Yet another: Arcade stick Construction thread

[KagerouSama]

Okay. I have my lumber MDF (3/4)".
8"x"13"x"5"

It’s in pieces at the moment. And I have to reduce each of my sides by (3/4)" because I forgot to compensate for width when I had it cut at Home Depot.

I’m going to hinge and latch the top.

But that isn’t my problem.

I need a 10 button CP.

I want to model it after my T5 Hori. I found one in the template/stencil thread, but it only had a 6 button CP.

I need 2 buttons offset lower; what would traditionally be L1 + L2 on a PS2 stick.
Then, a little higher, a straight row of 6. And above that , the set of two for start/select.

I do play games offline. Which is why I need the buttons for 3xP and 3xK.
I enjoy using Dan in Street Fighter Alpha for PC and it’ll make it tons easier to put in the code.

I have my 1_(1/8)" bit for drilling out button holes. They’re Yumex buttons.

The stick is an IL Eurostick. So I’m confused as to what size hole I need for it.
And every stencil I looked at so far has a different size for the stick’s hole. So …what bit do I use?

I go Monday to have it drilled out. I have a friend locally with a drill press who has agreed to help me. So I kinda’ need to know before then.

I promise to post pictures when I get the enclosure together and painted. =)

Thanks for whatever help you can give me. And feel free to merge this thread if there’s a better place for it.

I did search first. I promise.

[KagerouSama]

Update!

Presenting, the frankenstick! Nightmare of shop-classes everywhere!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/kagerousama/IMG_0050.jpg

It’s glued and nailed together at the moment.
Had a friend help me drill it out.

It’s drying at the moment. Tomorrow I paint and hinge/latch the lid, mount the PCB and hook up the wires.

Not the best form factor, I’m sure.
But it should function just as I want it when I get it hooked up.

[Kajoq]

Are the two up top supposed to be Start and Select or L1 and L2? If they’re your start/select you might want to reconsider. You’ll be accidentally hitting them a lot otherwise.

[KagerouSama]

Are the two up top supposed to be Start and Select or L1 and L2? If they’re your start/select you might want to reconsider. You’ll be accidentally hitting them a lot otherwise.

They will be select (coin) and Start.
Not a lot to reconsider now that they’re drilled out.
I’m not gonna’ make a pest of myself around the friend that helped me drill it for the use of his drill press.

I don’t see me hitting them on accident. I’m not one to flatten my palm and bash my controls. I usually keep index on LP, middle on MP, and ring on HP, thumb on LK, and use Middle and Ring for MK and HK accordingly.

And since it’s for PC, I don’t think a one of those buttons will pause. As I usually have to take focus away from the program for that to happen.

What’s the worse that could happen? I taunt accidentally and take a level 3 Shinku-Haduken? My fault there.

3xP and 3xK are drilled out on the top edge. They’ll be there for codes, and the mapping there will keep me from using them during play.

[System_1]

i agree with Kajog, you will want to move them on your next box. Also, my first pad was about as big as that one, and its very annoying. I like the Byrdo Small Sanwa layout myself (its less that a foot wide and 3in tall) Im not doggin onyour stick, its good for your first one, but you will most likely see many revisions on your next one. Again, not hateing.

[KagerouSama]

i agree with Kajog, you will want to move them on your next box. Also, my first pad was about as big as that one, and its very annoying. I like the Byrdo Small Sanwa layout myself (its less that a foot wide and 3in tall) Im not doggin onyour stick, its good for your first one, but you will most likely see many revisions on your next one. Again, not hateing.

If this CP turns out to be tricky, I’ll have another one cut.
But since I wasn’t doing this to sell it off, I’m not too worried at the moment.
But, if I ever re-do the CP (since I’m not likely to build another one), I will probably move Start and Select higher.

If you look at the pencil outline, they were supposed to be offset a bit.
But, alas, this is how it turned out. =\

The reason it’s so “friggin’” huge is that I wanted to be able to open 'er up and service if need be. So the IL stick will have a good 2" clearance between the bottom of the stick and the bottom of the box.

The top of the box isn’t connected at the moment.
It’ll be hinged and latched to keep it easy to get into.

Eh, You’ll see once I get it together.

[UltraDavid]

The reason it’s so “friggin’” huge is that I wanted to be able to open 'er up and service if need be. So the IL stick will have a good 2" clearance between the bottom of the stick and the bottom of the box.

Heh it’s not that huge. After much experimentation, I’ve settled on making my sticks 12" wide, 10" deep, and 4.25" tall. If we’re gonna make arcade-style sticks, might as well be able to rest those hands on the stick like you can on an arcade cabinet! Plus I like having a lot of volume inside my sticks because I store the cord(s) and a game box inside when I’m traveling with them, so making them tall is helpful, and also I like them very heavy, so the more wood the better heh.

[System_1]

Heh it’s not that huge. After much experimentation, I’ve settled on making my sticks 12" wide, 10" deep, and 4.25" tall. If we’re gonna make arcade-style sticks, might as well be able to rest those hands on the stick like you can on an arcade cabinet! Plus I like having a lot of volume inside my sticks because I store the cord(s) and a game box inside when I’m traveling with them, so making them tall is helpful, and also I like them very heavy, so the more wood the better heh.

yeah, i defonatly see your point. but for me, i like to rest my stick on my lap, so i like um small, otherwise its kinda weird on the wrists.

But thats whats so great about makeing your own stick. to each his own!!

[KagerouSama]

yeah, i defonatly see your point. but for me, i like to rest my stick on my lap, so i like um small, otherwise its kinda weird on the wrists.

But thats whats so great about makeing your own stick. to each his own!!

Who said this wouldn’t go on my lap? =)
Huge Hands, my friend. Huge Hands and precision inputs.

[Scoops]

may i ask how much home depot charged you for the material and the cutting? also, what exactly did you ask them for, 3/4" MDF?

[KagerouSama]

may i ask how much home depot charged you for the material and the cutting? also, what exactly did you ask them for, 3/4" MDF?

3/4" MDF. $5 and some change for what I think was a 2_1/2 foot X 4_1/4 foot board.
It’s normally $0.25 a cut. But since I had to wait on him, the employee said he wouldn’t charge me for the cuts.

Mind, when I had it drilled out, my friend evened out the cuts, because the sides were off by a smidgen from one end to the other.

I’ve got decorative hinges that are going on the back.
$2.97 for set of 2.
And latches to hold the front.
2 x $2.97 ea.

My first notion was to clear-coat this.
But we’ve got some spray-paint sitting downstairs. So, paint it’ll be.
Net gain toward construction cost. --$0.00

Oh! And $0.98 for some wood screws to mount the joystick.

This, plus the cost of my PCB, 2x harnesses, and parts.

It may not look like much. But parts alone put it around $130 without compensation for time and assembly.

But overall? Not a hard thing to do. Just have to put your mind to it.

I know it’s more info than you asked for.

I end up rambling a good bit.

Sorry.

Not-so-Ninja-Edit:
I also bought a tube of extra-strength wood-glue.
Don’t do this!
When I was there, I asked for a glue that could stand "Taking a beating."
But when I had it drilled out, I was told that, “While what I bought was top quality, it was really unnecessary.” Normal wood glue should work fine.

That’s a near $8.00 loss toward the project, even though a small amount was used.

[The_Mullah]

Heh it’s not that huge. After much experimentation, I’ve settled on making my sticks 12" wide, 10" deep, and 4.25" tall. If we’re gonna make arcade-style sticks, might as well be able to rest those hands on the stick like you can on an arcade cabinet! Plus I like having a lot of volume inside my sticks because I store the cord(s) and a game box inside when I’m traveling with them, so making them tall is helpful, and also I like them very heavy, so the more wood the better heh.

lol, your sticks always make me giggle to myself when i see them, hooks and all. It’s so unique. don’t get me wrong, i’m not hating, my two sticks were fuckin huge, xbox magazine called them a fat midgets coffin lol!

[UltraDavid]

Heh I haven’t used hooks for a while now, actually.

[KagerouSama]

All done and mapped!

Whee!

The red wire leading to “1” is iffy.
There’s a yellow that does something and basically kills your other button inputs.
One key maps to player 1, button three. It’s left shift. Not good for games where you tap “A”, because Windows want to turn on sticky keys.
You have to play with the wires to get everything set on the Mini-Pac. Because the defaults’ll drive you crazy.

There’s a Win key button line somewhere, I forget the color. That was annoying.
So was the wire mapped to “alt”

But, all is fine now.
I’m’a ready to play me some games.

Voila!:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/kagerousama/IMG_0053.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/kagerousama/IMG_0055.jpg

[Sazae]

That stick is awesome. I love big tank sticks like this because you can beat the hell out them and they keep going. Great job on your first stick :tup:

[opips2]

:xeye::looney:::tup:

[Jaxel]

Is there something about MDF that makes everyone use it for the outside of sticks? MDF is very strong, dont get me wrong, its why I use it as the mounting plate for my buttons and joystick… but when it comes to the actualy external box of the stick, I refuse to use it. MDF is strong, but it is also very malleable. It is very soft and its very easy to ruin.

I see people with MDF sticks, and you can see how long they have had them, because they are dented up to hell, corners broken off and everything.

[haha_im_a_panda]

Is there something about MDF that makes everyone use it for the outside of sticks? MDF is very strong, dont get me wrong, its why I use it as the mounting plate for my buttons and joystick… but when it comes to the actualy external box of the stick, I refuse to use it. MDF is strong, but it is also very malleable. It is very soft and its very easy to ruin.

I see people with MDF sticks, and you can see how long they have had them, because they are dented up to hell, corners broken off and everything.

some people (me included) are cheap bastards. we can’t afford nice hardwoods, but we can still make MDF look and hold up quite well.

[UltraDavid]

It’s strong, light, and cheap. And it won’t fall apart if you seal it up well enough.

[System_1]

i live in the country, and for my next one, im thinking about going down to the Amish and getting some nice hardwoos for Cheep (gota watch for knot holes tho, cause they cut down their own trees for the wood but they got Oak and Maple and stuff)