Joystick Mounting Question

[bcard74]

Hey all.  Putting my bartop CP together and have a quick question.  I have a Happs Ultimate I am putting on, and have noticed a few different ways of doing it.  Some people seem to drill pilot holes in the top of the CP and then mount it from the top down with heads of the bolts exposed on the CP.  Seems other people just might use particle board screws and mount it from the bottom into the MDF/Wood  with nothing showing on the top of the CP.

Any pluses or minuses to doing it either way?

Also I am going to add a 4 way Oscar restictor plate in the next couple weeks, so is there any considerations I should be thinking about when mounting the stick?

Since I am keeping costs down on the bartop is just some contact paper OK, or should it be topped with a sheet of Lexan?  How about just paint?

Thanks yet again everyone ...

[Richy]

I mounted it from below and i haven't had any problems with it.

Contact paper won't stand up to much on it's own. I'd reccomend lexen. Plexiglass gets scratched easily by jewellery, but if you're on a budget , you could just paint it.

[RandyT]

If your panel is made of particle board, then USE BOLTS!  Screws might work fine for a while, but eventually they will pull.

But, if your panel is made of plywood (like mine) wood screws will hold fine.  The force required to rip out the screws from the plywood would kill your stick long before anything else happens. Just make sure you have some nice coarse threads.

I personally dislike the boltheads on the panels, but that's a matter of preference.

RandyT

[Chris]

I used bolts through the top, but countersunk them beneath the surface of the panel, where they are covered by the CPO and plexi.  Thus, no visible bolt heads...

[bcard74]

Thanks guys.  Any ideas about the restrictor plate and whether going from the top or bottom will have any ill effects on it?  I believe it uses the same holes as a Happs plate, so therefore I might as well go from the top down since I will have to anyways.

Comments?

[Lilwolf]

The Oscar restrictor plates?  They go on top.  But if you are using them, you will probably want to make sure you are mounting based on his instructions.  I don't know if there are any differences (don't think so)

[Brad Lee]

I used bolts through the top, but countersunk them beneath the surface of the panel, where they are covered by the CPO and plexi.  Thus, no visible bolt heads...

Nice.. That's almost exactly the CP I've got planned, except the trackball & spinner are reversed.
Is everything "comfortable" to play the way you have it, or are there any modifications you'd make if you redid it?

[Tiger-Heli]

Thanks guys.  Any ideas about the restrictor plate and whether going from the top or bottom will have any ill effects on it?  I believe it uses the same holes as a Happs plate, so therefore I might as well go from the top down since I will have to anyways.

Comments?

I talked to OSCAR a while back when the plates first came out, the alignment of the plate mounting holes to the joystick mounting holes is pretty critical, depending on how you plan to mount them.

He mentions the restrictor plate aligning the joystick holes within 0.001 inch relative to the restrictor plate holes on his site: http://www.oscarcontrols.com/index_joystick.htm when using the restrictor mounting plate.  

He sells a mounting plate for the restrictors with studs on the bottom.  If you want to use his mounting plate (which he recommends), what you do now doesn't matter as you basically cut a square hole around the joystick, mount it to the plate, and drop it through.

If you don't want to use the mounting plate, I think his recommended installation procedure was:

Order a blank (no studs on the bottom) mounting plate.

Drill the joystick holes and attach the plate to the panel (using 1/4 screws instead of standard 3/16 carriage bolts for more precise centering)  (To take the slop out of the mounting holes in the joystick.)

Drill the joystick restrictor plate holes with the plate still attached to the panel.

Mount the joystick to the panel with the 1/4-inch bolts with the plate still attached.

Remove two of the bolts at a time and feed them through from the bottom of the joystick.

Remove and the other two bolts and the mounting plate.

With the joystick held by the inverted 1/4-inch bolts, secure the joystick with two 3/16-inch carriage bolts from the top.

Remove the 1/4-inch bolts from the bottom and secure the joystick with two more 3/16-inch bolts from the top.

Complete!!!  OTOH, the restrictor plates were designed to be retrofitted, so if you mounted from the top, I think you could get away with clamping the plate over the holes, enlarging the mounting holes from 3/16" to 1/4" and then following the procedure above.

[Chris]

Nice.. That's almost exactly the CP I've got planned, except the trackball & spinner are reversed.
Is everything "comfortable" to play the way you have it, or are there any modifications you'd make if you redid it?

No, it's not perfect! The player controls are a bit cramped, but okay... however, having both Start buttons on the left is a pain in two-player games, and having the spinner in line with the trackball is a pain in games such as Golden Tee and Bowling where you stroke across the trackball.

I will probably rebuild the panel soon, moving the trackball closer to the front of the panel, moving the spinner out of the way (probably to the upper-right corner) and moving the two start buttons closer to the center (one on either side of the clear path for the trackball).

I do like the diamond layout of the butons, though.. it gives me the option of using the buttons for games that require true 4-way control.  Of course, with only 4 buttons per player, I can't play most fighting games, but I've never been interested in fighting games.

--Chris