somewhat basic control panel questions (and hopefully answers)

[Flinkly]

hey

I'm getting ready to make most of my panels and was wondering what the smallest hole was that i can cut for my p360 in a 3/4 inch wood panel.  also, what do you guys do to hide the dust washer?  do you put it on top of the joystick base before attaching the base to the bottom of the cp, or do you router a hole in the top of the cp before attaching the cp overlay?  the under-the-overlay approach seems like it would allow for people to deform your overlay due to the hole beneath...

[Ninja Supremacist]

Dust washer on top.

I didn't realize this was an issue to anybody.

[Flinkly]

you'd be suprised at the issues that come up during a cab build, or after a cab build when you realize that it's all wrong.

[quarterback]

I have the dust washers on top of the overlay.  Not "on top of the joystick base before attaching".  Obviously mine aren't hidden, but I think that's okay.

If you put it on top of the joystick base, then you're gonna be seeing that 3/4" deep hole in your cp.  I'm not a fan of that.   I don't know what the smallest hole is that you can get away with, but you might find it takes about 1-1/8" to allow the full throw.  I know that I tried a small hole for my Ms Pac reunion stick and ended up having to make it bigger so the joystick shaft didn't hit the side of the hole while playing.

Others rout out a space on the top of their wooden CP for the dustwasher to slide around in, and then they put the overlay (and sometimes plexi) over that routed out area.  I think they avoid the "deformity" problem you mention by the addition of the plexi.  That's probably the 'prettiest' way to do it, but is beyond my means at this point since I have no fancy router

[Flinkly]

yeah, 1 1/8 is what i've seen the most of on cp's, but no specific mention of what joysticks are to be used and so forth.  i gue'ss i'll just have to try it out on a piece of scrap. 

yeah, i thought most put it under the overlay to miss that gaping hole, but the deformity will occur if any kids play on it.  i've got the means to do it, just not sure exactly what people do to hide it, and i don't plan on putting plexi over my panel. 

thanks quarterback.

[CheffoJeffo]

Good question ... and appropriate to your current build.

Dust washers on a NA Neo Geo cab (I'm presuming this is for your plus-scale NG cab) go UNDER the CPO.

The hole in the CP and CPO is 2" (I had to remove a stick to confirm that the hole in the CP was 2" ... is bigger than it needs to be)..

Cheers.

[Tiger-Heli]

The best way to do it is the way OSCAR did on this project - http://www.oscarcontrols.com/sinistar/index.shtml

But most people have never seen this before so it looks weird to them.

[JonnyBoy]

I like the dustwashers, but that's me, so I am putting them on top of my plexi.  The t-nuts on the other hand, are awesome. No more ugly carriage bolts.