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Rotating joystick for Qbert project

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Zeosstud:
Looks like a fantastic solution.. Enjoy!!

severdhed:
I Made some progress over the last two days.  The model has been updated to mount to the JLW stick. i thickened the mounting disk with a recessed area for the stick. this stiffened up the unit. i also added two notches in the disk that line up with a spring detent in the ring, this helps hold it in place at the two desired positions.




i added some decorative elements to the disk, and modified the pacman knob a little bit



I printed the middle panel for the buttons and spinner.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  I had some 24mm black sanwa buttons that i picked up for a previous project that ultimately went a different direction. these worked well for the start and pause/exit buttons.  I wasn't sure how well the multi color 3d printing would turn out when used for labels and decoration, but it looks pretty good. Everything was printed face down on a textured plate so it has a very nice finished texture to it.  There will still be a 3rd panel to the right, but i have to wait for the trackball to arrive so I can design the plate to fit it. I only had a 3" trackball on hand which was just too large for this project.  I ordered a 2.25" trackball/spinner combo from amazon, i'm optimistic that it won't suck, but it isn't going to be delivered for a few weeks.  that will give me time to find and cut the actual wooden under panel to the correct size so that when it does arrive, i'll have the real panel ready to go. 

the only downside to this design is that my hand rests on the spinner knob while using the buttons. it ins't horribly uncomfortable, but it is a little weird.  i don't know how to get around that though unless i just ditch the spinner entirely.   There are only a few spinner games i'd like to have on here and they certainly arent' a deal breaker, but i haven't had a spinner in my cabinet in many years, i'd like to have the option.  I pulled the turbo twist spinner out of my cabinet at work to test it with this panel, but i will swap it out with the new one when it arrives.  I thought about moving the spinner to the left side and putting the buttons on the right, this would possibly make it more comforable to rest my hand while playing joystick games, but just like the trackball, i like to use the spinner with my right hand, which would make using the buttons difficult for the spinner and trackball games.

i guess i could move the spinner towards the back of the panel, but then i'd have to relocated my start and pause/exit buttons.

I also printed a new dust washer for the joystick. the stock one was about 2mm too small to completely cover the screw heads.

pbj:
Nothing to add besides “this is really cool.”  Carry on, sir.

 :cheers:

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