LED button discs/inserts for translucent Happs, fx, or ice!

[MikeDeuce]

'r' series:



'n' series:



And with the GGG Electric Ice buttons:


Color matched vinyl to button color (blue on blue), and in clear buttons. In both rows, the "MAME" insert is in blue, and the "25c" insert is in black.



Got a small batch of these rolled out last night, I wanted to call them "Discs of Pr0n" but uh... yeah it wasn't that funny in my head either.

Right, on to business. These are 5/8" acrylic discs that fit inside Happ translucent buttons (not sure about others). When backlit with an LED, they look fantastic, and definitely bring the feel of a traditional coin door to the control panel (IMO).





Installation is very straight forward... here is a pictorial guide on installing these inserts in a Happ translucent button (buttons not included):



And I also have in stock several red LEDs that are perfect for this application. Their specifications are: T 1 3/4, 5mm diameter, Typical Vf@If(mA) 2.2@20, typical mcd@mA: 1200@20, Wavelength: 660nm. Their typical voltage is 1.9, max is 2.4. Here is an example of the LEDs in action in both a dim environment, and directly under a fluorescent light:



The backside of the discs features a thin white plastic film which acts as a great diffuser of the LED light, providing very even illumination over the button insert. If you would rather have the blinding power of the LED, simply pick off the white film with your fingernail.

Prices for most button discs are $2/ea shipped in the USA (the text/mouse icons are $3 due to their complexity/production effort). The LEDs are $0.50/ea (shipping is free if these are purchased with the discs). Australian and UK buyers, please add $0.84 for international shipping. Buyers from Canada/Mexico, please add $0.63.

To order, please send me an email at dage@pixelstorm.net and specify which button inserts you want and the quantity, and the quantity of LEDs if desired.

Currently I have available qty. 21 of the 25cent discs, qty. 3 player 1 discs, qty. 3 player 2 discs and qty. 100 red LEDs.

Thanks!
mike

Disc catalog follows... These can all be ordered in any of the colors I offer (black, white, red, pink, purple, green, yellow, orange, blue). I will assume black if no color is specified.

General purpose - $2/ea shipped (US)







Text/mouse icons - $3/ea shipped (US)








XBOX series - $2/ea shipped (US)








Playstation series - $2/ea shipped (US)

[quarterback]

This board has really spawned some cool stuff in the last couple months.   Good stuff MikeD! 

[Ninten-doh]

Email sent.  Woot!   

[AlexC]

Email sent...

[MikeDeuce]

Thanks QB!

And emails received, I'll ship ASAP in the order they were received... emails comin' back at cha. I'm doing another run of these tonight as well, so if any particular item runs out today, I'll have more to ship out tmw.

thanks all!
mike

[MikeDeuce]

Added a bunch of new disc designs. Turnaround time for some custom orders should be within 48hrs max. Hopefully its a lot quicker though!

[JLR2000]

Out of curiousity.....would you consider selling "completed" buttons....i.e. a "25 cent button" = 1 plunger assembly + disc + microswitch + led?  Sort of "plug and play"?  If so, what would the costs be?

I like the 25 cents buttons, but may be willing to pay for a completed button that I just need to install and get power to....

btw - very cool idea 

Thanks.

[MikeDeuce]

Yep... and actually did that to with my first order of these (except for the LEDs). Planning to do it again within the week, just had to wait for payday to order some more buttons from ponyboy

I'll have some figures shortly.

Thanks!
mike

[whatzcrackn]

Will these work with the electric ice buttons?

[MikeDeuce]

Not sure about that...

edit: Would anyone that has an electric ice button be willing to pop out the plunger and measure the inside diameter for me? I'll send ya some free vinyl decals or something for your trouble

[KenToad]

Email order sent.  Excellent work, Mike.

Cheers,
KenToad

[MikeDeuce]

Thanks KT

Update: added a couple shots of the "N" series of discs (these are without the black background, similar to the typical vinyl decals I offer). Added to the original post.

[kastawaykid]

Mike,

What is the Diameter of the disks that you are making? I have electric ice buttons, but the caliper I own is not very accurate. The diameter seems to be close to 0.65 +/- 0.02. If this is close to the Diameter you are already making, I would be interested in buying a few. Let me know.

Kid

[whatzcrackn]

Mike,

What is the Diameter of the disks that you are making? I have electric ice buttons, but the caliper I own is not very accurate. The diameter seems to be close to 0.65 +/- 0.02. If this is close to the Diameter you are already making, I would be interested in buying a few. Let me know.

Kid

yeah, let me know too!!

[whatzcrackn]

Dude I have said it before and I will say it again!!  YOU-R-DA-MAN

The 'N' series is where it is at for me!!!  I want some but do need to know if they work with the Ice buttons.

[MikeDeuce]

Mike,

What is the Diameter of the disks that you are making? I have electric ice buttons, but the caliper I own is not very accurate. The diameter seems to be close to 0.65 +/- 0.02. If this is close to the Diameter you are already making, I would be interested in buying a few. Let me know.

Kid

Perfect! That is basically the exact inner diameter of the happ plunger... The max diameter of the button inserts/discs are 5/8", or 0.625". Let me know if you decide to order, one of the discs will be on the house, to thank you for your time.

Thanks!

[kastawaykid]

Mike,

Are you going to add more to your catalog of general disks? My girlfriend kind of likes the player one (girl) and player two (boy/girl) stickers that I bought from you. Let me know.

Thanks,
kid

[MikeDeuce]

Ahh, so someone *does* actually use those ones!

I can definitely toss those on discs for the same prices as the normal p1-4 guys, just let me know. *Almost* everything I have fits on the discs... but sometimes the text ones are extremely difficult (since the discs are only ~15mm). Otherwise, almost everything else works... I'll try to get those added "officially" when I get some time.

[quarterback]

What is the Diameter of the disks that you are making? I have electric ice buttons

  But the Electric Ice buttons aren't see through.   

Or are you hoping to get a little 'shadow play' image to shine through only when they're lit up?  That'd be cool, but do you think it will work?

[kastawaykid]

I am hoping that if I use white, you will not see the images on the player buttons unless they are lit.  The stealth look is what I am hoping for.

[quarterback]

I am hoping that if I use white, you will not see the images on the player buttons unless they are lit.  The stealth look is what I am hoping for.

Dig it.   I wanna see pics!

[whatzcrackn]

I am hoping that if I use white, you will not see the images on the player buttons unless they are lit.  The stealth look is what I am hoping for.

Next question is will the white show thru!! I too only wanted them visable when lite!  Sumn dat makes u say uhmmmm.

So I thought I would have to go with black because of the buttons not being translucent.  Also if the label was green, would the green show thru the button?   O0

[kastawaykid]

I guess that it really depends how dense the material being used is. I wonder if Mike could do me a big favor and shine an LED behind one of the white and black disks. This way I could see how much of the light is blocked by the sticker material and determine if it will actually work. I think that if a color other than white is used, you may see a haze when the button is not lit.

 :creep: Kid

[brian23]

Just got my discs today... Pictures coming soon.

[aumameman]

PM sent as well as PayPal payment 

[Level42]

Mike, these look absolutely fabulous ! I already loved your vinyl work. Shame these discs won't work on the traditional leaf buttons, so (maybe asking a lot) but would it be possible to make vinyl stickers in the shape of these discs. I mean, they would be the same as the regular vinyl's but then inverted and with a round shape. These could easily be applied on top of the regular leaf buttons.

Hope you understand what I mean and if that would be possible. This may also be a solution for the ice buttons, although you of course will see the shape when unlit.

[brian23]

I shined a 3 cluster red LED threw my 1 player disc and it looks great. I'm not so sure I like the white backing that is there to diffuse the light. I guess I will try different "configurations" to see what I like best. The pictures are much smaller than the original 1 player, which is understable since they are going inside the plunger.  I was worried about removing them from the transfer tape, but I had no issues with removing them from the transfer tape. Overall, I thought they were pretty good quality. I do think that people would probably like a combo solution (i.e. translucent + disc) w/ pre-cut hole for LED.

My 2 cents...

[NIVO]

well done Mike. Question, noticed you have 1UP characters, could you also make 2UP as well? Would be better if one were to buy these as a "set". Thanks. Good Work. 

[Spaz Monkey]

Holy cow!!!! Those rock!  Saw the "Tab" and laughed!!!!

I only have two comments/questions.  I'm assuming that eventhough the graphic for the PS triangle is on its side, you can turn it right-side up?  And how come you didn't make the shoulder buttons L1/L2/R1/R2  instead of L¹/L²/R¹/R²?

[quarterback]

Holy cow!!!! Those rock!  Saw the "Tab" and laughed!!!!

How about the "Pause" button:  

I only have two comments/questions.  I'm assuming that eventhough the graphic for the PS triangle is on its side, you can turn it right-side up?

Since these are just stickers and/or circular inserts, they can be turned any way you'd like

And how come you didn't make the shoulder buttons L1/L2/R1/R2  instead of L¹/L²/R¹/R²?

My guess (and again, I don't speak for MikeD) is that it's a space issue.  I believe that the button discs are smaller than just the stickers he also does.  Since the discs have to fit inside of the buttons, they're smaller and squishing the L1 to fit side-to-side inside the circle is probably "too" small.

But that's just my guess.

[cscon115]

I am building a Jukebox and have been killing myself trying to get the numbers from 0-9. 


I have spent a small fortune on Illuminated Push Buttons (IPB), new lenses, and new 12V leds. I still don't have a legend for them and I am not really happy with the result because the number buttons are so big on the panel.   These WOULD have been great if you had the numbers from 0 to 9.

Do you have legends for 0 - 9?  (You have the letters!)

Do you make these yourself?

[MikeDeuce]

Hey guys! Responses follow... Sorry about my inactivity in the past few days! I had some unplanned business to take care of and had to take the weekend "off".

I guess that it really depends how dense the material being used is. I wonder if Mike could do me a big favor and shine an LED behind one of the white and black disks.

I can absolutely try this out... And in fact, I just ordered a set of the ICE buttons if you all dont mind waiting for them to get here. Might as well do a test with the real thing so you guys know what you're getting.

...but would it be possible to make vinyl stickers in the shape of these discs.

Thanks!

And actually these are available in just vinyl as well, and in all the colors I have. I just have to figure out a proper pricing scheme as doing these piecemeal takes a lot longer than offering premade sheets... and some of the text ones are *extremely* challenging for my plotter. In the meantime if anyone wants anything, just send me a list and we'll figure something out

Question, noticed you have 1UP characters, could you also make 2UP as well?

Thanks! And can do... I have no preference personally if they are in a set or not, as they are all custom orders when it comes to these, since there aren't many preset sheets that make sense. Just let me know and I'll run a gif by you guys to approve.

I shined a 3 cluster red LED threw my 1 player disc and it looks great. I'm not so sure I like the white backing that is there to diffuse the light...

Thanks for the feedback! The white film is definitely up to personal preference. It does remove easily should you choose that route, though. And the transfer tape is definitely more friend than foe. I'm not sure how safe they would be in the hands of the USPS Premade buttons are coming, though the prices will raise accordingly because I'll have to include the shipping prices of them to me. Hopefully it will save you guys time or money in the end, as I can order a few more at a time to save on shipping. We'll see how it turns out, though!

I'm assuming that eventhough the graphic for the PS triangle is on its side, you can turn it right-side up?  And how come you didn't make the shoulder buttons L1/L2/R1/R2  instead of L¹/L²/R¹/R²?

Whoops! QB beat me to it (thanks qb ), but you can definitely turn them any way you like... same with the arrow decals/discs. I can remake the shoulder buttons like L1/L2/R1/R2 (or offer both). I did originally make them like that so the letters could be a little more legible, but it should work out the other way as well. I'll test and update the catalog as soon as I get a moment.

These WOULD have been great if you had the numbers from 0 to 9...
Do you have legends for 0 - 9?  (You have the letters!) ..
Do you make these yourself?..

I do make these myself at home, on a small vinyl plotter, so pretty much anything is possible. Fitting really long words on a small insert is where it gets very tricky (or impossible for my cutter), but for the most part it's not a problem. I can definitely make the 0-9, and I should add those to the catalog.

Otherwise, if it's not listed above, everyone please feel free to PM or email me at dage@pixelstorm.net from a custom order... unless it's unusually complex prices should be just around the same.

Thanks all!

[leapinlew]

I'd like to let everyone know I LOVE the 25cent buttons. Mike made some up for me and I received them very quickly. They are awesome. I can't wait to get them in my new CP.

[whatzcrackn]

Has anyone tried the ice buttons yet?

[gnateye]

i know you mentioned something like this already, and it may be more trouble than its worth, but if you offered a fully complete set of: button, with disc installed, and a LED installed with a PC power molex conector and whatever restistor or whatever are needed for it to get its juice from the PC. i would be willing to pay a premium for some thing like that....

just drop them in the control panel and plug the PC power molex into your existing mame PC......

i could be dreaming and i wouldnt think any less of you if you thought this idea stank, but i figured id try


gnat

[MikeDeuce]

i know you mentioned something like this already, and it may be more trouble than its worth, but if you offered a fully complete set of: button, with disc installed, and a LED installed with a PC power molex conector and whatever restistor or whatever are needed for it to get its juice from the PC

Actually, this idea exactly (all the way down to the molex connector), is coming very soon. I ordered another small batch of buttons from ponyboy... and added a couple other colors just in case. Hoping to get the buttons soon and I just ordered another batch of discs as well.

Has anyone tried the ice buttons yet?

Mine shipped from GGG yesterday and I'll surely do some tests if nobody beats me to it

I'd like to let everyone know I LOVE the 25cent buttons. Mike made some up for me and I received them very quickly. They are awesome. I can't wait to get them in my new CP.

Thank you so much, I'm really glad to hear it!

[Santoro]

Has anyone tried the ice buttons yet?

Mine shipped from GGG yesterday and I'll surely do some tests if nobody beats me to it

They fit, but they are opaque enough that you can't see the graphic unlit.  I haven't tried backlighting it yet. 

The Electric Ice buttons seem to be much more stiff and brittle than other buttons I have worked with so be careful removing the buttons.

[MikeDeuce]

They fit, but they are opaque enough that you can't see the graphic unlit.  I haven't tried backlighting it yet. 

The Electric Ice buttons seem to be much more stiff and brittle than other buttons I have worked with so be careful removing the buttons.

Thanks for the info!

I've noticed similar conditions with the happ translucents. It must have something to do with the type of plastic involved. I actually broke off one side of the clip that holds in the microswitch (you can see in the first picture in the pictorial). That was after 3-4 removal and reinstallations of the discs, so I was probably getting impatient and sloppy.

[Level42]

Also wanted to thank you for including a Euro symbol !!! However, in the days of these great games, we still had no Euro, so I'd vote for a Dutch Guilder symbol as well 

[MikeDeuce]

Hey, sure...

Is it just a "G" shape? Like one of these:

http://www.24carat.co.uk/images/2001netherlandsguildersilverrev240.jpg

http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/545/3572.5%20guilder.jpg

[SirPoonga]

Hey Mike, can you do the atari start men?  You know, the guys that look like a Y

[MikeDeuce]

Hey Mike, can you do the atari start men?  You know, the guys that look like a Y

Hey, absolutely... didn't even realize I left those guys out. They would be at the same price as the normal start men.

[SirPoonga]

Now I have to decide.   I think these are cool.  I *was* going to replace the middle button with a solid color and have the outside ring glow.  But now I am not sure...

[southpaw13]

Hello, I got the discs...they are AWESOME...
Tried them on the Ice buttons and wasn't impressed...
I removed the inner peice of the ice button and replaced it with the translucent clear inner peice.  Now that looks great!

I noticed on the Ice buttons that there are little letters in the middle that you can see when lit....

Did I get a bad batch?

Southpaw

[squirrellydw]

Can you make some that say ENTER/EXIT

[MikeDeuce]

Hello, I got the discs...they are AWESOME...
Tried them on the Ice buttons and wasn't impressed...
I removed the inner peice of the ice button and replaced it with the translucent clear inner peice.  Now that looks great!

Glad to hear they arrived ok, but sorry to hear that they are not working out too well with the Ice buttons. I received mine from GGG yesterday but was stuck at work around the clock practically. I'll have to do some testing this weekend to see if I can work something out, and I'll post pictures of whatever ideas I come up with. Not sure if they should show any text, but hopefully I can get done with this huge project at work and play a little this weekend!

Squirrellydw: responded to your PM

[whatzcrackn]

Hello, I got the discs...they are AWESOME...
Tried them on the Ice buttons and wasn't impressed...
I removed the inner peice of the ice button and replaced it with the translucent clear inner peice.  Now that looks great!

I noticed on the Ice buttons that there are little letters in the middle that you can see when lit....

Did I get a bad batch?

Southpaw

any pics?

[MikeDeuce]

Added pics of my ice button to the first post...

@Southpaw: I saw a subtle letter "E" when the button was lit with just an LED and no disc.

Also, if you remove the white plastic on the back of the plastic disc, the light seems to shine through and basically project the image on the plastic. Looked great! (*IMO*)

Ah heck, might as well repost the pic here:


And here it is off:


You can just make out the insert with the button off. When I get a chance this weekend, I'll try white vinyl on the insert and see how it works. The vinyl is all fairly (if not completely) opaque, so lit it should provide a similar effect. Buuut can't be sure until I cut it out and try.

[southpaw13]

That looks better....

Southpaw

[whatzcrackn]

sent an email to you.  the ice looks great. caused me to go ahead and buy some 

[MikeDeuce]

Just tried it with white vinyl... with the vinyl applied to the back of the disc and in white, it's definitely a little more stealthy. It's not absolutely invisible, but as close as possible methinks.

'n' series



'r' series 

[whatzcrackn]

Works for me! 

[MikeDeuce]

Oy, just snuck a set of 4 complete red translucent buttons with discs and plug & play wiring harness (plugs into PC power supply).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6268664772

Took a little longer than I thought and had to do it with 24ga solid core because I ran out of the "gooder" stuff. Oh well, this is a prototype for a kit I suppose.

[SirPoonga]

I just noticed something.  Take mame off your list unless you have permission.

[markrvp]

Those are really nice Mike.  I really appreciate you for doing this for our hobby.

[Kremmit]

I just noticed something.  Take mame off your list unless you have permission.

I thought "the rules" said you could use "MAME" one time in your auction description or title.  Or did that change?

[SirPoonga]

I just noticed something.  Take mame off your list unless you have permission.

I thought "the rules" said you could use "MAME" one time in your auction description or title.  Or did that change?

True.  But that's not what I am talking about.  See BD014N.

[whatzcrackn]

I just noticed something.  Take mame off your list unless you have permission.

I thought "the rules" said you could use "MAME" one time in your auction description or title.  Or did that change?

True.  But that's not what I am talking about.  See BD014N.

What is wrong with the MAME disc?

[SirPoonga]

I just noticed something.  Take mame off your list unless you have permission.

I thought "the rules" said you could use "MAME" one time in your auction description or title.  Or did that change?

True.  But that's not what I am talking about.  See BD014N.

What is wrong with the MAME disc?

I'm just warning, it could be conceived he is trying to make money off of the mame name.

[whatzcrackn]

oh.  it looks kool tho.

[SirPoonga]

oh.  it looks kool tho.

Yeah, it does.  I just don't want him to get in trouble with it.

[MikeDeuce]

Oooooh, I thought you meant the ebay ad too. Whoops... yeah I'll submit a request to the mame folks. I sort of thought it was akin to mamemarquees in general, but perhaps I've overlooked the possibility that they asked permission.

Those are really nice Mike.  I really appreciate you for doing this for our hobby.

Thank you! Really kind of you to say, but I really haven't done anything compared to some of the innovators on these boards

[MikeDeuce]

Just submitted a request to use their trademark... thanks for looking out for me!

[MikeDeuce]

Got a thumbs up to go ahead and offer the mame disc 

[SirPoonga]

Sweet.  I'm still debating what  want to do

[Jeff AMN]

I don't know how I didn't notice this thread/service earlier. I'll definitely be getting in touch with you to put in an order when things start getting closer to the construction phase.

[aumameman]

These discs are great! I  your work!

[KenToad]

I have installed my 25 cent disks with LED's and have to say that I love the look, almost like the old red lit coin reject buttons.

I will post a pic tomorrow.  Just wanted to say that these are great and a bargain I think.

Thanks Mike.

Cheers,
KenToad

[MikeDeuce]

Thanks a lot guys! And KenToad, that looks FANTASTIC! It's so great to see these things in use Thanks a lot for the picture.

Also, I received a PM asking if anyone had ordered inserts of the same color as their buttons, and short of the GGG-stealthy versions, nobody has. I snuck in some time to try it with blue on blue and it's pretty neat! Also took some pictures in a clear button, in case anyone was curious.

In both rows the "MAME" disc is in blue, and the "25c" is in black.


Stealthier for sure, with the color matching. Kind of a neat alternative.

[KenToad]

Thanks, Mike, I tried to get the light right to show how great these disks look backlit, but that photo doesn't really do this setup justice.  They look much better in person, very clear and bright.  I've gotten a lot of compliments from my guests.

Can't recommend these disks enough.

Cheers,
KenToad

[nullb0y]

theese almost make me want to go and buy clear buttons

[BobbyG66]

Flippin' Sweet!

Just wondering...
Is there any chance of the discs spinning after time?
Or does the spring keep them in tight.

If they did, I guess you could apply a drop of superglue or something.

Nice job, now I am rethinking my CP...

BobbyG66

[MikeDeuce]

I haven't had it happen to me, but someone asked the same question a while back and out of paranoia they now all come with a couple nubbins on the edges. It's 2 drops from a hot glue gun on the edge and they basically give the discs 2 little grippers.

If anyone has ordered the discs in the past and has experienced any spinning issues, you might want to try this out, or you can send them back to me and I'll take care of it.

[Grasshopper]

MikeDeuce, just to clarify, do these inserts also diffuse the light? The reason I ask is that in other threads some people have complained that when you light the Happ/IL translucent buttons with a single LED directly from below, the light simply shines straight up through the button. It occurs to be that your inserts (even without a vinyl pattern) might be a solution to this problem.

[whatzcrackn]

I have a set and the inserts dont spin with the little knobs (if thats what you want to call it)  I actually placed one in wrong and had to take it back out, it took some work to get it out. 

[MikeDeuce]

MikeDeuce, just to clarify, do these inserts also diffuse the light?

Yep, they sure do... But there is also a thin white plastic film on one side that serves quite well as a diffuser. It can be easily removed with a finger nail, too.

I have a set and the inserts dont spin with the little knobs (if thats what you want to call it)  I actually placed one in wrong and had to take it back out, it took some work to get it out. 

Hope it didn't take too long! I have a lot of luck using an xacto knife to pop them out with the nubs.

[Timoe]

Ok Mike,

I'm finally ready for mine.  I hope yer still making them.  You got email

[MikeDeuce]

Yep, still in business... Got plenty of supplies to keep me going for a bit

Ok Mike,

I'm finally ready for mine.  I hope yer still making them.  You got email

[MikeDeuce]

Got some more supplies in today (needed more red, white and black vinyl), including "chrome silver" 





Usually chrome vinyl is said to only last about a year, outdoors IIRC, but this stuff is supposed to be fade resistant for 5 years. Sad part is the stuff costs 2x as much for 1/2 the amount of material, so this is a special option material and the price will be higher for items using this stuff. But I'll base that on the amount of chrome vinyl used per jobbie, so feel free to PM or email me for quotes. Can't imagine this would be popular for discs, anyhow... but it's an option.

thanks!
mike

[twaters]

I have some of these discs and they are very well made, they look great. I cant wait to install them!

[Timoe]

MikeDeuce,

Thank you thank you.  They came out great.  I just need some buttons for these now.


Review:  This is a quality product.  It comes well packaged for consumption.  The fact that it comes with a white film on the backside that I can use as a diffuser or remove to suit my preferences is really slick.

Here's a pic as the discs arrived.  I will, of course, post pictures after installation

[Level42]

Hey, sure...

Is it just a "G" shape? Like one of these:

http://www.24carat.co.uk/images/2001netherlandsguildersilverrev240.jpg

http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/545/3572.5%20guilder.jpg

Hey Mike,

Can't believe I forgot to get back to you about this, sorry !!!!
Actualy no. The Dutch Guilder symbol was the letter f.

I think I got some examples of the Dutch versions of your 25c labels for the coin buttons. I will check it out and get back. Would be very nice.

It wouldn't be possible to do an actual coin like you listed,right?  I meant the modern one with the straight lines.

[MikeDeuce]

No worries at all, these B/S/T threads go around so quickly I barely even notice new posts! 

This one: http://www.24carat.co.uk/images/2001netherlandsguildersilverrev240.jpg  miiiiiiiiight be possible. The lines would be very thin and have very little surface area for the actual adhesive. I'll play around with it when I get a chance, have some ideas bouncing around in my head.

Hey, sure...

Is it just a "G" shape? Like one of these:

http://www.24carat.co.uk/images/2001netherlandsguildersilverrev240.jpg

http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/545/3572.5%20guilder.jpg

Hey Mike,

Can't believe I forgot to get back to you about this, sorry !!!!
Actualy no. The Dutch Guilder symbol was the letter f.

I think I got some examples of the Dutch versions of your 25c labels for the coin buttons. I will check it out and get back. Would be very nice.

It wouldn't be possible to do an actual coin like you listed,right?  I meant the modern one with the straight lines.

[Level42]

It would be mega-cool if possible

Think this is about the only "real world" coin that could possibly be done this way....I remember when they came out, a lot of people called them "coffee machine tokens" here, but I always like the modern and tight designe of Dutch money......sigh.....now we are using those hideous Euro coins and bills. They sound wrong, they feel wrong and they made everything twice as expensive 

Would it be easier to make a disc of it, instead of vinyl ? I still haven't made up my mind which way to go with my buttons yet....

[Howard_Casto]

I'm lovin what you are doing here mike.... I've got a special project for you if you have the equipment to handle it... I'll post it here because other people who own gorf machines probably have a similar problem. 

My gorf machines screen printed cpo is done for, so I sanded the metal panel smooth.  Now I'm trying to figure out a good way to put new graphics on... see the bare metal is the background of the design so the methods are limited.  Screen printing doesn't seem like a solution considering how quickly the original dissolved.  I've been thinking of rub-on transfers, but that seems a little fragile.  Spray painting isn't an option with a traditional template because there's a ton of lettering, tiny lettering. 

Here is a link to a vectorized gorf cpo:  http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=519


As you can see, there are only three colors and they aren't blended or dithered at all.  Also you have calibration points where the bolt holes are, so it'd be easy to align them all.  Would it be possible for you to make a kit of either decals, or die cut templates?  A single sheet for each color.  It'd have to be something that has some sort of suspension paper obviously, because nobody would have the patience to manually place each letter on the panel. 

If you can just give me an estimate and be sure to let people know you are doing it, cause this is a rather serious problem for gorf cabinet owners.  I've yet to find an intact gorf control panel. 

[NightGod]

If Mike doesn't take a stab at it, I know a guy who runs a sign buisness that might be able to do it-I'm guessing he would charge more than Mike would, however, and I don't have any intentions of getting involved in doing work other people are interested in and already established on in the community.

[Barry Barcrest]

I'm lovin what you are doing here mike.... I've got a special project for you if you have the equipment to handle it... I'll post it here because other people who own gorf machines probably have a similar problem. 

My gorf machines screen printed cpo is done for, so I sanded the metal panel smooth.  Now I'm trying to figure out a good way to put new graphics on... see the bare metal is the background of the design so the methods are limited.  Screen printing doesn't seem like a solution considering how quickly the original dissolved.  I've been thinking of rub-on transfers, but that seems a little fragile.  Spray painting isn't an option with a traditional template because there's a ton of lettering, tiny lettering. 

Here is a link to a vectorized gorf cpo:  http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=519


As you can see, there are only three colors and they aren't blended or dithered at all.  Also you have calibration points where the bolt holes are, so it'd be easy to align them all.  Would it be possible for you to make a kit of either decals, or die cut templates?  A single sheet for each color.  It'd have to be something that has some sort of suspension paper obviously, because nobody would have the patience to manually place each letter on the panel. 

If you can just give me an estimate and be sure to let people know you are doing it, cause this is a rather serious problem for gorf cabinet owners.  I've yet to find an intact gorf control panel. 

Have you tried printing this on the trasparent window plastic you can buy for inkjet printers? If you print it on there inverted and stuck it under some perspex it would last for ages and look pretty cool.

[Howard_Casto]

Well that won't work because the maximum length you can get is 11 inches and it's a 19 inch cp.  Thanks for the idea though.

[MikeDeuce]

Ack, I really need to set this thread to email me when there's an update. Many apologies for the slow response!

That said, I actually do imagine my machine would be capable of turning something like this out... but I'd like to run a sample through before saying for sure. The one potential problem is the only blue I have at the moment is a darker, more typical blue. But I'd absolutely be willing to pick up a roll of the lighter blue which this appears to use if even one person was interested (that's the whole point of me selling here, anyway... to get new colors that I otherwise wouldn't be able to play with).

I do also have avery paint mask vinyl, if you wanted to go the spray route and absolute color accuracy was a requirement.

And last but not least, all vinyl ships with a transparent transfer tape which holds all the tiny objects together.

Can you confirm these dimensions? It's what Illustrator is reporting, but I'd rather make sure.

W: 544.14mm / 21.4228346 in
H: 189.794mm / 7.47220472

And NightGod: I appreciate the thought very much. Though I wouldn't disapprove (or have the right to) of any competition. Since vinyl work is purely hobby to me, if anyone could offer items cheaper, quicker, or otherwise superior to mine, it would only be doing the community a service. And that's the most important thing (really, I'm being sincere here... plus I do this stuff after a long day at work, so I wouldn't complain much ). That said, I wouldn't have a decent selection of colors if it wasn't for the purchases so far, so keep em coming if you need em

edit: except for the discs, I might be miffed if someone duplicated the idea exactly/100% heheh... but only because I feel like I pulled those out of my own arse.

[MikeDeuce]

Guilder = "Frickin' Sweet" according to the girlfriend... I'd have to agree. This one came out really cool! For the super thin lines I used a white vinyl, and applied the 1g on top in black vinyl. It looks really cool unlit, too, but was difficult to capture :\



I also played with the Gorf file (colors are obviously wrong, I was messing with black and white vinyl at the time so I tested with that):


( http://ironvulva.com/vinyl/gorf.jpg for full size )

I'll talk more about it tomorrow!

[NightGod]

Honestly, I think about the only thing the guy could provide would possibly be a bit faster service, mainly because he does this sort of thing as part of his job (he runs about three or four different buisnesses with a handful of employees). Prices I can't see him really being better on and cut vinyl is cut vinyl, so quality is pretty much a moot point. Color wise he might have a bigger selection, but there's really only so many colors that matter in something like this anyway.

Actually, one other thing he might be able to do is printed vinyl, he has one of those massive inkjet vinyl printers, but I know those things aren't cheap to run and I honestly doubt he'd be big on cleaning up alot of artwork in order to do it unless his prices really went up.

There's also the fact that I haven't even talked to him about the idea, so it could all be moot anyway I'm pretty sure getting him to print one or two things for me personally isn't going to be a problem, but I'm not convinced he'd really be ready to get into something large scale, his plate is pretty full these days as it is.

On the vinyl thing Mike-hope you are buying that stuff off of Ebay, from what he tells me, the prices there are quite a bit cheaper, as in 30-50% difference from some of the retail suppliers, especially in lower quantities.

[Santoro]

These inserts are the only reason I haven't been able to bring myself to install my Electric Ice buttons yet.  I think the practical ability to put nice labels in single-color lit buttons may outweigh the RBG bling effect of the electric ice buttons.

[whatzcrackn]

These inserts are the only reason I haven't been able to bring myself to install my Electric Ice buttons yet.  I think the practical ability to put nice labels in single-color lit buttons may outweigh the RBG bling effect of the electric ice buttons.

The inserts look nice in the ICE.  I just installed mine finally and will take some pics.  I removed the film from the back like it alot.

[Howard_Casto]

The vinyl test you did looks perfect!  I will get out my measuring tape and confirm the dimensions tonight. 

I'm rather torn about the technique myself.  You see vinyl would almost definately last longer than paint, but of course vinyl can be picked off or accidentally rubbed off from use.  On the other hand, paint as you said is going to allow a person to get exacting colors.  But then the work will have to be sealed in some way, and originally the paint was just put on and left (of course that's why it wore off so easily, I'm just saying.... flat metal finish.)  On my own personal cab it probably won't matter as I'm considering getting some thin, polished, sheet-metal flashing and covering all the aluminum parts for an extra shiny look and then put the artwork back on the cp.  So it won't be totally original anyway, I just want it to look original to the average joe blow. 



Plexi isn't an option on a gorf panel in case anyone was wondering.  It would interfere with the bolts that hold the lower bezel retainer and run into some of the inner sideart, not to mention the fact that the front of the panel is curved and thus it'd take a lot of heat bending to even make one. 



-edit-

Got the dimensions:

57cm X 20.5 cm for the top area of the cp.  I think that some extra sapce was put at the bottom of that vector image to put over the front edge of the cp so I measured from the top of one bolt hole to the bottom of the one below it for a scale reference.  I came up with 14.8 cm.   


Opening the art at 72 dpi gives me a size of  56.66 cm by 20.5 cm. 
So the art given is cropped slightly, no big deal, just increase the canvas size.  Probably whoever made this had a panel that wasn't stamped exactly true.

The stamper that midway used to make the panels isn't spot on accurate, so each panel has a clear rubber edge on the back, similar to the channel edging you see on the sides of marquees.  The panels aren't always perfectly square either.  Mine for example has a corner that just barely (I mean almost immeasurably "barely") leaves a crack.  I meantion all of this because if you were to make a painting stencil you'd want to put a 1 inch lip on the bottom and you'd defintely want to make it 57 cm, because that is the maximum width the cp can be. 


Hope that helps... let me know if there is anything else I can do. 

[Howard_Casto]

These inserts are the only reason I haven't been able to bring myself to install my Electric Ice buttons yet.  I think the practical ability to put nice labels in single-color lit buttons may outweigh the RBG bling effect of the electric ice buttons.

I don't like the ice buttons because.. well when they are turned off, they are this gay white color.  Not to mention the fact that anyone who actually plays their cab will have that nice white finish almost yellow in a month just from grime. 

What I'm looking into is getting the clear happs buttons, sanding the entry hole once it's made (to diffuse light) and then putting a very tiny diffuser over top of the led once it's in place.  Then the light is diffused into the blended color all the way up, not just on the inserts.  Shouldn't be hard to do... a tiny circle of plexi (small enough that the button prongs don't get caught up on it) with a recessed dimple for the led sticking up would do it.  That is if you diffuse the plexi in some way like sanding it or spraying some fake etching on it.  They even have such a thing as "milky white" rgb leds, but I am having a hard time finding them. 

[MikeDeuce]

On the vinyl thing Mike-hope you are buying that stuff off of Ebay, from what he tells me, the prices there are quite a bit cheaper, as in 30-50% difference from some of the retail suppliers, especially in lower quantities.

Yeah I used to get a lot on ebay, then I found one online retailer that had decent prices on Oracal and Avery. Was great for a while but they just recently stopped selling them both for some other brand I've never heard of, so now I'm back to shopping for vinyl shops.

These inserts are the only reason I haven't been able to bring myself to install my Electric Ice buttons yet.  I think the practical ability to put nice labels in single-color lit buttons may outweigh the RBG bling effect of the electric ice buttons.

Sorry for conflicting ya

I'm rather torn about the technique myself.

You hit the nail on the head... that's what I was going to add today.

I chose the right chunk of the cp artwork for the test because it featured some of the smallest text ( C 1980 MIDWAY MFG, etc). If it was going on super smooth glass or acrylic, I might not be as worried... but on anything even slightly porous (sanded metal?), the vinyl text in that area is so small that there's barely any surface area for the adhesive to work. I wouldn't be too surprised to see some of those tiny decals coming off with regular use/abuse.

So yeah, aerosol clear coating (matte clear maybe?) might work... but I just thought of something...

They do make a clear vinyl film as well... or at least I've seen it on the order forms. Maybe I'll have to pick up a batch as well as the lighter blue.

This would cover and basically protect all the underlying bits, and add a thin layer of protection to your CP as well, though it wouldn't be as protective as acrylic.

Overall, I could imagine something like this being sold for around $25 with all 3 colors and the additional layer of clear vinyl (assuming it is what it sounds like). Hopefully that's cheap enough to be a good value at "average joe" quality. There's a loooooot of text to weed in that CP. What do you think?

Thanks!
mike

[Howard_Casto]

That's more than reasonable.  The crappy replacment cpo they sell for gorf is like 45 bucks and some guy made a reproduction run of the orignal cpos with the original screen printing and it ran upwards of 100 bucks! The quality on both, by all reports is horrible, even to the passer by, so I think anyone would be more than willing to pay that price or even a little more. 

Yeah I'm thinking even if the film doesn't work out (what might get scratched easily, I don't know about such things) a nice clear coat should take care of the issue.  I wanted to point out that because the orignial paint we screen printed the graphics were raised considerably so if the kit is done right even sticklers aren't going to be able to tell the difference cosmetically I'm just worrying about durability like you are. 

[MikeDeuce]

Great to hear! It sounds like at $25 this could make a great economy option. Thanks for the info on pricing for the alternatives.

Oracal has an "Azure blue" which appears nearly identical to the one in illustrator file:


Sky blue is a close second:


But who knows how accurate these simple color swatches are, especially on screen. Would you say the Illustrator file is close enough to accurate?

Thanks!

I think I'll pick that up regardless of any orders, there's a project I wanted some light blue for anyhow.

Here's the red I have right now: 

That's more than reasonable.  The crappy replacment cpo they sell for gorf is like 45 bucks and some guy made a reproduction run of the orignal cpos with the original screen printing and it ran upwards of 100 bucks! The quality on both, by all reports is horrible, even to the passer by, so I think anyone would be more than willing to pay that price or even a little more. 

Yeah I'm thinking even if the film doesn't work out (what might get scratched easily, I don't know about such things) a nice clear coat should take care of the issue.  I wanted to point out that because the orignial paint we screen printed the graphics were raised considerably so if the kit is done right even sticklers aren't going to be able to tell the difference cosmetically I'm just worrying about durability like you are. 

[NightGod]

I was just wondering if doing those with a vinyl printer on clear might work out even better, especially with a sheet metal CP like that. That stuff is designed to take the abuse of being an outdoors sign, so I doubt there's much you can do to it on a cab that could hurt it and it would just be a one-piece install. But then you'd lose some of the originality since the entire surface would be covered with vinyl. You'd add in the benefit of perfect color matching, however, since it would be printed instead of a set color of vinyl. Just spitballing some ideas here.

Though I'm not sure what the cost on stuff like that would be, I really need to get a day when I'm not insanely busy and I can sit down and talk to that friend of mine that does the sign stuff.

[Howard_Casto]

Great to hear! It sounds like at $25 this could make a great economy option. Thanks for the info on pricing for the alternatives.

Oracal has an "Azure blue" which appears nearly identical to the one in illustrator file:


Sky blue is a close second:


But who kn
ows how accurate these simple color swatches are, especially on screen. Would you say the Illustrator file is close enough to accurate?

Thanks!

I think I'll pick that up regardless of any orders, there's a project I wanted some light blue for anyhow.

Here's the red I have right now: 

Hmm... I'm not good on the color matching thing.  How about this:




This is a scan from my own gorf machine before I resurfaced the panel. My scanner is color calibrated, so unless something effected the scan it should be spot on.  I have the full scan if you need it.  Man looking back I can't believe how rusted and gunked up that cp was when I got it. 

[NightGod]

Looks closer to sky blue than to Oracal to my eyes.

[Santoro]

I don't like the ice buttons because.. well when they are turned off, they are this gay white color.  Not to mention the fact that anyone who actually plays their cab will have that nice white finish almost yellow in a month just from grime. 

What I'm looking into is getting the clear happs buttons, sanding the entry hole once it's made (to diffuse light) and then putting a very tiny diffuser over top of the led once it's in place.  Then the light is diffused into the blended color all the way up, not just on the inserts.  Shouldn't be hard to do... a tiny circle of plexi (small enough that the button prongs don't get caught up on it) with a recessed dimple for the led sticking up would do it.  That is if you diffuse the plexi in some way like sanding it or spraying some fake etching on it.  They even have such a thing as "milky white" rgb leds, but I am having a hard time finding them. 

I'd probably go with 'feminine' rather than 'gay' but I agree with the idea... They are sort of pearly-looking and look out of place on a dark control panel.   

I like your idea for using modded clear buttons. I will be watching with interest to see if you go forward with that.

[JoeyJoeJo]

I'm confused on which Happ buttons that these kits fit in.  I searched their site but couldn't find it.  Can someone be kind enough to provide a link?

[MikeDeuce]

I was just wondering if doing those with a vinyl printer on clear might work out even better, especially with a sheet metal CP like that.

That does sound like a good idea... plus no weeding, or dealing with multiple colors of vinyl. I bet those could be produced for super cheap, if so inclined.

This is a scan from my own gorf machine before I resurfaced the panel. My scanner is color calibrated, so unless something effected the scan it should be spot on.  I have the full scan if you need it.  Man looking back I can't believe how rusted and gunked up that cp was when I got it. 

Hah, funny... according to photoshop, the color match is nearly exact when you blend the 2 blues together, but alone one is slightly lighter and the other slightly darker.

Without knowing how accurate those swatches might be, I guess it's a toss up. I would love to see the full CP if you don't mind... If it's compressed at all I can take it at dage@pixelstorm.net

I'm confused on which Happ buttons that these kits fit in.  I searched their site but couldn't find it.  Can someone be kind enough to provide a link?

Mr. Junior Shabadoo: These fit the standard gameplay pushbuttons like Happ's competition or Ultimate pushbuttons:
http://www.happcontrols.com/pushbuttons/5896xxl.htm
http://www.happcontrols.com/pushbuttons/539200xx.htm

Although naturally you'd want to use a translucent or Frosted Ice button with the discs.

ponyboy and divemaster127 both sell the translucent buttons at great prices. Here are their threads:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36770.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=47066.0

They also fit the FX buttons or GroovyGameGear Electric Ice buttons of the same shape, or any button with a 5/8in or ~16 mm internal diameter in the plunger. And the discs are approximately 3mm tall.

[NightGod]

Raw cost for the printing on clear would likely be relatively inexpensive, though I believe it uses a special type of vinyl that holds the color properly and the machine itself costs a fortune, so I'm worried about how big the markup would be on it.

That said, Howard, how would the community react to a full sheet of clear vs individual vinyl cut-outs? Not sure the purists would be OK with the entire CP being covered like that.

And, again, this is all conjecture based on the guy I know even being interested, hopefully I can talk to him this afternoon for a few minutes, we've both been insane busy lately.

[Howard_Casto]

Well my thoughts on a ful sheet of vinyl is that while it would defintely be easier to apply and might get more accurate colors there are other issues. 

I've never seen stuff printed on clear vinyl that didn't eventually wear off.  Usually inkjet technology is used to print on it, which isn't premenant.  Also clear vinyl that's meant to be printed on is very soft and seems kinda "puffy" to me.  If you take the side of your fingernail to it, it leaves a mark.  This would apply somewhat to the individual color inserts too, the only difference is to leave a mark on them you would have to press down on an area that actually has graphics, while on a full sheet, anything from a heavy pop can to some kid being a little too rough andywhere on the panel is gonna leave marks. 

If you put a "hrad coat" over either the individual pieces or paint that was put on via a vinyl stencil you won't have these issues. 

But that's just my thoughts. 

[NightGod]

This stuff is the kind they use for outdoor signs, the only thing it does is eventually fade with enough UV light, though that takes on the order of years when it's outside. It's actually heated with a corona wire so the ink permeates the vinyl and it's a very thin vinyl. It's almost like printing on photo paper, except the clear coat comes off of the paper. That's how it seemed to me from looking at it, at least, I'll grab some scrap sheets he has tomorrow when I stop over there and get a closer look.

And since I'm a Imperial measure kinda guy, the dimensions on that are ~22 inches by ~7 inches, correct? Just checking because the guy prices it by size and he needed to know before he could quote me.

And am I right in thinking that people would prefer to have the sheets a couple inches bigger on each side (say making the overall size 24 inches by 12 inches, since most companies prefer to work in square footage and it sounds like this guy does, as well) to they could trim to fit rather than trying to get exact dimensions? I think that's what you were saying when you were talking about the stamper issues there, but wanted to confirm.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah that sounds about right.  The only thing about making it bigger though is you would have to print the bolt holes, which are on the artowrk file and I've measured and found to be correct.  The edges might be off, but as long as you center everything by the bolt holes it'll line up nicely. 

[Level42]

Guilder = "Frickin' Sweet" according to the girlfriend... I'd have to agree. This one came out really cool! For the super thin lines I used a white vinyl, and applied the 1g on top in black vinyl. It looks really cool unlit, too, but was difficult to capture :\

HOLY %&*( !!!!!! Here I am, thinking my idea of getting the actual Guilder coin on a button was just another of my wild dreams, so not paying attention and Mike just made the COOOOOOOOLEST COIN BUTTON EVER !!!!!!!!

TOTALY    Couldn't agree more with your girlfriend !! FAN-TAS-TIC work !!!

OK we gotta talk business Mike, you just made my decision for which way to go with the buttons. Personaly, I'm not too fond of the ICE buttons either. It's really cool all that flashy stuff....just not my thing. This just looks SO classy.

So, the Guilder button is actualy two decals on top of each other ? OK, I gotta figure out what I need more to make my order, that is, asuming you can make a couple of these for me.

Thanks for trying that Guilder and making it SOOOO beautiful !!
Will PM you VERY soon !

Man, I've GOT to show this to my fellow Dutch BYOAC-ers......wait a minute.......there are no fellow Ducth BYOAC-ers afaik......

[NightGod]

Did some more talking to him today. In it's base form, it feels alot like thick paper. It takes the ink very well (I soaked a piece of it in water for about three hours and no bleeding at all, even when I rubbed it) because not only is the paper corona treated to open up the pores, the ink is also solvent based to it actually permeates the fibers of the vinyl.

The only other question is: would you want the stuff 'laminated' (covered with a thin sheet of UV protectant clear vinyl) or in the raw form? Basically the difference between a matte finish (raw form) or glossy (UV protectant)?

[MikeDeuce]

Glad you caught the update

It's a button insert, the ones that go inside the button, but beside that it's just two layers of vinyl. If you just put the vinyl alone on top of a button I think it would be too fragile, but inside it's nice and protected

Thanks for the idea, it was fun to try something other than the standard!

Guilder = "Frickin' Sweet" according to the girlfriend... I'd have to agree. This one came out really cool! For the super thin lines I used a white vinyl, and applied the 1g on top in black vinyl. It looks really cool unlit, too, but was difficult to capture :\

HOLY %&*( !!!!!! Here I am, thinking my idea of getting the actual Guilder coin on a button was just another of my wild dreams, so not paying attention and Mike just made the COOOOOOOOLEST COIN BUTTON EVER !!!!!!!!

TOTALY    Couldn't agree more with your girlfriend !! FAN-TAS-TIC work !!!

OK we gotta talk business Mike, you just made my decision for which way to go with the buttons. Personaly, I'm not too fond of the ICE buttons either. It's really cool all that flashy stuff....just not my thing. This just looks SO classy.

So, the Guilder button is actualy two decals on top of each other ? OK, I gotta figure out what I need more to make my order, that is, asuming you can make a couple of these for me.

Thanks for trying that Guilder and making it SOOOO beautiful !!
Will PM you VERY soon !

Man, I've GOT to show this to my fellow Dutch BYOAC-ers......wait a minute.......there are no fellow Ducth BYOAC-ers afaik......

[Level42]

Hey, occasionaly I got some crazy idea's (still need to install that motion detector in my cab ), it's just so amazing that this one actualy was possible and that it came out so great

I'm afraid you won't be selling these in numbers, but I totaly love it !! It's like a real see-through coin inside the button

PM sent

[Level42]

Thanks for the idea, it was fun to try something other than the standard!

Mmmmmm, be careful of what you say........I've got some more ideas for custom buttons :D

1: Level 42 button (would be used as Power button on my cab)
The old logo is very well suited for this:


There are two possibilities: either the entire logo in lines, but this would be quite small I guess, the other option and I think I actualy like that one better: only the circle with 42 in it. That should be pretty easy I guess...

2: A Q*bert button. What ? A Q*bert button.
I will be including a knocker in my cab. Q*bert was fitted with a knocker that went off when Q*bert is loosing a life. I will be fitting a knocker inside my cab. Now, the knocker will be controlled through one of the keyboard LEDS (through a JPAC). Since other moments when that keyboard LED is fired, I don't want the knocker to be triggered. So I need something to turn it on and off. (Also nice when you want to play Q*bert without the knocker at night time etc.) I wanted to use a standard arcade button for it already. Would be cool to have an outlined graphic of Q*Bert on it

This will need some graphic work, but not to dificult I think. I think an outlined version of him like on the marquee would be great.


An alternative for the knocker would be something like a little hammer, tilted to the right with some half circles around representing the noise it makes. This would be cool if you prefer a more general button for the knocker, since this can also be used with Pin emu's.

3: Knievl uses a LISTS button on his cabs (at least the Woody). Good idea, but I'd like an icon instead of text on it. I was thinking of a rectangular box with three horizontal lines in it. (Much like a teletext button on a TV remote, but you guys don't have teletext in the US afaik). Can't seem to find an image of what I mean on the net though....

4: adding to this, Knievl also uses a button to switch Emulators.....another great idea....but how to graphicaly represent that

I know this will be a lot of work, I'm just dreaming crazy again :D ( but it worked before

[MikeDeuce]

Hey hey I'm a little bit on and off during the weekend, but I can definitely work with these ideas.

As for an icon alternative to Knievel's "Emu" button, might I suggest:

 


 

Ok no, I don't have a serious thought, but it's uh... still the weekend here. Maybe tomorrow when I'm back at work

[Timoe]

WOOT 

[Howard_Casto]

Level42... are you going to use a special vesion of mame or what?  Cause mame hasn't supported the knocker in ages afaik. 

I'm working on a manager of sorts for this, but I'm trying to do it externally from mame.  It'll let you assign outputs to keyboard and aw light states in mame via ini files, which means you wouldn't need the button, just make a ini for qbert that "binds" the knocker and don't make one for the rest and like that it only works for qbert. 

[Level42]

Mike:

  not bad, not bad, but this might get confused with it being a Joust button 

Howard:

Yes I will have to find an old version of Qmame (http://members.cox.net/brado426/QMAME) somewhere just for this one, so maybe that button also starts that Emu specificaly.I need to dig up some old mails that I got from Brad Oldham about this. Yes I also thought about a software solution, would be nice, but I've stopped programming around the time I switched from my Atari XE to ST.....
Would be much inerested in a software only version of course would be slick.....

[Howard_Casto]

Well I played around with a solution today... it's either extremely smart, o extremely stupid, I'm not sure, but it works. 

What I do is setup an external program that samples all open sound channels.  What it's doing is "listening" for the knocker.wav sample to be played. When it's played the event fires.  Considering how it shouldn't work at all (sound is too variable)  I was suprised to find it worked 100% of the time with my tests.  It seems that the knocker sound has a very flat ending (all the sample levels are complete 0's) which is very odd, so odd that this the is only noise in the game that does it.   I could easily crop the sample as well so that only the flat part is played (which is inaudible). 

Of course you wouldn't want this running all the time, but my app will support more than qbert and check for the current running rom, so it would only run when qbert is active. 

pm me and i'll send you a test app later on in the week to play with. 

[Level42]

Before we completely hi-jack Mike's thread, I propose we continue to discuss the "Q*bert software for triggering the knocker" in a new thread in the software section....

I've openend it here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=56568.msg555969#msg555969

So back on topic here please

[edge]

Mike,
Do you have a picture of the 25 cent disc in a red translucent button, with a red (versus black) background?  Wonder how that compares.

Thanks!

[Chris]

What would be good is inserts that look like a coin slot insert that are sized to fit the cheap Happ illuminated rectangular buttons, for those who don't want a full coin door. 

[Level42]

Mike,
Do you have a picture of the 25 cent disc in a red translucent button, with a red (versus black) background?  Wonder how that compares.

Thanks!

Incidently, I asked just the same thing to Mike in a PM (well not the 25 cent disc specialy, but the red-in-red combo). I think it will look as great as the blue one on top of this thread.

[MikeDeuce]

What would be good is inserts that look like a coin slot insert that are sized to fit the cheap Happ illuminated rectangular buttons, for those who don't want a full coin door. 

Interesting idea, I like it.

Are these the buttons you have in mind?
http://www.happcontrols.com/pushbuttons/54v00045x.htm

If that top piece of plastic comes off, it really looks like you wouldn't need an insert at all, just apply a vinyl decal on the white part inside it. Assuming you got the red button I imagine it would look really great.

Maybe I'll have to pick up a few of these buttons from some of the forum sellers.

Mike,
Do you have a picture of the 25 cent disc in a red translucent button, with a red (versus black) background?  Wonder how that compares.

Thanks!

Incidently, I asked just the same thing to Mike in a PM (well not the 25 cent disc specialy, but the red-in-red combo). I think it will look as great as the blue one on top of this thread.

I'll absolutely try to make one this weekend* so we can all know for sure

*Helping my roommate move out but I think I can squeeze in some time!

[Chris]

Well, I was actually looking at the cheap ones at http://www.happcontrols.com/pushbuttons/54b0004510p9.htm , but its the same idea.   I have one of these; they have a loose plastic rectangle inside with the  text printed on them in black, so I was thinking you could just pull out the plastic chip and replace it with one of yours.

--Chris

[Level42]

  Friendly bump Only 1,5 weeks before take-off  

[MikeDeuce]

Friendly bump Only 1,5 weeks before take-off  

Sorry! Had some car trouble on my daily driver that has decided to eat up my time at home the past few days (sigh). All fixed now and I'll be back at it tonight.

[Level42]

No problem Mike, not trying to rush you or something.....well ok just a little bit  

Remember, the custom work can also be done later, I just hope you can get the set I ordered

[MikeDeuce]

Had a chance to answer one question tonight at least... red on red does the same as blue on blue, as we all suspected



I cut an "M" out with scissors cause I was too lazy to pull out the vinyl cutter... but it answers the question still

[Level42]

Saweet !!! Do you have a lit picture ?

[MikeDeuce]

Saweet !!! Do you have a lit picture ?

Doh, I thought I forgot something... I will take a picture tonight!

It oughta behave the same as the blue one again since the vinyl is opaque.

[Level42]

Yeah, I am already convinced Mike, just curious

[Level42]

I was wondering something:

Did someone already combine the Translucent buttons from Happ/Ponyboy/Divemaster127 with a LED and these discs AND the "Ponyboy Leaf Switch Brackets" (the one's that replace the microswitch) ?

Is that a workable combination, because that's what I would want to do on some of my buttons.

[MikeDeuce]

Gah, got hit by a major case of surprise real life syndrome this weekend... sorry to be slow with the pics. I will do my darndest to get it done tonight.

I was wondering something:

Did someone already combine the Translucent buttons from Happ/Ponyboy/Divemaster127 with a LED and these discs AND the "Ponyboy Leaf Switch Brackets" (the one's that replace the microswitch) ?

Is that a workable combination, because that's what I would want to do on some of my buttons.

The only problem I could conceive is if you completely remove the spring in the pushbutton's plunger... then there wouldn't be anything physically keeping the disc in place. Not sure if that spring is really a problem though, since I don't have ponyboy's adapters (yet). If it's too stiff at that point, perhaps snipping a coil or two off the spring will alleviate some of the pre-load. Not sure though.

[Level42]

OK, well I ordered everything to give it a try

[MikeDeuce]

Woo, got some time:



Stealthy is neat... but there's definitely a heck of a lot more contrast/clarity with the black vinyl. That's a toughie.

[Level42]

Mmmmmmm, indeed a tough call. I actualy think I like the black discs better. I had expected that the red inserts would turn out better....


Can I still change my order ?

[MikeDeuce]

Got one more... tried putting the red vinyl on top of the black vinyl. I guess blue is more opaque than the red since its darker.

Same stealthy look when unlit, and looks like a black disc when lit:

[Level42]

Wow that looks really good ! The red of the letters is much more red than the original version. The light also is more spread out. I like this version the best.

[MikeDeuce]

Wow that looks really good ! The red of the letters is much more red than the original version. The light also is more spread out. I like this version the best.

Cool... I was surprised that the red wasn't nearly as opaque as the blue or black, but I guess that's why it's a good thing to experiment! Red+black vinyl looks like the best of both worlds.

I'll PM you a final price quote and get started on these tonight.

Thanks!
mike

[Level42]

GREAT !!!! 

[Level42]

Well, got home from my holiday in the US. Mike, thanks SO much for the great discs !!!
I just put one (the guilder of course !) into an (unlit) button and it looks totaly cool !

I hope I will have enough time to install things into my CP asap, but comming fall will be very busy for me. I will put up pictures of the results.

[gamenut]

Do you have any pics of the "chrome" disks in a clear button?

Maybe the mame disk?

[nostrebor]

Bump for a cool product!

[Anubis_au]

Has anyone heard from MikeDeuce lately? Keen to get in touch with him and order me some of these bad boys...

[natorious]

I ordered several of these from Mike and they work great! 

I do have a question though.  I am planning on lighting the rest of my buttons, and am trying to figure out the best way to diffuse the LEDs.  I know I can sand the LED down slightly, but I really like the effect of the plastic disc and white backing that Mike is using as part of these inserts.

Mike, do you have a lead on where we could find just this insert material?  Would you be willing to sell just the plastic discs without the vinyl tops?   Anyone else have any ideas as to what to try?

Thanks!

[bfauska]

This sounds really hokey, but you could try a disk of wax paper, it should be able to take the heat of an LED (not much after all) and it would diffuse the light.  Or you could try white paper.

Two potentially silly suggestions, but the test is practically free and the outcome could be worth it.

[natorious]

bfauska, thanks for the ideas!  You are right, they are definitely cheap enough to warrant a try.

And to get this thread back on topic --

I would definitely recommend mike's inserts to anyone that is wavering.  I am more than happy with mine.

[Anubis_au]

I would definitely recommend mike's inserts to anyone that is wavering.  I am more than happy with mine.

I'm getting some as soon as he is back and producing again

[Neilyboy]

Any word on if these are still being produced? I would love to order some as well. Back when this thread was active I was really into these but then fell away from it for awhile but now that I have my mame cab I am ready to make an order as well.

Neil

[rlehm]

email sent, hope these are still being made.

[Katana Man]

Me too, I want to order some as well.

[AndyWarne]

These would look great on our Ultralux buttons!  http://www.ultimarc.com/ultralux.html
But I suspect they might be too small. Our butons are designed to have inserts as they have a separate lens top and diffuser underneath, but the diameter needed is 21mm.
I will email or PM about maybe getting some made larger so we can sell them in our store.
Andy

[Katana Man]

Does anybody know how to get in touch with MikeDeuce?  I sent him an email, but no reply. He hasn't been on these forums in about 5 months.  I really like how the light shines through the printed/cut design area of these inserts, and I haven't found any other place that offers something like this. 

EDIT:  Upon further research, it appears that he has been taking a break from arcade stuff for a while.   I really want  some inserts like this.   I guess I'll need to look for an alternate solution

[Kaytrim]

Does anybody know how to get in touch with MikeDeuce?  I sent him an email, but no reply. He hasn't been on these forums in about 5 months.  I really like how the light shines through the printed/cut design area of these inserts, and I haven't found any other place that offers something like this. 

EDIT:  Upon further research, it appears that he has been taking a break from arcade stuff for a while.   I really want  some inserts like this.   I guess I'll need to look for an alternate solution

Head over to GroovyGameGear.com, they have some that you can order.

[Katana Man]

Thanks Kaytrim.   I ordered a GroovyGameGear pushbutton insert to see what they are like.  Unfortunately, they are not transparent like MikeDeuce's inserts. They are white paper with black ink.  It does not let light through. 

[Neilyboy]

dang.. come back deuce! haha I want some of your awesome inserts!!

neil

[RayB]

Holy crap, how did I miss this thread?! These are great!

[Kremmit]

I think Mike was using these, or something very similar:

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=137&

Shame Mike quit, I got some of his discs back when he was still doing them, and they are great!  Wish I'd have stocked up.

[Katana Man]

Possibly, but those discs are made of acrylic (which is very clear), and wouldn't do much diffusing.
Does anyone have (or know where to get) the button images in vector form? 

[Kremmit]

Possibly, but those discs are made of acrylic (which is very clear), and wouldn't do much diffusing.
Does anyone have (or know where to get) the button images in vector form? 

The discs Mike sold were clear acrylic as well.  The had a layer of some kind of paper backing on one side that did the diffusing- Mike said they came from his supplier with that backing already applied.  I'd guess it was intended by the manufacturer as a scratch-guard to insure the product didn't get damaged on the way to the customer.  I dunno if the discs I linked up come with the backing or not.

The wax paper idea somebody mentioned a few posts back would work just about the same as the backing that came on Mike's discs.

[RandyT]

Thanks Kaytrim.   I ordered a GroovyGameGear pushbutton insert to see what they are like.  Unfortunately, they are not transparent like MikeDeuce's inserts. They are white paper with black ink.  It does not let light through. 

Actually, it is not paper, rather a special vinyl material.  They do illuminate when used with a NovaGem, but probably not so much with a standard LED.  It is the same material as used with the NovaGemCDR pushbuttons.

RandyT

[Kremlar]

I know this is oooold, but wondering if anyone has a source for inserts like this gentleman was selling?  I'd sure like to order some for the new cabinet I'll be getting!

I saw the link for these, but someone said they were not the same quality:
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=302

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!

[PL1]

I know this is oooold, but wondering if anyone has a source for inserts like this gentleman was selling?  I'd sure like to order some for the new cabinet I'll be getting!

I saw the link for these, but someone said they were not the same quality:
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=302

IIRC the GGG inserts are only for one particular type of button, so those probably aren't going to work for you.

SlammedNiss can do custom inserts similar to the ones in the OP (he may need some exact measurements) or you can print your own on Avery Inkjet (8665 or 18665) or Laser (15665) labels.

1. SlammedNiss sells vinyl button decals here.

2. You can inkjet print your own inserts like the ones here or here on Avery 18665 (10 pack) or Avery 8665 (25 pack) media.

Scott

[Kremlar]

Thanks!!  If I decide to try printing my own, is there any trick to cutting them as perfectly as possible?  I envision them looking like crap if I just trace and cut with scissors...

[PL1]

If I decide to try printing my own, is there any trick to cutting them as perfectly as possible?  I envision them looking like crap if I just trace and cut with scissors...

Print the inserts on the Avery labels.

If possible, avoid touching the printed areas.

Cut a row or column from the sheet.

Place the row/column face down on a piece of paper (for visibility) on top of cardboard. (cutting surface )

Peel off the backing-paper.

PROTIP: There are bumps on the back of the outer rim of the diffuser that mate with the plunger.  Plan ahead so the insert aligns with the diffuser bumps that align with the plunger which aligns with the microswitch which points in the desired direction for neat/easy wiring and properly aligned inserts. 

The 4 indexing marks (surrounding the P2 image) are slightly outside the area that the diffuser disc will cover.

Place the diffuser on the insert -- near edge first, line it up, then carefully drop it into place.

Use an exacto knife to trim the excess.  The edge of the diffuser is a great guide.

A *tiny* spot of gel superglue will affix the diffuser to the plunger, keeping the diffuser/insert from rotating.

Be sure to let the glue cure fully before assembling the button, unless you want to play a messy game of amateur CSI.


Scott