Help me mount my Saitek X45 onto my control panel!

[812MANY]

Has anybody used a Saitek X45  on their CP?  Its an analog joystick with a seperate analog throttle.  Its not as nice as the saitek X52 but it still looks great and relatively inexpensive. Some of the buttons are even illuminated.  Works great on PC games and  I've tested it on mame with Afterburner and it rocks!  I have a set and was looking for suggestions on how to mount the joystick and throttle on my control panel.  I am using 1/2 "mdf with a sheet of 1/4" lexan on top.    Here is a link to the saitek x45 for those not familiar with it: http://www.saitekusa.com/USA/prod/x45.htm

Any suggestions would be great.   Thanks.

[tkuper05]

I have no experience in mounting these but what about if you recessed the base and modified a gear shift boot to cover the hole in the CP.  Just a suggestion.

Example of a gear shift boot

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-Shift-Boots-Black-Embroidery-New-Universal-Boot-HONDA_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33703QQitemZ8059233806QQrdZ1

Man I hope the ebay link Nazi doesn't see this.  I forgot how to shorten it.

[Lilwolf]

I would take the base off and see how much space you really need.  Chances are, you can take just the top part off... use a router under some MDF to clear and make it work.

The big question is if you can get the handle off...  If not, you will want to have that be part of the control panel itself...  IE route so that the whole thing just fits in so you loose a 1/3" of the height at the edges.  Then use a boot like mentioned above to hide whats showing under it.

But basically I would take it apart and look to see how much space you really have.

[MinerAl]

I have no experience in mounting these but what about if you recessed the base and modified a gear shift boot to cover the hole in the CP.  Just a suggestion.

Example of a gear shift boot

Really long link.

Man I hope the ebay link Nazi doesn't see this.  I forgot how to shorten it.

This is a good suggestion.

To shorten your link, instead of just puting it between {url} and {/url} put the url inside like this: {url=http://www.reallylongurl.com}Nice short link text{/url}  (obviously use square brackets instead of curlys).

You can go back and edit your post and fix it if you'd like

[Doc-]

I strongly recommend the Saitek ST90 - they are available for about $15 at your local store and very easy to mount. 

  Here's how I did it:
     http://www.beersmith.com/mame/panels.htm

  Scroll down just over halfway down the page - you will see the saitek joystick and mounting set.

Doc

[812MANY]

thanks for the suggestions.  I think I am gonna mount them recessed into the CP.  I don't think I will need a boot for the joystick if the top of the base  is even with the lexan but I may need it for the arm of the throttle.