Unfortunately, Woodcraft doesn’t have any locations in Canada (as far as I can tell). It’s a shame - looks like an awesome place! But if you’re anywhere near Ottawa, there’s a place called KJP Select Hardwoods that has a pretty good selection. Here’s the link if it’s of any use:
I was wondering if pine is good enough to make a controller box as hardwood is hard to come by for a reasonable price living in London. I heard that using softwoods is not exactly ideal due to it not being particularly strong and prone to denting/stratches but if I put on a protective coat whilst finishing will it be good enough?
The pine was a 19mm x 50mm round architrave sort of like this one:
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Pine-Large-Round-Architrave/invt/128383
My prototypes were made out of pine. They will be fine as long as you don’t like have anything hit them or if you don’t drop them. If you take good care of them and just play with them, they are fine.
Okay, thanks alot for the quick answer :rock:.
As stated you generally want to be careful with pine but it will make for a decent stick if you treat it right. I would go with a roundover to reduce the risk of the sharp corners denting, it would also make it less noticable if you ever needed to do a repair to a portion of the case. Avoid large screws as the wood can split on ya at the worst time (wood dowels worked great for me). As for the clear coating, it will protect the stick from minor damages like scuffing and scratches UV rays but that’s about it (always remember that clear coat is like a maginfying class for dents and bumps and uh-oh’s)
I dont know if the molding pieces are going to work out for you, but the same site did have MDF and cladding, if the thickness is close to 3/4 you should be okay, or if not you could double up your strips as needed the thicken the case. http://www.wickes.co.uk/General-Purpose-Cladding/invt/128463
If there any other builders in the man’s general are here can you recommend a good woodstore for the him ? :bgrin:
Dude I couldn’t agree more 
I think Ecksnine was onto something with the mvs case and there have been several other posts of really cool woodworking projects that may not be relevant to arcade sticks but are still in the realm of gaming like those cabinets I see popping up here and there. Especially in the case of exotic woods and wood jointing as they seem to be popular these days
I don’t know what you sent Mr.Wiz but after thinking things over my suggestion would be:
**A woodworkers forum **
-The exotic and fine woodcrafting thread
-Arcade stick construction, advice, and tips
-Show off your cabinet thread
-Cabinet builders corner
-Pass the Dutchie to the left hand…AKA the jointing thread
-The handtools thread
-Tool and wood discount price watch thread (US,UK, etc)
-General woodworkers thread
-I’m getting old and before I lose interest in gaming let me share …sercets about wood working thread
If there are any other like-minded folks out there who have any thoughts on the matter please share 
Great Idea!!! I’d subscribe
I just suggested the idea to Mr. Wiz and offering to be a moderator if needed. I also have many contacts to experts in the WW Internet circles. Some of the podcasts I mentioned above are examples. To be honest this thread is starting to get too broad. This should be broken down to individual topics. I like your ideas for threads to start off with.
Michael
That’s what I noticed, the thread in large part was created to condense the information so it wouldn’t get burried under random threads with similar information kinda like a wiki with chat. The cool thing is that so many folks have taken an active interest in the thread that there have been some really great tips and discussion that I think everyone has learned from.
The downside is without any sturcture or organization like that of a forum the really juicy stuffs getting burried even Juicier stuff lol.
:tup:Yea 472 posts in less then 6 weeks. I would say that this is a popular thread.:bgrin:
Here is a real laugh. 
Christopher Schwarz is an editor for a few magazines, Popular Woodworking being one of them. He used one rag for about 10 years to wipe down his metal hand tools with oil to protect them from rust. He called it his wobbie.
Due to contamination he finally had to toss it out because it was scratching his tools. One of the other editors pulled it out of the trash and now they have posted it for sale on eBay.
Own a piece of woodworking history if you dare. Current auction price is $31.00, :wow::looney:
Michael
Hey guys, I’m having alot of trouble with cutting holes in Acrylic glass (plexiglass). I’m using this type of drill bit, I’m not too sure what it’s called but it looks like the one in the middle:
Every time I try to drill into the plexiglass it cracks. Is there a technique that I should use? Or a different drill bit? Thanks.
The one you are using is called a spade bit. I think many people use forstner bits to cut holes through acrylic. That is the top bit.
One suggestion is to sandwich the plexiglass between 2 pieces of scrap wood.
Oh ok. I’ll look for a forstner bit and try that technique. Thanks for the quick reply.
Damn that’s just wrong
It would depend on your personal preference between the spade and forstner. The biggest problem I had initially was coming in to slow with the bit when using a hand drill, the bit would as a result grab the plexi and crack or chip it. If using a hand drill I like to use spade bits for a clean hole with less chance of it grabbing and chipping the plexi. If your using a drill press I swear by the forstner bits as they work clean and fast and leaves a nice pilot hole in your CP.
I think what your problem is that you are using the wrong style of spade bit. I use one like the one below. Notice the little teeth at the edges? Those are what cut the plexiglas nice and cleanly. Make sure you don’t push the bit into the plexi. Let the weight of the drill do the work. Also it is a good idea to use a small twist bit (1/8") to drill a pilot hole in the center. Again let the weight of the drill do the work on this one too. I’ll do up a proper write up with pics on how to drill plexi during the next one I have to do. I had planned on doing that tonight but I ended up sharpening the blades in my hand planes.
Michael
http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/images/press_SpeedborSpadeBit.jpg
souji…
I think that’s a great idea. The threads you suggested would certainly make it easier for people who are new to woodworking, stick-building or cabinet-making to find the specific information they’re looking for. I’m in!
Maybe my thread idea is getting too specific, but I’ll throw it out there:
- Finishing techniques : choosing the right stain/paint/clear, application, how-to’s, etc…
just a thought:).
Yes! And a safety one too because a lot of peole might be new to woodworking 
It really would be awesome to have a woodworking sub-forum :tup:
That’s Irwin Speedbor Im using too^^:razzy:
Hey what do you guys think on using a water based poly on a oil based stain. i was at home depot and they didnt have an oil based poly. Will it still turn out pretty good or should i try to find an oil based poly somewhere else