Advice on Monting Sanwa/Seimitsu joystick

[chucklepie]

Hello,
After reading slagcoin website and a few others discussing joysticks I'm going to get the seimitsu ls-32 (I play more shooters than fighting games) and I like ball tops

I'm going to mount them on 3/4 (well, it's 18mm) MDF. Reading slagcoin it says for both seimitsu and sanwa you should have about 23mm from the top of the control panel to the bottom of the ball. The actual size of this unmounted (the length of the shaft) is 27mm on the seimitsu and the base mounting plate is 1.6mm thick.

Doing some quick maths, is this correct? I've got to go down 4mm and as I'm using 3mm acrylic I should route about 2.6mm into the top of the panel to reduce the 27mm shaft to about 23mm? this means of course you can't mount the LS-32 from underneath 3/4 MDF.

The sanwa as far as I can see (if I go for it) has a 34mm shaft so I'd have to go down a further 7mm to 9.6mm?

[PL1]

I'm going to mount them on 3/4 (well, it's 18mm) MDF.
. . .
The sanwa as far as I can see (if I go for it) has a 34mm shaft so I'd have to go down a further 7mm to 9.6mm?

Instead of routing out 9.6mm from the top, you'll be better off routing in from the bottom. 
- Undermounted sticks are much easier to replace.
- If you use a plexi cover, you won't have to take apart the whole panel including every single button to remove/change a stick.
- If you use an adhesive vinyl overlay, you won't have to tear up the artwork to remove/change a stick.

This thread has lots of information on insert nuts, pics, links, and several other mounting suggestions.


Scott

[BadMouth]

Haven't done it yet, but my plan is to route the CP underneath and use S Mounting Plates.
http://www.focusattack.com/seimitsu-s-mounting-plate/

They only give you a little bit of offset, but it's enough to use screws to mount it.

[dfmaverick]

Franco's Tutorial for top mount:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,90467.0.html

[PL1]

Haven't done it yet, but my plan is to route the CP underneath and use S Mounting Plates.
http://www.focusattack.com/seimitsu-s-mounting-plate/

They only give you a little bit of offset, but it's enough to use screws to mount it.

Looks like a good idea.   

One of the guys at Shoryuken found the measurements for the plate.



The extra 4.8mm should provide the needed clearance for undermounting using insert nuts.


Scott

[chucklepie]

Thanks. That was a good thread. I'll get the screw inserts if i bottom mount.

If I go for the Sanwa joystick I can see bottom mounting is better as I have to route half of my mdf. But for the seimitsu i'd have to top mount or buy a longer shaft, assuming my measurements were right, as there wouldnt be enough wood to be strong enough?

Btw, slight diversion. Are sanwa buttons really that much more sensitive than others?

[PL1]

If I go for the Sanwa joystick I can see bottom mounting is better as I have to route half of my mdf. But for the seimitsu i'd have to top mount or buy a longer shaft, assuming my measurements were right, as there wouldnt be enough wood to be strong enough?

Wouldn't you be able to put the plate on this way for extra thickness?
X= routed out material  T= Threaded insert

.________XXX________ Top of Panel
.          ___XX___
.  _T__|              |__T_   Mounting Plate
.  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
._XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_ Bottom of Panel


Scott

[chucklepie]

Cheers. Using the s plate (ls32-01 I think) bottom mounting means you have 7.5mm (0.3 inch) above. Is that enough mdf to be strong enough? I've no idea.

I guess the other alternative is to use thinner acrylic for the cp.

[mgb]

I'm not really sure what the big deal is with mounting these sticks.

These s plates are nothing new. Pac man panels were wooden with a mounting plate.

http://www.dirtcheaptrading.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=9&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=69&vmcchk=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=10

[PL1]

Cheers. Using the s plate (ls32-01 I think) bottom mounting means you have 7.5mm (0.3 inch) above. Is that enough mdf to be strong enough? I've no idea.

I guess the other alternative is to use thinner acrylic for the cp.

The inserts from GGG are .4" thick.  Personally, I'd look for either a deeper S-plate or shallower insert nuts.

That said, are you ABSOLUTELY stuck on the 23mm height?  A few mm deeper might give you some wiggle room.

If nothing else, make a test panel first to see how well it works or use the "Top-mounted, routed double control panel" suggestion from the other thread:




Scott

[chucklepie]

I get the point of bottom mounting making life easier for maintenance, but I'm not a 'purist' so I might just get the sanwa joystick (whose size makes bottom mounting easier) as I'll probably never notice the joystick's throw/engage characteristics....