54mmx95mm +/- 1mm for the steel plate, I guess. Give yourself a little leeway. I don’t know the dimensions of the plastic frame and PCB.
Ah, ok. Thanks for that. One more question though, how deep should the lip for the metal button plate be? Around 5 mm or so?
The metal plate is not that thick. I don’t have a caliper, so I’d estimate it at about 1/16" thick. As long as it’s deeper than that, you won’t have any problems with it not being flush. Too deep, though, and you’ll lose stick height.
Dope. Thanks dood :tup:
Wait, button plate? You mean the steel plate the joystick attaches to, right?
http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i691632_stick.jpg
The part that I circled in blue. I was asking how deep that should be.
Yeah, at least 1/16" is fine.
Well, I followed various links from arcadecontrols.com to find this:
http://syste.ms/joystick/
guide on proper varnishing, but does anyone know of a guide that gives some tips on a plastic overlay ?
Thanks ^^
Right, Ive just received a customed PCB from Laurie47, the work looks sound, joystick is working fine, but no responses to the buttons - have I done something wrong?
Wired up the grounds (is there a certain order?) and connected the buttons as per wire to the PCB, but nothing.
Help!
Forster:
I like to check out my PCB before installing it in the stick by 1. plugging it in, and 2. touching the ground wire to each button wire, checking the screen to make sure each does what I hope it will do.
I may not know enough to help you without more information, but-- I think you’re saying that you’ve got more than one ground wire, and if that’s the case, there may be a right and wrong way to connect them.
Scynix: Maybe this will be helpful for finishing; I found it so
http://case-mods.linear1.org/case-mod-101-how-to-paint-your-computer-case-part-1/
Oh it looks like I?ll need to add a watermark to my photos. That?s one heck of a JLF mount if I do say so myself. 
I would strongly recommend getting your parts in hand before you start cutting your wood. For example ?how thick do I route out for the mounting plate?? you should route out just the thickness of the mounting plate.
I mean to say that you do not need to measure anything, just look at it. Set your tool height, cut and check it. If it is not deep enough, adjust the tool height and cut again.
You want the plate to be flush with the surface of the wood. Otherwise your artwork will dip down under your plexi and be unsightly.
Also, you want as much stick height as you can get.
One more fun tip, use wood glue. It is far more important to your box than screws or nails if you use it properly. Screws are only good to hold the wood while the glue dries.
FallingEdge
Here are some pics I made before (second from the left is the JLF-P-1 plate, the one you want to use):
And all measurements (by me also, in millimeters). Size: 95x53x1.6(millimeters):
http://akihabarashop.com/sanwa-JLFP1.jpg
And you were wondering how deep it should be…it depends. Are you going to have lexan sheet on top? If so what is the thickness off it in millimeter? Anyway, I made this simple little pictures, maybe it helps you out:
I should have been more clear, sorry mate, was wasted last night when I typed that ><
The ground is daisy chained from a PSX digital PCB.
Whats odd, is that if I make the connection as you suggested, I still get nothing, but touch the ground to the board and I get a constant circle press, the other buttons to the board itself will do what they are supposed to - Im guessing its a grounding issue.
Laurie has kindly offered to have a look at it for me, so no worries.
The only damage that I can see that may have occurred in the post is a scratch on one of the other points, may have been from rubbing in its envelope.
Thanks for your advice sciu
Do you have any idea how to tell what a good soldering iron is? I’ve heard some will run too hot and not work well with the resin core based solder, so I want to make sure I get a good one. Any idea on what temperature to look for?
Such a beast post. I had to quote.
Ha, sorry dude for just taking your picture but I needed something to base my question off of. Yeah, after thinking about it I’m just gonna wait till my parts come in. I just really wanted to get started on it. I’ll still work on building the base, but wait to cut the holes for the joystick/buttons.
Full of win. This will help me greatly. Thank you very much!
EDIT: Also, for cutting the plexiglass, from reading the thread, it said to use a “jigsaw, sawblade for metal.” Is this the case? Or is there something different to use?
Here is some good info I found for dealing with plexiglass…
http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_puttogether.shtml#Plexiglass
If you can, buy Lexan instead. It doesn`t break like plexi does and it is easier to work with.
Lexan is a bit more expensive but boy is it nice to work with. You can cut it and drill it like wood.
…but if you rub your hand on it wrong it gets these little tiny scratches all over it. Plexiglass is dirt cheap and if you work it right it will look and last a lot nicer on something that will get a lot of use and abuse.
Just buy the one I linked to.
You want an iron around the 25W (that’s electrical power) range for PCB and small wire work. Cheaper irons (less than about $75) never have temperature control.