My custom QCF stick

[Tritone]

I've been wanting a nice, unique, personal stick for a while, and Neil at QCF (http://www.quartercircleforward.com/) did a great job on this functional work of art. Really, if you are thinking about getting a new stick (or just have stick-related questions), email him! Right now!

Also Kaizeru (http://kaizeru.deviantart.com) deserves my thanks for providing the stellar artwork.

Onto the pictures!

Front view #1 (http://s91116975.onlinehome.us/dizzy1.jpg)

Front view #2 (http://s91116975.onlinehome.us/dizzy2.jpg)

Side view (http://s91116975.onlinehome.us/dizzy3.jpg)

The guts (http://s91116975.onlinehome.us/dizzy4.jpg)

The stick plays great! Thanks for spending all that time replying to my questions, Neil. I'm going to get another stick from you sometime later this year.

[GyBaNO]

Simply awesome! I love the Dizzy art and stick/button layout as well! :tup:

[The Mullah]

lol, my kinda wiring. nice

[TheRealNeoGeo]

Nice stick! Inside is also cool (thanks for the insidepics :D).

[Rico!]

:sad: Its beautiful.

*Wants a Dizzy stick really badly*

[gaijin]

That's a really great-looking stick! Congrats, man!

[nasci]

Tritone it'd be awesome to make you another some time. It was fun to have you stop by and play for a couple hours as well. I wish I got a chance to play everyone that ordered from me. Your Dizzy kicked my butt in GGXX reload. Good job, and your still learning her.

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Finally sombody solders to the JLF pins and not the tabs!

What's up with the letterbox-ish white above and below the art? Was the provided art just not big enough?

[SoulCaliFreak]

Nice work man. Basic, clean, nice!!!

ASM: I soldered to the pins on my very first mod. It seemed easier than chaining around each switch for a ground that's for sure, and it worked out fine for me. It wasn't till afterwards I saw that a lot of people have trouble soldering to them. It was all trial and error till I got them on there, but they work just fine off the pins.

But this is about QCF's stuff, so I'll stay on topic. Is this one of your mini cases?

[Sekty]

Awesome stick, interesting choice to put the L buttons , one on each side...

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Awesome stick, interesting choice to put the L buttons , one on each side...That's start and select. THat's why they are Happ and not Sanwa like the rest.

the L's aren't hooked up to anything because SF games will use the R's for fierces, not the L's.

[The Mullah]

That's start and select. THat's why they are Happ and not Sanwa like the rest.

the L's aren't hooked up to anything because SF games will use the R's for fierces, not the L's.

aren't they happ because putting sanwa on the side would require some sort of routing?

[ArcadeStickMonk]

aren't they happ because putting sanwa on the side would require some sort of routing?He's got Sanwa inna top with no routing don't he? He could have just used thinner wood.

Think he used Happ because they offer a button with a 1P logo on it. Makes a proper feeling start button.

[koopatroopa]

hey nice work there neil
i def like the color scheme and the box size
2 quick questions- is there a slant on the box and do you prefer to solder the buttons over quick disconncects?

[The Mullah]

well i obvioulsy can't speak for the man but it would be weird to use a thin piece of wood for just one side of the box, it'd need to be very thin too.

His box top is very thin wood, thats why theres no routing. The side walls are thick.

[nasci]

Hi everyone. Humm, lots of questions. Ok let's see... yes this is a mini case. The start and select buttons on the side are Happ buttons and there is no routing necessary for that.

There is a slight slant to the box... something close to a half inch. As for the wood used, the front back and sides are all 3/4" solid wood.

Inside the box on all 4 sides is a slot (a dado) that was made with my router. Wood glue is put in the dado and the top panel slides into the dado and when the whole thing is glued and screwed together it holds the top panel in place. After it dries it is very solid and doesn't budge an inch. I also brace it some with extra wood.

The wood for the top panel is 1/4" thick birch, and it is very solid. You can pound on it all you want and it won't crack or bend on you. After the plexi is added on top of that it is even more solid.

I actually come from a family of carpenters and they helped me with coming up with the whole dado idea. It's used often in cabinetry. It's strong, saves space, and I've tested the heck out of it on beta models and it's sturdy. My first test case I pounded, punched, and stomped on... kinda fun to do. Got some aggression out:)

[GyBaNO]

Ah, thats good to hear then. I tend to throw my sticks against the wall if I lose, that or punch em while wearing some brass knuckles. :wgrin:

Just curious, how much does the mini weigh after it is completely built?

[nasci]

It's pretty light. Since I play mine on my lap and like to carry it a lot in my bag I keep it light. Just a couple pounds. I've added weight to it before though for people who want the weight, and I put a non-slip surface on the bottom so even the light model if on a table will stick in place and not move for those mashers.

Oh, and lol... I have not tried the brass knuckle test yet, but it does pass my bang on the thing with my fists test whenever people drop out of an XBL match if I'm winning. That normally results in a good couple of case blows:)

[nasci]

Oh, and koopa... I do like to solder vs quick disconnects. I bought a stick once from someone a while back who used the qd's and several times during some really good matches they would just come loose on me and it sucked. I just want to avoid that situation again if I can. I just feel like it is a more solid and stable connection.

[Tritone]

Hey everybody, thanks for all the comments, I'm glad Neil is getting some recognition for his hard work.

Also this stick is light as hell. I've been lugging around an HRAP for months and now I can't believe I put up with it.

ArcadeStickMonk, the reason I have the white bars is because originally I was going to have Neil make me a larger-sized case, and I had the artwork cropped for that. Then I saw the mini prototype and decided I'd rather have something smaller. So instead of cropping off the wings for the smaller area, I decided to just make it widescreen. I actually lreally ike how it looks this way (maybe it's just me).

[nasci]

You know, I've built and owned many pro sticks that were constructed in a variety of ways. It was suggested to me by my father who is a cabinet and home builder to try building a case using dado jig for the top and bottom panels. I was skeptic at first but did a couple as tests and had really good results with them. The top panel slides into place on all 4 sides of the 3/4" wood and wood glue is added as well to the slots so when it dries there is no chance of it moving on you. It is also braced on the sides and front and back. Since we are talking about a mini, it is really about a 7.5" by 9.5" surface on top that is 1/4" wood, and you use some good hard wood like maple or some other strong hard wood if you can't get a hold of maple. For a larger case I'd normally either use thicker wood and router it, or use the thinner wood and add extra braces in between the stick and the buttons.

I've spent some good money on custom sticks before from other places that used particle board or mdf and it's cracked, split or broken up on me in time. Taking some 3/4" stuff that is composed of glue and wood chips or sawdust and then using tools to thin down about 1/2 of its surface to being about 1/4" thick weakens that material as well. So using a thinner but more expensive and stronger material to begin with for the top panel but bracing it well not only gives you about the same result (if done correctly), but in my opinion it has given me better results. It has also been less time consuming.

I'd suggest that if you are curious maybe you should try it yourself sometime. This weekend I'm going to building 1 large traditional case that will not use a dado method, but I am also going to be building 1 mini that does. I'd be happy to document the steps used to do this and take some pictures and measurements of the process if anyone is interested.

[GyBaNO]

Yeah sure, lets see ya do it. While I'm not going to be building any sticks at all, I am somewhat curious as to how you build these things. Seeing two different methods being used at once oughta be interesting too. :)

[nothingxs]

Nice stick. I love that the top board is thin, too.