crazy spinner design for a new cp

[gtjoe]

I am building a new 2 player control panel with a spinner and a 3" trackball.  The trackball is centered in the middle of the control panel and I want to put the spinner above or below the trackball but I don't want it to interfere at all with the trackball use.  Yet another attempt to build the "perfect panel", so spinner placement is just as important as trackball placement, and I don't want the cp to be too wide or too tall...

I am looking for ways I can mount the spinner so that it can be raised and lowered when it's not in use. When you lower the spinner, the top of the spinner would be flush with the control panel, and it would not be in the way of the trackball use at all.

I have the spinner totally enclosed in a small box. I want to be able to raise the box up, and basically wedge it against the underneath of the control panel, so the spinner sticks out of the control panel and it's stable and useable.  When you lower the box, the spinner knob sits flush.  

The lever or knob to raise the spinner box has to be mounted on the side of the control panel.  The bottom of the panel wont't be accessible.  I have been thinking of using hardware from a c-clamp or bench vise, but I can't come up with a solution where the knob/lever is mounted on the side.

Anyone want to suggest any solutions or hardware to use.  I am looking at hardware and even toys that might have a similar mechanism.  Told you it was crazy...

[Brax]

Get a little air cylinder and a hobby compressor. You want crazy.....

We use these to operate spark shields on spot welders. Hit the button and it actuates the cylinder. Pffft, your spinner is raised. And the air pressure is more than enough to hold it in place.

You can get tiny ones with just a few inches of travel, It would work great for your application. Sure the compressor is a little difficult but you can get cheap electrical ones and the volume of air required is miniscule. It would only need to be on for a second.

[Chris]

Solenoids, perhaps?

[gibble]

Couldn't you just have the spinner knob removable but in such a way that the shaft comes with the spinner, leaving just a hole and nothing sticking out of the CP when it's not in use?

[Brax]

What fun is that?
 

[gtjoe]

I may just put some springs underneath it to force it up and use a lock pin on the side panel to hold it in place. Remove pin, push on the spinner to lower, insert lock pin to hold it in place, until I figure out a cool way to automate this

Here's a suggestion from another forum:
Try making it motorized. Press a button and it lowers or raises.

Here's an idea: Have you seen the landing gear retracts on giant scale model airplanes?
They use special retract servos that have long throws. You would have to use a large scale servo from JR Propo (1/4 scale or bigger). I'm sure they make them with enough torque. You'll also need to make a servo driver box. They need 4.8 to 6 volts to run.

Another option would be to use a sail winch servo for model sailboats. They also have plenty of torque and throw.

Check out your local hobby store and see what they have.

[Xiaou2]

You could mount the spinner vertically in the front part of the control panel.   (like a stove gas knob)   ...or even slightly under the panel via a pull out mechanism.

[spidermonkey]

An optical roller out of a dedicated Major Havoc cabinet would be kinda cool (mounts verticly and is recessed into the control panel)  Oh would I love to get my hands on one of these. Im not holding my breath though. I've only seen one dedicated Major Havoc cab with the roller. Most of the time whenever I would see a Major Havoc cab in the arcades it was a converted Tempest with a plain ol spinner. Only seen ONE  original  Major Havoc optical roller on Ebay in the past 2 years.

[dag2000]

Major Havoc roller?  See this guys site:

http://www.basementarcade.com/arcade/4sale/index.html

his main page is at:

http://www.basementarcade.com/

[spidermonkey]

Holy Sh#@!t !!
Thanks dude. I've been on that site before but never saw that section. He wrote that he only has one left so I better act quick. I already have an Oscar model 2 spinner with an opti-pac. but I would like to have both in my cp. Can I hook up the roller and the spinner to my opti-pac at the same time? Will it do anything to the opti-pac? I Guess I should be asking Oscar this question. I hope that the Basement Arcade site is up to date and that he infact still does have one left. I don't want to bother him about it until I know that it will work side by side with my regular spinner.
Do any of you guys have two things hooked up to your opti-pac? If so I'd love to hear the results.
Thanks
S.M.

[kspiff]

The OptiPac has X1/Y1 and X2/Y2 inputs.. each spinner uses 1 X or 1 Y axis, so you should be able to have a spinner and Major Havoc roller as one logical mouse.

I was going to buy this guy's roller a while back, but the price seemed a bit steep.

k-spiff