Reducing Mag-Stik resistance/stiffness

[cosam]

I really like my Mag-Stik Pluses, but I've always found them to be a bit on the stiff side. I finally got around to dissecting the things and managed to tune the resistance pretty nicely by replacing the big metal washer in the magnetic centring mechanism with something a little less massive. And all this with little more than a couple of basic tools and an empty beer can...

Here's the full write-up: http://www.cosam.org/projects/magstik.html

[jtslade]

Awesome write up, I also am looking for some way to get the stiff clunky feel of the mag stick plus closer to arcade accurate.

Does anyone else think that having different thickness washer kits from Andy at ultimarc and
Possibly rubber instead if plastic 4/8 way washers would go along way to getting the mag stick plus to feel more like an actual runner grimmer arcade stick found out in the wild?

[opt2not]

Interesting!  I'm really wondering how your mod feels.
I love the concept of the Magstik, unfortunately I have the same gripes as the rest in regards to the stiffness.

Questions:
Did you end up changing out the switches after you did your metal reduction mod? If so, what kind are you using?
This mod only changes the amount of force needed to activate the switches right? This doesn't effect the throw distance does it?
How is the "spring-back" reaction. If you were to hold in a direction, and let go of the stick, is there any "bouncing" when it returns to center? Or does it just sharply stop, dead-centered?

I might have to try this mod out. I've been hanging onto my magstik, stuffed in a drawer, holding hope that I can someday feel good about using it.

[cosam]

Does anyone else think that having different thickness washer kits from Andy at ultimarc and
Possibly rubber instead if plastic 4/8 way washers would go along way to getting the mag stick plus to feel more like an actual runner grimmer arcade stick found out in the wild?

Not sure about adding rubber parts but I'd definitely go for a set of washers if they were available. A set of something like 2mm, 1mm, 0.5mm and 0.25mm in both metal and plastic would provide a great range of adjustability and enough material to fill the void completely.

Did you end up changing out the switches after you did your metal reduction mod? If so, what kind are you using?

Nope, this is just with the original switches. I'd imagine that if you used lighter switches you'd probably want to balance that out with slightly more metal on top.

This mod only changes the amount of force needed to activate the switches right? This doesn't effect the throw distance does it?

Correct. The modified sleeve is still the same size externally so the throw isn't affected at all.

How is the "spring-back" reaction. If you were to hold in a direction, and let go of the stick, is there any "bouncing" when it returns to center? Or does it just sharply stop, dead-centered?

It snaps back nice and sharply, no discernible bounce. I think this is because the bottom of the sleeve part is flat and quite large, so the magnet is enough to hold it down even if there's very little metal in there.

[orion]

Nice mod! I just modded mine myself after reading this and let me say, it improved the feel of the joystick to me tremendously! I had always hated my magstick plus, now it's not so bad All I did was take a very thin metal washer I had in my junk drawer that had the same outer diameter as the thick one that came installed in the magstick and drilled out the inner circle to match. Vola, I now have a very loose joystick.. just the way I like em I wish though there was a way to mod it to a long throw. Unfortunately after looking at it for quite some time it would seem there is no way to change it that wouldn't render the 4-8 way restrictor useless. I'm guessing the micro switches would have to be spaced farther apart to accomplish that, but I'm not sure... Anyway, thanks for posting this!

[LeedsFan]

I love mods like this! I used to have a T-Stik plus which was waaaaaay too stiff. That's why I've never tried the Mag-Stik (even though I know it's not as stiff as the T-Stiks but I know it's still kinda stiff compared to other joysticks). I'd love to hear what Andy thinks of this mod. But it seems so simple to do at home anyway. Kudos to you sir!