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Idea: Removeable/swappable joystick template mounting plates?
shponglefan:
Thought of an idea and not sure if it's been done before. It seems that almost all of the time, people mount their joysticks directly to the CP.
What about instead creating a mounting plate out of say 1/4" or 1/2" hardboard, wood, plexi, etc mounting the joystick to that, then routing out the appropriate space for the mounting plate and mounting that to the CP? Basically the same thing as trackball mounting plates.
The idea is that if you decide to later change joysticks, it would be a lot easier to just make a new mounting plate rather than a whole new CP. Or if you make a lot of CPs, having a standard square template would be easier to route out rather than worrying about specific joystick templates?
The only things I'm wondering about is if it's possible to make a "one-size-fits-all" mounting plate, and if it can be made strong enough to withstand the forces joysticks endure...
So has this been done?
Nephasth:
The vast majority of currently manufactured sticks will use one of these hole patterns (MagStik excluded). American (Happ, IL) style sticks would be the outer most holes, while Japanese style (Sanwa (JLF just barely fits due to a "vertical" mounting hole orientation), Seimitsu) sticks would be the inner holes. This is a "universal" mounting template for a JLW. As far as classic sticks go, there really wasn't a standard. Each company had different sticks, and even within a company there wasn't much standardization.
shponglefan:
True, the hole patterns overlap in most cases. Only joystick I've found that doesn't seem to is the Leaf-Pro I think (I'll have to double check that, though).
Would it be possible to make a universal routing template for most sticks? I'm thinking the differing thickness of the plastic mounting plates vs metal plates would pose a problem. And possibly the joystick base itself, since when top-mounting to something like 3/4" MDF, you have to accommodate the space for cabling, etc.
Nephasth:
--- Quote from: shponglefan on June 10, 2013, 10:34:24 pm ---I'm thinking the differing thickness of the plastic mounting plates vs metal plates would pose a problem. And possibly the joystick base itself, since when top-mounting to something like 3/4" MDF, you have to accommodate the space for cabling, etc.
--- End quote ---
That's why you should under-mount your sticks... in metal CPs. ;D
But since you mentioned trackball mounting plates... Just make over sized metal mounting plates for your joysticks. Then you can top-mount the plate in the MDF, and under-mount the stick on the plate.
PL1:
EMDB's undermount with spacer blocks (see here, here, and here) might be an approach to the universal mounting plate idea.
Route a pocket big enough for Happ/Sanwa/Seimitsu bases and attach spacer blocks to the joystick base to keep the joystick from sliding on the X-axis and Y-axis.
Use a mounting plate like EMDB's to secure the joystick on the Z-axis.
Scott