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Author Topic: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs  (Read 23148 times)

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cudbur

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Re: Laser Cut Arcade Parts, 3D printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #40 on: March 06, 2015, 07:15:15 pm »
So this is kind of related: would you make 3 arcade themed tap handles?  I have a kegerator, with 3 taps, and would love arcade themed handles for the taps.  Taps use a standardized threaded insert.
BTW:
Get a storefront going, get those ball tops and 3" trackballs up for sale and

I do all kinds of custom design and am intrigued by what the design entails, I sent you a PM but feel free to send a message through my website or etsy store. I added the links to my signature.

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #41 on: March 27, 2015, 05:15:08 pm »
A couple of updates of what I've been working on:

After many mold designs I've achieved near perfect castings! Each time I change something it's at least 8 hours of curing so it's been slow progress. Next step will be casting with embedment and threaded insert! Can't wait :)

(Notice no seam lines  :o  :) )

I've also released a new version of the button layout customizer, which makes it way easier to describe what you're looking for:

Start customizing now

Finally, after much frustration with current button encoders, I've finished programming the first version of the open-source Arduino version. You can download the code and read about the process here: http://www.cuddleburrito.com/blog/2015/3/17/arduino-arcade-joystick-controller

Thank you everyone for all the very kind support and encouragement. I can't wait to help create your perfect arcade experience!

HaRuMaN

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #42 on: March 27, 2015, 05:19:23 pm »
 :applaud:

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #43 on: March 27, 2015, 05:20:47 pm »
Trackball with calavera inside kthx


cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #44 on: March 27, 2015, 05:23:46 pm »
Trackball with calavera inside kthx

!!!! YES this is such a great idea !!!! Do trackballs come in varying diameters?

HaRuMaN

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #45 on: March 27, 2015, 05:24:16 pm »
Trackball with calavera inside kthx

Had to google that.  That would be pretty damn cool.   :cheers:

HaRuMaN

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #46 on: March 27, 2015, 05:25:18 pm »
Trackball with calavera inside kthx

!!!! YES this is such a great idea !!!! Do trackballs come in varying diameters?

Most common trackball would be 3" diameter. 

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #47 on: April 01, 2015, 12:10:35 am »




More photos in daylight tomorrow!  :D

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #48 on: April 01, 2015, 12:27:15 am »
 EPIC


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Remember Wheaton's Law

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, 3D Printed joystick balltops, custom designs
« Reply #49 on: April 02, 2015, 02:40:21 am »





Long time coming, the custom casting joystick ball top is up in the store! 3D modeled and printed, hand painted, and cast in clear resin.

http://www.cuddleburrito.com/gamething-shop/

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #50 on: April 02, 2015, 04:48:30 am »
Very impressive work!  :notworthy:
Need arcade button decals? Click Here!

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #51 on: April 02, 2015, 08:51:31 am »
Can you use a silk rose?  Some of the fabric flowers at the craft shop are quite convincing - your product looks great but the flower is a bit clunky. 

I'm all about 3D printing stuff but I've got sugar skulls that are really tiny and would fit perfect in a ball top, ditto a ton of other ready made products I'm sure. 

Also any reason for the collar on the bottom of the balltop instead of just casting it round then drilling the threaded insert into the ball itself?

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #52 on: April 02, 2015, 12:44:53 pm »
Can you use a silk rose?  Some of the fabric flowers at the craft shop are quite convincing - your product looks great but the flower is a bit clunky. 

I'm all about 3D printing stuff but I've got sugar skulls that are really tiny and would fit perfect in a ball top, ditto a ton of other ready made products I'm sure. 

Also any reason for the collar on the bottom of the balltop instead of just casting it round then drilling the threaded insert into the ball itself?

Typed a message and it got erased, apologies in advance if I'm short:

Yes, anything it technically feasible, I'm a little worried sugar would break down but I'm sure there's a coating or something that can be applied.

The main reason I use 3D printing is I can a) make practically anything and more importantly b) can scale, orient, and position the item precisely. This is doubly important because of the inherent distortion of transparent spheres.



The collar is intentional, because of technical details it was designed this way. When creating the process, I didn't see a reason why I should have a secondary operation for the insert. Why not only have one step and cast it directly along side, you know? It's not easy to make a smooth sphere, then make it perfectly clear, then remove seam lines, suspend arbitrary things that float, place a metal insert that sinks at the surface, and remove bubbles. These aren't your basic ball tops. I think the collar is both distinctive and honest to the process of making of these.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2015, 12:47:28 pm by cudbur »

horizon

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #53 on: April 02, 2015, 01:02:14 pm »
Sugar skull is another term for the calavera mentioned previously.  They could be made out of ceramic, plastic, or a number of other materials.  Typically not sugar, though.

:)

Great work man.  I may hit you up for some custom tops and matching beer handles/taps as well.  Need to come up with an idea first :)

opt2not

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #54 on: April 02, 2015, 01:21:11 pm »
Looks pretty awesome!  :cheers:
Though $50 a balltop is a bit too decadent for what I'd pay, but hey that's not undervaluing your work, it's just a bit too rich for my blood.

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #55 on: April 02, 2015, 01:22:50 pm »
Sugar skull is another term for the calavera mentioned previously.  They could be made out of ceramic, plastic, or a number of other materials.  Typically not sugar, though.

:)

Great work man.  I may hit you up for some custom tops and matching beer handles/taps as well.  Need to come up with an idea first :)

OOOooohhh, I was thinking "Calavera" the main character from Grim Fandango! haha

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #56 on: April 02, 2015, 01:24:54 pm »
Looks pretty awesome!  :cheers:
Though $50 a balltop is a bit too decadent for what I'd pay, but hey that's not undervaluing your work, it's just a bit too rich for my blood.

I've given steep discounts to particularly inspiring projects. Shoot me a PM if you come up with a unique idea!

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #57 on: April 02, 2015, 02:53:50 pm »
Looks pretty cool, I would say just work on cleaning up the look of the shaft a bit.

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #58 on: May 02, 2015, 10:42:58 pm »
Quick update, I finally got the courage to try 3D printing an entire arcade controller frame. I'm super inspired to make more like this and optimize the process. Although completely impractical (e.g. it takes ~ 40 hours of print time) I believe that the ability to replicate it anywhere in the world is worthwhile. It's surprisingly sturdy and I'll be continuing to improve the design. The mount holes fit 5 button encoders I had on hand and the end goal is stuffing a raspberry pi in with a custom bracket. Stay tuned  ;)







If you're curious or want to try 3D printing your own, I documented more of my process here: http://www.cuddleburrito.com/blog

Thanks for looking everyone :) :)

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #59 on: May 03, 2015, 01:45:32 am »
You put your father's skull into a joystick?

Of course not - the guy at Cuddle Burrito did it for me...


Quick!  What movie?

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #60 on: May 03, 2015, 04:35:23 am »
You put your father's skull into a joystick?

Of course not - the guy at Cuddle Burrito did it for me...


Quick!  What movie?
Nice paraphrase of the line from Mystery Men, Slippy.   :lol


Scott

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #61 on: May 28, 2015, 02:52:56 pm »
I've been improving the standard GameThing frame from everyone's feedback:




Some with custom engravings:


I'm also preparing a couple blog posts on putting together arcade sticks. Is there anything you'd like to see or understand better?
http://www.cuddleburrito.com/blog-archive/
http://www.cuddleburrito.com/blog/2015/3/17/arduino-arcade-joystick-controller
http://www.cuddleburrito.com/blog/2015/1/29/building-an-arcade-stick-case-fast

Thanks for looking!  :)

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #62 on: May 29, 2015, 01:58:32 am »
Yellow controller


+ Pac-man balltop



+ one of these inside




Would be pretty sweet.

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #63 on: June 01, 2015, 07:58:07 pm »
Yellow controller
+ Pac-man balltop
+ one of these inside

Would be pretty sweet.

 :cheers:that would be really neat! Building it around a Raspberry Pi would offer that functionality!

---------
Just finished a custom Jurassic Park mosquito in amber ball top:



I'm excited to play with more dye's if you have any ideas!

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #64 on: June 02, 2015, 10:46:12 am »
 8) That is awesome!  :applaud:

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #65 on: June 02, 2015, 11:12:27 am »
That amber ball top is fantastic. Can you make it into a cane? :)

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #66 on: June 02, 2015, 06:45:35 pm »
That amber ball top is fantastic. Can you make it into a cane? :)
Thank you! Very doable. There's a threaded insert already, so it's just a matter of finding a cane with a M6 thread

8) That is awesome!  :applaud:

Thank you very much :D

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #67 on: June 13, 2015, 01:52:51 pm »
is there a slant for the joystick case or I am seeing things :dunno ??

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #68 on: July 26, 2015, 05:05:38 am »
More and more ball tops! Our custom ball top process has drastically improved over the past few weeks so that no seems remain. Not only does it make them crystal clear, but they're silky smooth to play on with nothing to catch your finger. On top of the improved surface finish, high resolution graphics of anything you need can be placed inside. Need a translucent color? No problem!




https://instagram.com/p/5lFzOOSg2G/

What theme is your arcade build?

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #69 on: July 29, 2015, 11:02:37 am »

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #70 on: July 29, 2015, 01:50:51 pm »
That galaxy one is pretty sick! nicely done  :applaud:

cudbur

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #71 on: August 26, 2015, 09:43:23 pm »
Just wanted to share a particularly fun custom joystick ball top: a polar bear  :D







Sculpted digital bear, 3D printed, hand painted, filled with resin, and covered in a clear hard epoxy.

Thanks to polarbite for sponsoring the project!

HaRuMaN

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #72 on: August 27, 2015, 09:45:57 am »
Pretty cool looking, but looks uncomfortable to play

pbj

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #73 on: August 27, 2015, 10:15:02 am »
Looks like a dollar store toy sawed in half and glued to a joystick.


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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #74 on: August 27, 2015, 10:39:09 am »
Looks like a dollar store toy sawed in half and glued to a joystick.

pbj, all arcade joysticks are just inspirations from real-world things  ;)




That joystick must be a real "bear" to play on.

OP - Those space balltops are pretty cool.  :cheers:
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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #75 on: August 27, 2015, 11:22:53 am »
Pretty cool looking, but looks uncomfortable to play

I agree from a practical standpoint. Cool as a showpiece, though.

Looks like a dollar store toy sawed in half and glued to a joystick.

Reminds me of these things you used to get at school carnivals and the fair...

***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

pbj

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Re: Laser cut frames, custom joystick balltops, 3D printed designs
« Reply #76 on: August 27, 2015, 11:52:41 am »
Still remain cash in hand for a trackball with a Calavera inside it.