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[ChanceKJ]

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[Le Chuck]

Get a white one and then rit dye it to the right hue, bout the only way you're going to find that exact color.  Just put the ball on a bolt and suspend from wooden spoon into the pot.  Check every 2-3 minutes for until you get your color. 

[ChanceKJ]

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[Le Chuck]

60% of the time it works every time.

[severdhed]

not sure if this helps, but i put my balls on my snes and snapped a pic...



the one on the left is a sanwa purple
the center one is a  medium violet Hand Candy balltop from GroovyGameGear
the right one is a sanwa dark blue

none of them really match, but the hand candy ball looks pretty good. (that's what i'm using on my TMNT cabinet)

[ChanceKJ]

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[Le Chuck]

 Nice balls.

Phrasing!  Boom! 


inappropriate...

[ChanceKJ]

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[DarakuTenshi]

Yes, I've used it before on PCB to get what looked like cola off. I think it was 93%

[ChanceKJ]

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[SavannahLion]

I regularly buy various concentrations or "grades" in the 50's , 70's , 90's and 99%. The 90's I believe is the only percentage that won't cause rust, anything lower would.

If isopropyl alcohol doesn't work, you can switch to denatured alcohol. isopropyl or ethanol will dissolve the bulk of the crap I find on circuit boards. Ethanol (denatured alcohol) is what I regularly use when cleaning circuit boards after I repair them. I also don't find ethanols "sweeter" smell as annoying as the "medicine"-like isopropyl.

[ChanceKJ]

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[jdbailey1206]

I would stay away from trying to dye ball tops.  To me it seems that ball tops are created with molds of denser plastic than push buttons.  It also seems that most ball tops have a clear finish coating on them making it close to impossible for the dye itself to permeate into the ball top itself.  Push buttons are easier to dye because they have no clear coat and are either extruded or vacuum formed making them a less dense and easier for the dye to infuse into the plastic. 

Hope you find the right color Chance.  It's hard when you can't just whip out your balls and place them next to what you need to match.  I know you already ordered your balls but Groovy Game Gears Medium Violet seems to be a match to what you are looking for.  Good luck with your balls.   

[ChanceKJ]

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[DeLuSioNal29]

If you can find one, the Wico joystick top from the X-men 6 player arcade (Nightcrawler) seems like a good match:



Edit:  IIRC, The Real Bob Roberts may carry it.  It's worth checking with him:  http://www.therealbobroberts.net/joyparts.html

DeLuSioNaL29

[ChanceKJ]

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[DeLuSioNal29]

Now is that a removable ball and if so what are the threads on it?

Nope.  It's non-removable.
Read more here:  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,67165.msg680737.html#msg680737

D

[ChanceKJ]

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[Malenko]

I really like the smoked grey one from your project thread.

[ChanceKJ]

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[Malenko]

You think so? Hmm that's for one of my other builds.

Ok I see what you mean, in the picture it looks good, but it's a little too "modern" and "flashy" for an old 90's product.  Hence why I was thinking a solid colour.

Hmmm

Yeah I understand, I guess what I meant was if you cant get the purple done, the grey would be a great contingency plan 

[ChanceKJ]

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[ChanceKJ]

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[Drnick]

Here's a thought. So I just sent an email to try and cancel this order. However I'm thinking if it's already been shipped and if I'm stuck with it, what's to stop me from sawing off the shaft then drilling and tapping my own hole in the balltop?

Whats to stop you from attempting to do the above? Absolutely nothing 

As to what may go wrong Not a clue.

Improvise, adapt, overcome.

Sounds like the story of my working life 

[ChanceKJ]

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[PL1]

You may want to just use a temporary stand-in ball until you are ready to place your next GGG order -- less fuss, less muss.

It's not like you'd need to do a full tear-down and rebuild to replace it.   


Scott

[jdbailey1206]

Ok, better question to ask would be: Has anyone attempted this with one of these ball tops? Anything I should avoid, be mindful of, etc?

Le Chuck drilled into his ball top for his joystick mod on his weecade.  He used 'Rare-earth magnets' I believe to make his ball top and joystick mod swappable.  There is a write up half way down on this page.

[Le Chuck]

Mine was way easier as I was drilling out the threads and pushing further into the plastic to mount the magnet.  Drilling and tapping the post wouldn't be that cumbersome but grinding down that post to flush w/out scratching up the plastic would be.  I'd just plan on grinding the very bottom of the ball a little flat and try to minimize the scuffs.  Also watch out for heat build up as you grind out that thread - and don't wear gloves! 

[ChanceKJ]

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[RandyT]

The tricky part will be getting a dead center hole into that material.  Ideally, a lathe should be used for this type of work, but some meticulous hand work and jigging would probably get it done.

[ChanceKJ]

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[Ginsu Victim]

....danger zone.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Any updates?

[ChanceKJ]

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