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DIY LED Bat Top joy sticks

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tylerwerrin:

Hi guys,

My CP has 90's style Bat tops -- I like the style more than the ball tops, yet I love how the ball tops light up and generally just look awesome with an LED wiz. Anyways i started searching around on the net, and discovered that only one guy has ever made an illuminated bat top -- it was a prototype in which he cast a mold, dyed resin and installed joystick shafts.

His looked awesome, so I figured I'd give it a try. The one catch I have found is finding low cost joysticks which are hollow to allow for the wire to be threaded inside. Anyways, I'll get to that in a minute. Here's what I did (sorry for no pictures during the build... i'll get some if you are interested!)

1) Bought OOMOO 30 Silicone Molding compound and mixed it 1:1 in a mixing cup.

2) Using a Happ competition joystick as my mold template, I inserted the joystick with the bat top facing down in my drill press and lowered it into my Silicone. The next morning, my mold had hardened. I popped the joystick out, leaving a nice cavern for which I would cast my resin into.

3) i used 1 drop of Castn' Craft white pigment with about 5 ounces of resin. It turned a nice milky white. This would be what I would cast with.

4) I had purchased some 1/4" steel tube at a local auto parts store and cut it to the length of my bat top, plus half an inch. I then threaded one end of the hollow tube with 1/4-20 thread.

5) I then screwed on a 1/4-20 brass wood insert.

6) I put this arrangement, with the threaded end & insert DOWN into my mold, and got it directly in the middle. I then filled the mold with my resin mixture.

7) I let the thing cure for a couple days in the sun just to be sure. I popped the newly cast bat top out of the mold and then using the force of the chuck on the hollow tube i was able to unscrew the tube from the newly cast top!

I now have a handle (which looks comparable to a normal joystick shaft.. it could look better, and will, after I chrome it -- the stainless steel finish isn't the best). I will thread an RGB LED easily down the shaft of the hollow tube -- with any luck it will light up just fine!

I'll keep you guys posted...

Slippyblade:

I, too, prefer bat tops to ball tops.  I'll be following this thread closely.   :applaud:

Brutick:

I would love to see some pictures of this! I'm curious how the bat top looks currently. :D

Mr_Numbers:

Very cool and gives me some idea's for myself.  Lets see some pictures!  :)

PL1:

This might be a great way to make rubber padded octagonal LS-30 style handles for the Happ Mechanical Rotary Joystick like mytymaus007 was looking for here.

WARNING: Linked thread contains content by "gamuhar". (a Driverman alternate identity)  Not responsible for any loss of I.Q. resulting from reading his posts -- you have been warned.  WARNING    :laugh2:


Scott

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