Questions about the side buttons:
Good eye, that’s what I measured for a placeholder hole pattern. It would actually be really easy to offer different hole patterns, it’s the outside dimensions and screw holes I was thinking of.
I figure nobody needs that many, that was just the physical size that seemed about right to me, and then rounded to the nearest multiple of 1.5". I do have a terrible habit of going “hmm, maybe I need to make this bigger and heavier”, because most of my job is designing things that are used by brutes who will break anything you give them unless it’s twice as big as it should be.
I can’t remember which button size I originally based my model on, but I think that is what I did. I’ll have to take a second look at that.
So I quickly tried putting this thing on a diet, and here are some pics.
Firstly, I tried just making it smaller in width and depth. Here you can see the old one, the new one, and the Mayflash I used for the hole pattern, which is the only other thing I have on hand to compare it to right now.
http://i.imgur.com/dhjzglz.jpg
And here you can see another thing I threw together quickly to make it shorter, but it makes the design so nauseatingly boring I almost can’t bring myself to consider it.
http://i.imgur.com/20hv0r2.jpg
Small one would be sweetness… for my tastes. Some folks like a ginormous “desk-like” stick, though 
-ud
I admire the passion and imagination put forth in this entire thread. I just read it all from the beginning, just for kicks!
The smaller size version definitely looks more manageable, while keeping the same sleek aesthetic as the large one.
We haven’t seen very much in terms of design for the smaller modules for the side panels, so questions for those would be:
Correct me if I’m wrong but with the modularity you can put the buttons where you want, each ridge is a separate piece on the side correct?
You could do the depth from each side so two different profiles recessed or protruding are possible.
I believe that it was mentioned earlier in the thread that he intended there to be different types of modules including pass-throughs and some other unique things. I would like to see panels with plexi windows, engravings, and laser cut-outs
You’re right, that’s a great observation. But that’ll also require that the guiding ridge of the modular sections be centered on the blocks, which I believe they currently aren’t, based on the first images a few posts back.
Though I’m pretty sure that can be accommodated quite easily.
Shimmering brush marks are sometimes used in the industry for cosmetic enhancement, but I’ve always seen them on steel, with additional color effect, but I don’t know if on aluminum the effect would last withotu protection, it’s something to try out and test. Still, the steel plates I’ve seen , or even thebrass or aluminum ones, (see gallery in link) had a coating applied to protect the (almost) chatoyant effect (plus color). when well done it does look cool.
I find the design of the MK stick design interesting, they have that 80’s computer joystick vibe.
How to you intend to have the logo applied on the surface?
Perhaps a tad more rounding here and there could make the right part less angular, why not imparting a slightly convex curve to the part where you have the MK logo or even a large but shallow concave one (covering the entire logo space) reminiscent of the AES neogeo stick cavity around the shaft. Just a few ideas.
I don’t like the diamond shaped stick , but the curves you imparted on the corners to round them off should be transferred to the MK stick design imho.
Did you consider having some aluminum alloy sheet formed with a hydraulic press to form an upper shell,then have the shell heat treated to full strength and hardness? You would only have to cut out a steel plate for the bottom, to be screwed in. Sure you would have to invest (perhaps a lot) in the production of matching positive & negative dies (one for the outside one for the inside), but you wouldn’t spend that much in billets anymore, with the possibility of having deep stick boxes if the clients wish to have happ style controls in them, I mean milling an uber thick block is really a waste when we see the price , as for the tooling it would cost a lot in tools time and energy . It all depends on how many you think you would produce.
Some guys in the music industry still continue to rout out some aluminum alloy shells (for the body) but considering the extremely high final price of the product, they can afford the milling and massive blocks.
The “tooling marks” can simply be brushed on easily as it’s been already proposed by another member , no need to rout to get that nice effect.
Made some more changes, need to get this first rev finalized in the next couple days, because my boss wants to get it 3D printed. I ordered new material because I changed the top and bottom panels to 1 piece each, so that will be here on Friday. We’ll see which happens first, either I get it printed or I just mill it out of aluminum. You can see there is an open panel and a solid one. I figured maybe some people would want to put plexi or something on theirs, or you might want just straight aluminum (engraved after annodizing), so both are an option. Made the side wall things thinner. Made the top and bottom panel thinner too, since they don’t have to half-flap anymore. Overall the weight has gone from 15+ lbs. to 8.5 lbs.
http://i.imgur.com/bvF9Vhc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sLfaZqi.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zUiccpB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zgTKfWK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/veE0gEx.jpg
May need 2 different models.
Very kind!
Anything you request.
This question has given me serious pause. I’ve been trying to find a way to flip the little pieces around, so that one piece for a given button diameter will work with that same button both protruding and recessed, but the problem I haven’t gotten around is that this would only really work with nut mount buttons, not the ones with the little clips. For the ones with the little clips, the plate will need a recess milled into it, because to my knowledge there aren’t any of those that have a 1/4" mounting thickness, which is how thick those side pieces are (or it’s not a standard mounting size anyway). It’s not impossible, it’s just hard to do it elegantly. One way is to make a recess from both sides, have the side piece be thicker than 1/4", and have an offcenter, 1/4" thick ridge that inserts into the top and bottom panel. Here are some pictures of 3 different possible cross sections to maybe help explain what I’m talking about.
@sdg IL makes buttons in two lengths. When Happ moved production to China they pushed the longer length. However, we would be happy to stock the shorter version, which is 5mm shorter, from IL if a 55mm button will make these work better.
Also… I’m almost done with the thing I promised to do
Can’t touch this, duh nuh nuh nuh.
Missing corner pieces, but those are coming soon. I should definitely put a weight-reduction pocket in the bottom half, even if it’s not going to go all the way through like on the top, because it’s quite heavy without it. In case you’re wondering, the little ridges are not sharp at all and are quite comfy. Once you pick it up it’s hard to put down. The first custom side piece I’m going to work on besides a normal push-button one is a handle.
http://i.imgur.com/f0zj0df.jpg
Looks expensive.
Well the goal here is to make something that looks and feels expensive, but isn’t. Hopefully that’s achievable.
So, I really don’t need another stick, it’s well documented that I have way too many and that I have a problem. But if this comes to fruition, I’ll have to buy one. Or two. I’m pointing my wife towards SDG and Jasen when she comes asking why she has no room in the house and is drowning in fight sticks.
So these may be shipped in almost flat packages, the tallest point being the mounting screws for joysticks?
Bumping to show interest. This is stunningly beautiful, and I hope dearly the project as a whole comes to fruition.
Personally, I find the golden ratio in width/depth to be about 1.75/1, and I’m hoping to see something like this in your larger incarnation of the design (something like 14" or 16" wide, perhaps).
As for the recessed buttons, it would work fine with snap-ins if you were to simply mill a recess (as you described) on one side of any given modular side panel such that the resulting thickness is 4mm. If it were to save on production costs, you could optionally mill a channel clear through the side of a panel, as opposed to a hole, for the recessed area. You would still have to drill clearance for the button, but it may reduce time at one machine or another.
I hope the project continues on. Reminds me sort of the NHTRAN sticks from 2010. CNC Machined Cases - 2nd Batch Taking orders ( Post #228 Pg 10 for details) 7/16/10
This is alot more metal.
That’s looking sexy so far, love me an all aluminum stick. Wish I got a NHTran stick back in the day too