is it possible to mod a square joystick gate into an 8 way gate? i have a hori mini 4.
im using this for a long wile before i can get a much better arcade stick. im trying to find my options on modding the gate for the hori mini 4.
ive learned i can NOT stand a square gate. if not i assume i can use a sanwa octo gate.
preferably this one
but ive heard i have to modify some screw holes.
im using this for a long wile before i can get a much better arcade stick.
There’s no easy way to mod a gate, especially not on something like the Hori Mini.
If you REALLY wanted an octo-gate on the Hori Mini, you’d probably need to design and 3D print the bottom part of the stick housing, but with an octagon hole rather than the square. That’s really the only the way you could do it.
But like @SHSL_Street_Fighter mentioned, it’s REALLY not worth your time.
It pretty much requires buying a new case, a lot of people buy the stick second hand broken as a way of getting a PCB for building a custom stick… unless I’m missing something here and you can mod the stick in its current form…
Without knowing what the inside looks like, I can’t give accurate advice. Can you take pictures of the inside of your box? I don’t really know what the inside of that arcade stick looks like.
The easiest way to turn a 4 way stick into an 8 way is to just rotate the square gate. By easy, I mean “smallest investment in parts.” But this will most certainly require some drilling at the very least and possibly plastic/solvent welding stuff.
If you can’t mod the gate, there’s always the actuator. I turned my SuzoHapp joystick from a round gate to a square gate that way. But that was tricky and time consuming…
You also mentioned that you HATE square gates, which makes your remaining options pretty bleak if you don’t want to spend any money. Cutting the gate to shape could be possible, but you’d have to be very, very careful, and that might not be an option depending on how you’re set up under there.
If the gate just bolts on, then you might even be able to cut one out of wood. I’ve personally never tried it, but don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
I don’t see how rotating a square gate can get you an octo-gate, but I think the fault is more from the OP’s miscommunication of “8-way gate”, which is incorrect. Square gates and octo-gates are both “8-way gates”.
The main problem is that, on the really cheapo Hori sticks like the one in the Hori Mini, the “gate” is actually part of the bottom half of the entire joystick assembly.
This.
Like I said before, since the “gate” is the bottom half of the joystick assembly, you’ll need to reconstruct that through some sort of precision machine like a CNC machine or a 3D printer.
honestly u can mod anything even this hori mini, if you have enough technical skill with electronics and tools. i was hoping for somewhat of an easy-enough way to go about it.
i heard u can use a dremmel or something on the sanwa octo gate to make the holes large enough to just stick into the gate. and cut off a couple tabs.
it sounds like that may be an easier route than completely manufacturing a whole new gate myself. i have dont have access to such tools.
i might just switch the gate because its going to take me a long time to save up enough money to get another stick that is much more worthwhile.
not very related. but i had to tell someone.
hori mini 4 feels very light and hollow. i just went outside and found rocks that were both small and heavy. and taped them inside of case to add a much more comfortable weight to the stick.
yea i agree. i only got it because i wanted to see if i truly did. and it raised my want for a stick even more. plus i cant spend too much money and this seemed like a great balance between quality and price.
The only time a Square gate would be 4 way is if the gate is rotated 90 degrees and only on a Sanwa JLF or Sanwa JLW.
The 4 way gates on other sticks (such as Seimitsu) sort of resemble a cross or a “4 leaf clover” shape.
My post actually touches on the octo-gate towards the end, I was just explaining the easiest way to turn a 4-way rhombus into an 8-way square, without using too much confusing language. I did, however, think the OP had a rhombus, which isn’t the case.
Looking at the video SHSL_Street_Fighter posted, it looks like the gate can be separated from the joystick. While a CNC/3DPrint/Laser are the obvious “best” choices, why couldn’t we just take a piece of wood, drill the holes, and cut it to shape with a jigsaw? Maybe throw some washers in there for good measure?
You could, depending on the wood. Balsa wood is easy to work with but also as easy to break.
I would suggest some hard wood, but in that case some aluminum stock would be a better choice.