Control panel building - How do you center joysticks?

[Dazz]

Hey Guys,

I'm re-building my control panel and have drilled all holes for buttons and joysticks.  I have also already routed to flush mount my trackball mounting plate.  I'm about to start working on the joysticks. 

How do you center the joystick shaft to get the base area cut/routed?

[ubiquityman]

Do you mean how to center the joystick on the routered part?

You could print a template.
Or remove the mounting plate (if it's a steel mounting plate) and use it as a guide.
The centering is purely based on the 4 corner screws.

(or did I not understand your question.)

[Dazz]

Nah, I don't think I asked my question right as I wasn't quite sure how to ask the question.  However, you answered just fine... I ended up using the mounting plate for the U360's.

Now, how much material should I leave when under mounting Joysticks?  I'm using 5/16 MDF for the control panel top.  I'll be using flush mount blind (t-nuts) on the top side of the control panel to secure the joys.  I'm just not sure how much material to leave to make it strong enough to take a little beating.

[ubiquityman]

Some things you can do to make it just a bit more robust:

What you want to do is to avoid stress concentrations.
If you routed out 1/16 or even 1/8, you should have a reasonable amount of wood left over.
MDF is not particularly good with stress cracks.

1. make all corners are rounded.  if you have a square edge, it might look nice, but it's more likely to break.
2. I'm not sure this helps, but I'd probably apply a thin coating of glue to help seal the inside corners on the routed part.
3. I'm guessing this is not necessary, but you could put in posts underneath the control panel.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I picked up one of these metal templates from Bob Roberts.  Only $2 plus shipping.  You simply line it up underneath and then mark your drill holes for the screws.



Find it here: (search for the term "joystick template" under the tools section)
http://therealbobroberts.net/parts.html#tools

DeLuSioNaL29

[northerngames]

I take the stick out and place the mount of the bottom of the control panel like it would normally be mounted and then take a black marker and run it around the edge of the mounting plate.

that way you can make sure all player control base's look straight and alighned with eachother afterwards

once there where you want to mount them I put the base back on in the now squared drawing to match up again now that I know there alighned right then take the same marker and dot each of the 4 screw hole's.

then I take a straight edge and draw a straight line from each of the screw dots left on the board with the assembly removed and you end up with a X shape and the center where the X meets is dead center of where your joystick shaft would be.

me I use a hole saw and just stick the drill bit right in the center of the X and drive it through.

I also take a smaller bit and pre-drill the 4 screw dots left on the board that way the new screws go in snug and correct instead of having them go in on an angle or spinning them so much trying to get them in that you bore the hole out too much with the screw threads where it dont sit right/tight.