The Sanwa and Seimitsu FAQ

[Sendo]

You won’t be able to order straight from Sanwa or Seimitsu with such a small order. I’ve done orders myself that were much larger than yours and unless you’re going to approach them as a distributor, they won’t ship to you since they don’t take international orders.

~Paik

Thanks for your previous advice man. I’ve actually decided that it may actually be worth my while setting myself up as distributor. I’m looking to make a lot of custom sticks on a regular basis, so ordering in excess of 50 sticks initially and say 5 or 600 buttons may make sense. I would then most likely sell the parts individually, whilst using the stock for my own purposes. There aren’t many sellers in the UK so it would be another useful resource for people over here.

Would you be able to give me any advice on how to go about contacting Sanwa, and setting myself up as a distributor? I have several friends fluent in Japanese so communication will not be a problem.

Thanks again for your help on this man.

[Isop]

So, correct me if I’m wrong. In order to “correctly” mount a jlf onto a NON RECESSED surface, such as a straight acrylic case, the material would have to be no thicker than 1/4 inch?

If true, then does anyone have sugestions for an acrylic/plastic material? The stuff at lowe’s/home depot is trash it seems and I’d like to know wtf i’m getting before I shellout the cash for an online purchase. If anyone has experience with acrylics and acrylic case construction, your advice on specific materials would be greatly appreciated.

The dimensions of the case would be similar to those of the T5 stick, perhaps a tad larger. Just looking for something that is rigid enough.

[Gwyrgyn_Blood]

The GT-O is for the JLW… is there no way to get a circular gate on the JLF?

I’m a HAPP man myself, but I’m building a stick and want to keep the size to a minimum… but HAPP parts are so freakin long/big. I’m thinking of going with Sanwa even though I don’t like the buttons, but if I can’t get a circular gate I’ll just have to bite the size bullet and stick with HAPP.

You can use HAPP buttons in a Sanwa stick and only have it be a little deeper. Mine made like this is only 3" deep total, using 1/2" MDF.

[Yeton]

Quick question: I was looking into picking up a couple of 30mm button plugs, but noticed that Sanwa’s were a little bit raised/convex for my tastes. Are Seimitsu button plugs flatter/more flush with the control panel, or are they the same?

[Maho]

I remember reading somewhere that it was possible to change the microswitch from a Seimitsu skeleton button for a Sanwa one (ref SW68?), can someone confirm that?

[Paik4Life]

Would you be able to give me any advice on how to go about contacting Sanwa, and setting myself up as a distributor? I have several friends fluent in Japanese so communication will not be a problem.

Thanks again for your help on this man.

If you have a friend that can read and write Japanese just go to their website and e-mail them.

So, correct me if I’m wrong. In order to “correctly” mount a jlf onto a NON RECESSED surface, such as a straight acrylic case, the material would have to be no thicker than 1/4 inch?

9mm is the “correct” mounting height. That is about 1/3"

Quick question: I was looking into picking up a couple of 30mm button plugs, but noticed that Sanwa’s were a little bit raised/convex for my tastes. Are Seimitsu button plugs flatter/more flush with the control panel, or are they the same?

They seems pretty similar to me, but Seimitsu plugs that I’ve used were smooth. Sanwa’s are textured.

I remember reading somewhere that it was possible to change the microswitch from a Seimitsu skeleton button for a Sanwa one (ref SW68?), can someone confirm that?

Yes you can.

~Paik

[SatsuiNoHadouRyu]

If I was to replace the ball handle, ie change color, on my HRAP2, how would I go about doing that?

[System_1]

take a flathead screw driver put it into the screw head slot under the stick and turn the ball.

[hanz0]

Nope. Sorry. Well, almost anything is possible with enough modding, but to answer your question, it’s basically no.

30mm and 24mm…hence the sizes that are given. This information was also included in the first posts that I wrote under button installation. Please read before asking questions.

~Paik

I asked that cause i went to the hardware store but all i see is stuff like 1 1/8, 1 1/4 and a bunch of other sizes and i dont know which one is the right one:sweat::looney:

[System_1]

I asked that cause i went to the hardware store but all i see is stuff like 1 1/8, 1 1/4 and a bunch of other sizes and i dont know which one is the right one:sweat::looney:

30mm hole saw drill is 1 3/16", 24mm is 15/16" i believe. Just search the forums, i remember there was a post about them.

[TheRealNeoGeo]

One inch is = 25.4mm so it is easy to calculate.

[SatsuiNoHadouRyu]

So for my HRAP2 I use Sanwa OBSF-30/24 snap-ins?

[TheRealNeoGeo]

SatsuiNoHadouRyu
Yes, or Seimitsu PS-14-G and PS-14-D.

[System_1]

Another stupid question here.

Say I wanted to make a pad for PS2, would a 4-way or an 8-way stick be better for this?

[System_1]

Another stupid question here.

Say I wanted to make a pad for PS2, would a 4-way or an 8-way stick be better for this?

huh? be more specific. What do you want to do? I assume when you say “pad”, you mean an arcade stick for ps2?

[Chaosdragon13]

Its written in the first post that the sanwa buttons 30mm and 24mm holes based on their number, but I was wondering how well they fit into a 1-3/16" and 15/16" hole. Both of those are close to the metric sizes, only off by 0.1 or so which makes me think that they would work pretty well, but it would be nice to know for sure before I go out an buy the drill bits from somewhere.

[System_1]

huh? be more specific. What do you want to do? I assume when you say “pad”, you mean an arcade stick for ps2?

Oops, yes I meant an arcade stick.

[CrouchingTiger]

The standard mounting height for Japanese joysticks is to have 23-24mm of shaft above the control panel to the bottom of the balltop.

I see a lot of people routing a recess just deep enough to make a JLF plate flush with the surface of the stick. To get 23-24mm, they’d need to recess it about 3/8 inch. Are you sure 24mm is standard? Or do most people just not care enough about a few mm to get it right? =p

[Gwyrgyn_Blood]

That’s the standard, all of the ones I’ve had and made have the wood routed down far enough to get the stick to standard length. It’s around 3/16" with lexan and art on top.

Its written in the first post that the sanwa buttons 30mm and 24mm holes based on their number, but I was wondering how well they fit into a 1-3/16" and 15/16" hole. Both of those are close to the metric sizes, only off by 0.1 or so which makes me think that they would work pretty well, but it would be nice to know for sure before I go out an buy the drill bits from somewhere.

It’s a good fit. Tight enough to use snap-ins or screw-ins just fine.

[Paik4Life]

Frankly, most people don’t care or don’t have the technical skills to correctly and accurately make a recess at the correct mounting depth, taking into the account the thickness of their plexi/lexan.

Not to sound like an ass, but I know more about Sanwa and Seimitsu stuff than probably 99% of the people building sticks. It’s the reason I put together this FAQ. So you can choose to believe me or not. Frankly, I don’t care. But I did answer your question.

~Paik