what I am trying to figure out is how thick a material needs to be to accommodate the sanwa OBSF-30. with my current joystick idea it will need to be able to latch on to 1/4" thick material. is 1/4" too thick or thick enough for these kind of buttons?
http://www.excellentcom.net/images/OBSF-30.jpg
as far as dimensions, this is the best i could find.
any help is appreciated
I’ll say it before someone else does. Hit the search button. 
There’s a thread that has all of this laid out for you.
Short answer is that it’s too thick, but can be worked around.
try the sanwa and seimitsu FAQ
its easier if you refer to them as snap ins, 1/4" would be fine if you have at least plexy glass over it, i think at around 3/4" you’d need to start routing out the bottom.