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]

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.

That's why you should under-mount your sticks... in metal CPs.

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

[Paul Olson]

I had some of these made for my modular panels. I need to do another run for all of the odd sized stuff now. These work really well.

[telengard]

I had some of these made for my modular panels. I need to do another run for all of the odd sized stuff now. These work really well.

Nice!  Did a machine shop do those for you?

~telengard

[Paul Olson]

I had some of these made for my modular panels. I need to do another run for all of the odd sized stuff now. These work really well.

Nice!  Did a machine shop do those for you?

~telengard

Yeah, I had 30 of them made for $300. I need to get some more done, but they are going to be custom sizes, so I am hoping the cost doesn't skyrocket. These work great for standard american joysticks though.

With these I can simulate a metal panel for any stick that was built for it. If the stick was made for a wood panel, I just don't use one of these plates.

I am trying to limit myself to 70 panels total. I am actually hoping I will come to my senses and lower that to around 50. Will I really need Track & Field panels? How often will I actually use the 4 Karate Champ joysticks? These are the problems I am having. lol

[Paul Olson]

Why not bottom mount, the mounting plate?

  A trackball kinda has to have a top mount due to the mechanisms.

 If you want to change your stick.. .you would still have to take apart the panel:

1) open / remove panel from game
2) remove plexiglass topper,  which in the arcades usually means like 10 bolts...
3) cut / remove artwork?

 It also means more routing work needed to be done.

 However...

 If the plate is bottom mounted to the panel, you just simply drill 4 mount holes for the plate, and
on top of the control panel..  widen the holes and drill deep enough to drop a nut and lockwasher in place.

 Much easier then routing a huge area with accurate depth.


 That now means you will never have to take apart the entire panel for any changes.   You can just unscrew the stick from the mounting holder, just as if it was a typical setup.

 Heck... if you want to get fancy, you could make some sort of slide-lock system for the joystick base removal.   Though, remember, you will still need to remove the e-clip and joystick shaft first.

As far as I can tell, the only reason to use a metal mounting plate on a wood CP is to accommodate joysticks that were designed for metal panels. If you are going to bottom mount the plate, there isn't much point in having one; you can just mount it to wood. Removing a joystick from the plate I have uses the same procedure as on the real arcade CPs: pull the clip to remove the shaft, then take off the 4 nuts. The mounting plate stays permanently mounted.

[telengard]

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?

Sounds to me like you are looking to do a modular setup with a wood control panel, is that right?

I did something similar but w/ a metal control panel.  I used (modified) rack mount parts which are easily purchased.  These pretty much are "templates" similar to what you mentioned, I have probably 15 or so joysticks that pop in this way.

~telengard

[shponglefan]

Sounds to me like you are looking to do a modular setup with a wood control panel, is that right?

Not modular in the usual sense (i.e. changing controls on a per-game basis).  But rather modular in the sense that if a person builds a control panel with a set of joysticks, then later decides they don't like them and want to change them, they don't have to redo the panel.

I guess from what I've seen here, most people tend to route their panels based on specific joysticks.  So swapping them later could involve re-routing or redoing the entire panel.  I was thinking using a template insert could avoid this issue.