Control panel tilt angle

[cammada]

Does anyone know the health guideline for wrist safety from injury cause from control panel? I mean is does the control panel must have to be level or can it tilt up few degree without making wrist sore after long hours of playing?

regards,
Cammada

[LeedsFan]

Health guidelines?!  I think there's no problem whether a panel is flat or has a small tilt (say 1" from back to front depending on the size of the panel).  Purely for aesthetics I think a small tilt looks better and some say it's more comfy. However I find that flat panels are easier to build (because I suck at woodworking basically). 

[wweumina]

A slight tilt is generally considered more comfortable. Emphasis is on slight though.

[Raitsa]

A different than usual tilt negative, meaning "the other way around" is very comfortable too, but looks kinda strange.

I had one like that when i used an X-arcade temporararily in my cab.

[syph007]

Ya if you are tall, a negative tilt is very comfy, but looks weird.  I went with a 5 degree tilt on mine.

[Bender]

I find 5-10º is the comfortable range and looks good aesthetically too

[cammada]

mmmm, I guess tilt by 5 degree will be enough since when you look down and it look flat to your eyes rather then bending further to see it flat. I see it shouldn't matter about wrist so I will try to make a temporary board and work out which is comfortable for me.

Thanks to all for the reply, it helps....

[Mrephunk]

I remember reading some where that the forward tilt of a CP was need if the panel was above your elbows, and flat if it was below. I just built mine and gave it a forward tilt as it sits a bit above my elbows and I am 6' 1" so I figured for most people playing it would sit more above their elbows than mine. It feels very comfortable with the tilt

[eds1275]

I went with an inch front to back (!) on the two I've been working on. Looks good and is comfy.

[Woodshop Flunky]

I put a 7.5 degree angle on mine.  Seems comfortable, but I mostly did it for aesthetics.

[rackoon]

I took a lot of time to get this right. First of all, I have a standard upright, cab but I made it shorter to allow for sitting in a standard folding chair. I then had several Friends sit in the chairs and I measured their elbows and had them hold out their arms like they are playing. Next, I tilted a piece of plywood up and down until I got the right angle.

The top of my control panel is 29" off the ground and tilts 15 degrees up to 31" at the monitor. I works great because you can rest your wrist on the panel and it slopes with your arm.

[D_Harris]

What's comfortable and what will tend to cause repetitive use problems will be different from one person to the next.

Staring for zero, the higher the degree of angle the higher the chance of developing overuse injuries.

That said, I've been making my controls panels to match the 10° slant of the Williams arcade control panels on Joust, StarGate, Robotron, etc.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

[nakeworks]

Part of it may depend on how much room is on your CP.  If your buttons are right on the edge and there is no room to rest your wrists/forearms, then having some tilt might be nice.  I already have carpal tunnel syndrome so I left plenty of room on the CP for my wrists and part of the forearms.  I tested several inclines out while watching tv and felt that no incline was preferable.  Any incline gave my fingers the tingles and went numb after a little while.  Sadly I didn't even think to try a decline or negative angle.   

[emb]

Is your control panel Belly button height? I've always found the thumb rule  "only angle it if it is higher than your belly button" to be pretty valuable for me.