Joystick mounting in MDF- from top or from underneath?

[Stormy151]

I see most people rout the control panel so that the sticks sit up high enough, but do you rout them so the sticks drop in from the top, or mount them from underneath?

I suppose from the top would be easiest, but I guess I'm concerned more with strength than anything.

Apologies if this has been done to death, I tried to do a search, but didn't find anything.

[Sasquatch!]

Unless they have mounting plates made to be mounted on the top, joysticks almost always mount from the botton.

[SNAAAKE]

You questions isn't too clear but use carriage bolts to mount the stick.Which gives you maximum strength.Avoid mounting from the bottom with screws. It might be fine for a while but sooner or later those screws will start to loosen up.

[ekopp2]

Mine had mounting plates and I mounted them from the top, routing out the thickness of the plate so that the joystick was flush with the rest of the CP. And, as SNAAAKE says, use carriage bolts to keep the sticks in place.

[Stormy151]

I plan to use carriage bolts.  I only plan to use a mounting plate with the player 1 stick so I can use restrictors.  But for the other sticks, this is what I mean.



I figure the bottom way (from the top) is the best, since you'd get the stick height, plus a half inch of MDF backing it.  In from the bottom, wouldn't the sticks be too close to the panel?

[paigeoliver]

Make your panel out of wood, and then cover the wood with sheet metal. You can mount your sticks directly into the sheet metal, and just cut out the area beneath them for the base. This is much easier than the other methods, and is much friendlier to overlays.

[Metimbo]

Ok, now I am confused.

I thought that the whole idea of routing out the CP on 3/4" MDF is b/c with the 1/8" Lexan, you would have 3/4" depth when mounting the Joysticks from the bottom??

If not, I have a LOT of work left to do I guess routing out the joys.

~Tim