it…
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/ProjectBox_Tutorial/th_DSC03888.jpg

but it’s not a real book.

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/rtdzign/BookStick/th_DSC03294.jpg

[jdm714]

So as I was dozing off in class, I had an idea for making a stick out of an old (hardcover, duh) book. My plan was to get some old book, cut a square in it (sort of like those secret compartments you see in TV shows) and pop in the stick parts. I’m wondering about a few things:

[LIST]
[]What should the minimum dimensions for the book be in order to fit a cthulu board, 6 face buttons, 2 side buttons and a stick?
[]Would the USB cable that goes into the PS3 go out of the spine side or the page side? (I’m thinking page)
[*]All I need is buttons, a board, a stick, and all the wires needed with those, right?
[/LIST]

Pictures are moved.
http://shoryuken.com/f177/check-out-my-new-arcade-stick-thread-part-deux-201537/index217.html#post8229537

Some pictures.
http://shoryuken.com/f177/check-out-my-new-arcade-stick-thread-part-deux-201537/index221.html#post8258725

All pictures.

BookStick by Richard Tongol

[rtdzign]

Man you really do keep track of everything! Updated the links renamed the album sometime later.

Pictures are moved.
http://shoryuken.com/f177/check-out-my-new-arcade-stick-thread-part-deux-201537/index217.html#post8229537

Some pictures.
http://shoryuken.com/f177/check-out-my-new-arcade-stick-thread-part-deux-201537/index221.html#post8258725

All pictures.
BookStick pictures by rtdzign - Photobucket

[jdm714]

Although it not a real book.
So probably not link.
Laugh.

[PaperTigre]

You’d think with how rabid the Neo Geo community is, i’d be able to find a vector of a neo geo top panel, if not a decent psd.
The only thing I’ve found is a SE template that has the dust washer area deselectable.

[PaperTigre]

You’d think with how rabid the Neo Geo community is, i’d be able to find a vector of a neo geo top panel, if not a decent psd.
The only thing I’ve found is a SE template that has the dust washer area deselectable.

[d3v]

So how do you tell whether an HSS-0136 has an LS-56 or not just by peeking under the dustwasher?

EDIT:
Never mind, looks like an ASCII pivot.

Looks like I’ll need to be ordering that LS-56(-01?) and MS mounting plate.

[VMS]

Never considered the EL panel lighting the buttons. Wonder how that could work…

It doesn’t. I can bet that Sanwa put LEDs inside that stick. And if so, maybe LEDs are lighting the panel, too.

My EL sheet goes right up to & under the button rims… unfortunately they don’t light up at all. But now I’m inspired to make an EL stick ROUND 2!