BYO Starwars Yoke idea

[Lilwolf]

I've been hoping to build one for a long time..  But put it off hoping to find something on ebay... but that isn't looking great... and I'm starting to think that I would LOVE to build my own.

An idea.

1) get a metal box.  I'm thinking of a metal cookie tin.

2) get 3 lazy susan's.  One big one and 2 small ones.  These usually have a hole in the middle.

troubles.  

1) Any good ideas for a cheap grips?  They are 20 bucks+ each if you find originals.  I'm hoping for a cheap joystick or maybe something else.   Maybe some PVC and a bike grip over it.  But I might go with plumbing since it would be easy to connect and sturdy.  How about the buttons... I dont' need a standard type of trigger, but maybe I will get some smaller ones from happs.  

2) Any good ideas for getting the pods attached?  If I went with a lazy susan, There would just be two holes backed to each other... I have some ideas on how to hack it, but I'm not sure if it would work out that well.

3) Any good ideas on the tension?  I was thinking that I could use bike tire that would wrap around a tube from one side, that sticks into the other.

4)

[eightbit]

Whats wrong with the twisty grip idea? It sounds like your trying to do the same thing.

I don't think lazy susans are going to be tight enough in the small size that your going to want. The control will end up being sloppy.

Not picking on your idea here, I would love to see an alternative that looked more authentic than the twistygrip.

[Chris]

Grips are always the biggest problem when I try to design one... Happ's grips are nice; the Joey Holman yoke uses those:



...but by the time you buy a pair with buttons and triggers, you've probably spent enough that you could buy a real yoke on eBay...

One of the example pages (Xiaou2's at http://www.homestead.com/xiaou2/arcade~ns4.html) shows carved wooden grips that seem to work out pretty well...




I wish he'd do a detailed writeup on this yoke!

I had considered a lazy susan bearing for the X axis, and just using a dowel for the Y axis...

For reference, here are the internals of a real yoke:



--Chris

[wee beastie]

looks like joey hollman used a right-handed and left-handed flight stick  from "Steel Talons"

[Chris]

looks like joey hollman used a right-handed and left-handed flight stick  from "Steel Talons"

They're from Happ Controls at http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50250800.htm:

They're listed as replacements for 9 games, and yes, Steel Talons is one of them.

--Chris

[wee beastie]

they're damn cool, but expensive.  If you buy them at 23.10 a piece, you've shelled out 46.20 for a pair.  Might as well buy a real yoke at that price.

[Chris]

My point exactly, although you can get them from Bob Roberts for $17.00 each.

Someone had promised measurements of all of the parts of a real yoke, but I haven't seen them yet...

--Chris

[wee beastie]

yes, I too would like to see the real yoke measurements.  Also, the gear specs would be helpful too (radius, number of teeth, etc)

[1UP]

Rather than lazy susans, try wheel barrel bearings.  They have hollow shafts and are smaller than lazy susans.  Easy to remove from the wheel, which is like $5 or so.  Just insert a stick or long screwdriver thru one shaft and push the other bearing out the other side.

For handles, why not use a cheap analog stick?  You should be able to mount the handles to a metal shaft which can be screwed, soldered or welded to a perpendicular shaft going thru the yoke.  Springs are better for tension than innertubes, just use one to anchor the shaft to a point inside the box.  Also, I'd suggest a good metallic project enclosure or electrical junction box instead of a cookie tin, which wouldn't hold up to much play.

Or you could save yourself the trouble like I did, and get the real thing!  Much more satisfying to use a real yoke if you find a decent deal on Ebay...

[wee beastie]

any idea where to get these "wheel bearings" you're talking about?

[eightbit]

1up suggested you buy a wheel and take the bearings out. You can buy bearings at most hardware stores without buying the whole wheel. You need to decide what size shaft your going to use and bring it in and see if they can fit a bearing to it.

[Xiaou2]

 Hi Chris

   Thanks for the plug : )   heh  

   BTW - my page was actually updated, and the address has changed:

 www.xiaou2.homestead.com  (main link page)

 or direct arcade stuff:

 http://xiaou2.homestead.com/arcade.html
 (several other arcade page links at the bottom)

  Im sorry I havnt written the yoke up... I may try to do so later.   The problem is... is that the thing was built on my intuition... bit-by-bit.   There was no solid plan... and even now if I did it again, Id most likey improove upon its construction.  

  A quick note tho... as said from others... its just about as expensive to buy a real yoke than to custom built one.  A Twisty is actually nice.  The handles, while different shaped, feel comfortable.  Tho - I wasnt too happy about the look of pvc... so I opted to build my own.

  Just a few nice pieces of wood sanded round, and the inner routed out a bit.  Large dowel with a hole in the middle glued to the outside (and screwed from the inside)... a metal tube that connects them...

  The button was made with a small dowel glued to a popsicle stick base.  And the trigger carved and sanded into shape.  A tiny metal pin used to pivot on.

  Had to replace those faked gears with real ones... as they didnt hold up.  Mounted larger to a hollowed dowel.  And small I believe was mounted directly to the pot (pots head sanded to a thin flat line - and moding the gear to a matching hole)

  The rear of it all is described in detail on the hangon page.
 Obvious, its Not an easy thing to cut through metal like I did!  I have a table saw with a special metal cutting disc... and even that took a lot of effort and failures.   An easier way may be simular to twisty's way... and use Pvc for that part of it all.   Or maybe pvc glued into a large block of wood so that it could be mounted simularly to the way I used the pipe mounter part.

  I think if I could do it all over again... Id either buy one off ebay... or remake one with some sort of bearings. (oh... and plan it out better  

  Sincerely,

  Steve
 

[wee beastie]

Well,  I've found that rollerskate/rollerblade bearings will do quite well.  I got a pack of 10 at kmart for about 8 bucks.  The nice thing is, these bearings fit quite well in the tube of a regular happs pushbutton.  I pulled the button out with some pliers, and notice the tube actually has a flange (ie it shrinks) to prevent the button from falling all the way into the hole.  The bearing fits niceley in this hole, now, I just need a metal dowel that will fit snugly in the bearings.  So, it will be built like this

handle-----rod----pushbutton with ball bearing in it (mounted to wood box)

then mirror that for the other side using the same rod.  Now, I just need to find some gears that can turn the pots and something to work as a handle.  After that is done, the rest can be accomplished easily I believe.  We shall see