Plywood thickness for control panel

[mamefreak2]

Hi,

I am going to be building a new control panel and I was going to use 5/8 thickness. Unfortunately it is not available and I have to choose between 1/2 and 3/4.

My joysticks are going to be mounted underneath (not sure if this is relevant to anything but I figured I'd include this info.)

Which thickness should I go with? I was thinking 3/4 is the right way to go but I'd love to hear from people here. Thanks!

[VanillaGorilla]

use the half inch, and sandwich/glue a 1/8 piece of melamine or press board to it. I'm assuming you're doing this to arrive at a total thickness of 3/4 including plexi?

[mamefreak2]

There is no plexi on this one.

It is on Crezon laminate Plywood with Vinyl print and lexan laminate.

There's no issues with it being that thin and mounting the joysticks underneath?

[LeedsFan]

There should be no issue in using the 1/2" thickness. The reason VanillaGorilla mentioned three-quarters is because that's the usual total thickness (including plexi) people go for in order to use the most common size of t-molding. There are other sizes of course but 3/4" is the most common.

3/4" will be a little stronger but that should be irrelevant really unless you're planning on really giving this panel a beating. Bottom mounting the sticks is usually the way I go too because I don't like to have long shafts. I prefer my sticks to be shorter and slightly stubby like the classic sticks of old. But that's just personal preference. Each to their own.

[jlfreund]

There should be no issue in using the 1/2" thickness. The reason VanillaGorilla mentioned three-quarters is because that's the usual total thickness (including plexi) people go for in order to use the most common size of t-molding. There are other sizes of course but 3/4" is the most common.

3/4" will be a little stronger but that should be irrelevant really unless you're planning on really giving this panel a beating. Bottom mounting the sticks is usually the way I go too because I don't like to have long shafts. I prefer my sticks to be shorter and slightly stubby like the classic sticks of old. But that's just personal preference. Each to their own.

I'd suggest 3/4" mainly for the joystick support.  I wouldn't want to bottom mount joysticks because then the shaft barely sticks through the panel, and it looks and feels wrong.   To top mount the joysticks, you need to route ~ 1/4" bed on top for the mounting plate to rest in (and maybe more because I never found perfectly flush mounting screw heads).  If you go for a 1/2" panel, that only leave you 1/4" for the screw/nut to grasp.  The screw holes are already in a precarious position, very close to the joystick body, so I think that a 1/2" panel won't provide enough stability for the joysticks.

Also for Ultimarc trackball, the mounting screws supplied stick out exactly 1/2".  If that's the thickness of your panel, the top of the screw will just peek through and be exposed on the top of your panel (may not be a problem if you plan to cover it with some other material.

[wizkid32]

I'm planning to go with 3/4" Pine board, but this is my first time, so I don't know much about the subject.    What is meant by top-mounting joysticks?  I thought you attached it to the bottom of the panel, and drilled a hole for the shaft.