Recycling components for the arcade controller

[Arcade Rabbit]

I've just stumbled upon a super deal on a tabletop cabinet for about 70 dollars. It's completely empty, and I'm quite poor, so I might not be able to get grade arcade parts for a long time. So I was thinking - Would it be possible to make something out of old Atari 2600 controllers? Or other old controllers.

The image attached is what the cabinet looks like

[Vigo]

Welcome aboard! Nice little cabinet there.  Is there a spot for start and coin on there?

In my opinion, I wouldn't muck around with trying to fit an atari joystick or other controller in there, You are probably gonna end up needing to butcher the controller or cabinet in the process, and you still will pay money for hardware to mount it in/modify for that cabinet....and you still wont get a super arcade experience.

Getting some used arcade controls is the avenue I would go. Some cheap used happ sticks and buttons should be easy and cheap to come by. I bet there are some arcade collectors around here that are picking those off arcade machines by the dozens. You could also only fill player one controls for now, and add player 2 when you have the money.

[Arcade Rabbit]

Cheers! Mm'kay, guess Ebay is the way to go for the used buttons then? =)

[Vigo]

Well, there usually isn't a ton of used buttons on ebay, just because the profit isn't so high. I'm pretty sure there are people around here that would have something for cheap, but you will have to get a few more posts here before you can start a post on the buy/sell/trade section.

I personally have some old buttons I could send you for cheap, but I don't have the micro switches for the buttons. Maybe someone here can chime in with some cheap controls they would be willing to unload.

[PL1]

GGG has Arcade Prime buttons (6 colors available) that come with Standard Soft Touch switches for $1.20 each.

Pretty hard to beat that price.   


Scott

[CoryBee]

I have a bunch of old button you can have, micro switches and all. They are used and most are dirty. Just pay the shipping and they are yours.

They were ripped from cabinets I converted to MAME.

[Arcade Rabbit]

Thanks for all the help, everyone. I managed to find a bundle at  xgaming.com with 2 joysticks and 20 buttons for 40 dollars. Seems like a great deal =)

Now, I have a question about wiring. Can any kind of wires be used or does it have to be a special kind?