Newbie wiring questions.

[2slk]

After a lot of research and much help (thanks guys!) from the folks on this message board, I

[eightbit]

Lots of questions, many of these are answered in more detail in the faq but I'll try to answer the ones that I can.

I plan on wiring the micro switches using solderless crimps. Can the crimp tool used for this also be used for crimping the wires to the SCSI connector? If not, is there a multi-tool available or would I be OK with needle nose pliers for one or both of those tasks? Am I just better off investing in a soldering iron and learning how to solder?

Crimps are the easiest to do and make repairs or changes easy. Arcades would often solder the connections to the buttons because of the abuse the panel would take and typically they weren't making changes. Invest in a crimping tool for the button connections. A scsi cable connector would be a different crimping tool but you wouldn't need that unless you were making your own scsi cables.

Most of the SCSI cables I have seen are round with two male connectors. Is any such SCSI cable ok for my intended purpose?

Scsi cables are straight through, meaning the pins are the same on both ends. There are also scsi cables with male on one end and female on the other. Basically looks like a scsi extension cable. Often used for getting an internal scsi connector to external.

The wiring section of BYOAC states

[Tiger-Heli]

Is the SCSI connector (as I call it) known in the electronics world as a d-sub connector or is that something different?

Not sure, I plan to use DB25 cables, which look like parallel printer ports on the computer.  They make DB37 and DB50 cables, which would be a good choice also, but I don't know if these qualify as SCSI.

I plan on wiring the micro switches using solderless crimps. Can the crimp tool used for this also be used for crimping the wires to the SCSI connector?

If I understand your question, it is possible (difficult) to crimp wires to the terminal pins inside the SCSI connector, however, a better solution is to get a fully populated M-F extension cable, cut it in two and leave the wires in the connector in place.

If not, is there a multi-tool available or would I be OK with needle nose pliers for one or both of those tasks? Am I just better off investing in a soldering iron and learning how to solder?

A set of crimping pliers is helpful for the quick disconnects to the buttons, should be under $10.

Is this a sound practice? What would be the advantage of having a wiring block?

Daisy-chaining is actually preferred for the common (ground) wire.  However, you probably want a wiring (terminal) block for the main wire to allow easier connections between the buttons and the SCSI cable and to making changes easier if you want the lower right button to be P1B3 instead of P1B4, for example.