Well, I cannot use screws like I use to with wood since lexan won’t hold the screws well, wouldn’t it?
Hi I was just wondering what dpi are people using for their custom art work ? What gives a nice quality print out ?
300 dpi is what I use for printing out high res pics.
hey people i was gonna start constructing a stick and was wondering would a height of 2.25 inches be too low to fit the buttons and stick in as i dont wanna have a super thick box also what could the lowest ride height a stick could potentially be? Thanks 
A competition pushbutton is over 2.25 inches long. So if your total box thickness is that, you’re screwed. You’ll need at least 2.5 inches plus the thickness of the bottom panel(the top panel has already been considered).
BTW, buttons are not the deepest component, the stick itself is. A super needs 2.5" of usable depth(unless you use a router to recess it). So if you’re front and back panels are both 3/4" stock, you’ll need a box at least 4" thick.
ahhhh cool thats not so bad i was just hoping that i could have a slim box but 4 inches i can deal with that, i noticed that the sanwa buttons are a lot shorter or am i wrong, does this apply to the joystick as well?
Yes, Sanwa have shorter parts.
cool, well once i have the parts i’ll dabble with a few deisgns n finalise my measurements as knowing a little about carpentry i’ve learnt if you work out measurements using all materials at hand then u cant go far wrong
i didn’t consider depth… and i paid for it. see the pictures below. i used a comp joystick, and i need all of 4" to make it work.
http://homepage.mac.com/cramlet/.Pictures/joystick/reariso2.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/cramlet/.Pictures/joystick/clear.jpg
AHHH HA HA HA, Owch. Well, lesson learned I guess.
Hallo guys.
I’m want to buy Sanwa optical joystick to customize my Hori RAP, but I live in Europe (Poland exactly) and I don’t know any shop where I can buy it. Maybe someone here knows, where to buy that kind of stuff in Europe or maybe where shipping costs are small? Can someone help me?
Have you asked himura? He’s an all around great guy, and very professional, too. I don’t know if he’d ship to Europe, but it’s worth a shot. 
I’m pretty sure his last stock of Flash sticks are gone, but it’s worth a try as they are discontinued.
Been lurking here for a while now. These forums are a brilliant resource, and are giving me many more project ideas for the future.
I haven’t really kept up with modern fighters. My mates and I used to live, eat and breathe SF2 way back when. But then school, lives and nowdays family life all gets in the way that we’re old fogeys.
Anyways, my desire as a kid was always to have my own SF2 machine. So last year I knuckled down and built a MAME cab:
http://benchmark.mameworld.net/cab1/
21" screen with Sanwa balltop sticks, Cherry microswitches all round, and a working coin mech set for 20 cents (that’s how much games where when I was a kid here in Australia).
It’s brought me much joy over the last year, and now I can show my kids what we old fogeys used to play instead of all this new fangled 3D business. 
[edit] On the “Design” page are CAD drawings in DXF format and PDF format for anyone who wants to take the design and modify it or build their own. Go crazy. [/edit]
Also, here’s an old “Tank” SNES joystick I modded up for USB controller use a few years back:
http://pcdb.overclockers.com.au/view.php?name=elvis_mame&page=pics
I’m pretty sure it uses a Happ Competition. It served me well back when SF2 on SNES was the closest thing I could attain to a working cabinet. Ah, the memories. Now it has just a cheapy $10 USB gamepad controller in it. I built it before the MAME cabinet for a bit of a laugh, but soon that wasn’t enough and I needed the “real” thing.
Let me know what you guys think.
Wow! Nice job on the cab! Very clean and professional look to it, from start to finish.
I too, haven’t really gotten into the latest fighting games, prefering the earlier Street Fighters and Fatal Furies and even World Heroes, I’m not too ashamed to admit! I’ve been meaning to build myself a MAME cab since last year with the same Sanwa ball-top sticks and Happ concave buttons, so seeing your excellent cab definitely tugs at my heart-strings. It also gives me another source on which to draw for inspiration, though, too.
Thanks for sharing the pics and information!
I just thought this might be good to post, you can buy everything you need for sticks at home depot(well, except the stick and buttons), they sell lexan/acrylic, quick disconnects, small project 2’X 4’ MDF panels in 3/4 and 1/2, and they also sell the 1/8 bit for drilling the holes for happ parts.
Not new info, no, but nice to know.
Yeah, I get a most of the materials I use at “Home Dope” or “Home Dumpo” as we call it here, too. Power tools, bits and blades, MDF, paint, primer, Lexan, hole-saws (better than shitty paddle bits any day, but also roughly two and a half times as expensive per bit), and almost everything else, but not quite.
For wire/cable markers, solder, desoldering braid, flux, and the like, I hit up Radio Shack.
Gamepads I get from local trade-in shops like GameStop or EB Games.
For the uninsulated .187 female quick diusconnects, I hit up a local “mom and pop” hardware store because the ones at Dumpo are always fully insulated. I don’t like those because I use 26GA wire and want to solder and crimp for increased security.
For padded Grip Liner (alternately known as shelf liner), I have to hit up a kitchen, bath, and home type of store like Linens 'N Things or Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
Just as a note to potential builders or those looking for their own tools at home. The Dope has small Ryobi brand table saws that come with a stand (assembly required) for only $99 right now. That’s a hell of a fucking deal, let me tell you. It’s an extremely versitile tool not only to make squared, right angle cuts, but also when used intelligently to cut acute and obtuse angles, too. If you have trouble figuring out slope and angle degrees, as I do, then this link should be of the utmost value to your custom projects when calculating a box design. Usually a table saw is the most expensive piece of mandatory equipment for custom work is the table saw (routers and mitre saws and jig saws are not necessary if you use your head and have some patience with a rotary tool – though I agree they can make life easier by a long shot). Just a heads up!
so i’m heading to kinkos in a few whats the best option for printing out my art?
If I am using 3/4 MDF, if my box from top to bottom was 4’’, it would fit a comp with some room to spare?
That leaves you with 2.5" of internal height. The bottom of the bezel to the bottom of the bottom prong is roughly 2.5". 3/4" of the body fits into the top panel, so you need about 2" internal height for 1/4" of room.
This button, right?
http://www.happcontrols.com/pushbuttons/5896xxl.htm