Chuckles documents himself build his first stick

Tech Talk
#1

Hopefully this comes out decently :stuck_out_tongue:

This will probably be a long process, due to me being bogged down with other things, such as school… There are also other factors that may come into play, but I will cross those bridges when I come to them. Updates to this may be sporadic, and at times may consist of me just asking questions…

Without further ado, I begin!

For this stick, I am aiming for something really small… I have small hands, so a small stick would really be better for me. Also, 8 buttons.

Sorry for the long intro…

I opened up my CAD software today and came up with this as a quick little test.

http://www.filefarmer.com/2/chuckles/images/wipstick.JPG

Any comments or critiques?

Also, about how tall should it be? Would 3 inches be enough clearance inside, or would it be better to go with 4? Oh, and I was thinking of 1/2’ playwood for the case.

#2

I’m thinking that you may need more room for your palm at the bottom, because if you don’t have a place to rest your hand, they can really start to hurt. I think you are okay with 3 inches in height, so long as you can wire it well. that doesn’t seem too small if you are using sanwa parts.

#3

with all sanwa parts you could get away with making it even half the depth keeping in mind with material thicknesses. 3 inches would be more than enough to get things going :slight_smile:

#4

Ok, thanks. After looking at it more, I also thought that I may need some space for my palms. And are Sanwa parts really that small? Damn. I may go with Sanwa then! (I was planning on using Happ, mainly for price) Actually, I will go with Sanwa. The greater variety of button and stick colors is great… It means I can actually go ahead and paint the thing pink for a DH Stick :stuck_out_tongue:

goes back to the drawing board

#5

Happ buttons I believe are smaller than sanwa buttons. They take up less room.

Three inches is a good height.

The mounting hole for sanwa is usually a 3in by 3in square. If you follow your diagram your are only going to have about 1.5 inches of space for your palm.

#6

Ah. In a bit I will re-do a quick design. Also, I was thinking… maybe I shouldn’t worry about the box so much right now, especially considering the fact that it is my first stick… Maybe I should just go with the small Sanwa box on Byrdo’s page?

#7

Its a good box design. Sanwa buttons are 30mm, or 1 3/16", and I think happs are 1 1/8"? anyway happs are smaller in diameter, but with both happ buttons and joysticks, you will need a deeper case than with sanwa. Sanwa buttons and sticks both fit in a smaller case.

#8

Ok, awesome. Also, by what I’ve read, Sanwa may be better for me anyways. When I play, I like to be able to move the stick without having to use too much force.

Also, on an unrelated note, is that avatar from BR?

#9

Yep, its from the training video when they are in the classroom.

Personally, I like happ controls, but I like sanwas without square gates alright too. I like the clickiness of happ buttons, though. Happ competition buttons all the way for me.

#10

XD, thought it looked familiar… I may go with Happ buttons and a Sanwa stick… Those Happ buttons are a bit cheaper :wink:

#11

The width of the Sanwa buttons is just a bit greater than for Happ buttons, but the depth is MUCH shorter.

#12

yea that is true, the happ buttons are designed so they can be installed in wood arcade panels, so if you have a 3/4" MDF top for the stick then all you have to do is drill the holes and screw in the buttons etc., the sanwa snap ins are designed to be installed into much thinner arcade panels like steel or say plastic, so if you wanted to install the sanwa buttons into a thicker panel like the 3/4"MDF, then you would have to route the holes on the inside so that the buttons would be able to fit the thickness of the wood.

the same would go for the sanwa sticks, you would have to use a mounting plate to install it into wood. i have no idea about the happ sticks tho, i would believe that you could bottom mount a happ on 3/4"MDF without having to route, but i have never worked with one.

#13

Ok, but what about the Sanwa screw ins?

#14

Here is a link to the thread I made when I built my first stick. I used sanwa screw in buttons and a sanwa stick. Maybe the pictures in there will help you get a better picture of the the dimensions we are talking about.
http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95002

#15

Awesome! What kind of PCB is that, and more importantly, what size wood did you use?

Edit : And wow, it took me this long to notice the typo in the topic title.

#16

Looks like a reflex arcade stick pcb.

#17

Its a reflex arcade pcb and the wood was 3/4 inch poplar.

#18

Cool… Also, I just realized that I am lucky… I happen to have about 7 full sheets of 3/4" on my front porch (brand new) and I have known a professional carpenter for about 10 years…

#19

the sanwa screws are just as shallow as the snap-ins, the screw just adds support

#20

Ah, so there is no reason to spend more on the screw-ins unlessI am scared of something happening… Also, I recently stumbled across this website which has arcade parts for pretty cheap, but I dunno if it is legit. Anyone ever heard of it?

http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/arcadeparts.htm

I dunno… A Sanwa stick for 12 Euros? Seems kind of… weird…

Edit : Never mind, it seems that they don’t ship out of Europe anyways… Maybe someone else could use it?