Trackball hole size

[Chainsaw]

Last night I started making my desktop controller, and tonight I'll be finishing it off boring out the rest of the holes. It's a standard design, with 2mm clear plastic over the wood. I'll be using a Happ trackball mounting plate on the wood, routing out just enough so it will sit under the plastic and artwork, so when mounted the ball will come up through the plastic (in other words, the trackball casing is hidden). I don't have any of the equipment yet (!!) but I'd like to put the hole in the plastic tonight while I have access to the tools. So I need to know what size hole to put in the plastic...

I'll be getting the Happ 3" highball trackball. The Happ highball has a hole diameter of 3.24", but I'd imagine I'd need my hole to be significantly smaller. 2mm of plastic isn't a lot but I don't want to make the hole too big and pinch my fingers everytime I spin it.

Thanks a lot, I hope some of that made sense!

Cheers

Matt
www.chainsaw-films.com

[RubbrDug]

I wouldn't encourage you to cut the hole without having the Trackball yet. You will only need a cutter and a circle to make it.

Maybe you could do some finishing on your control panel, I already worked four days on mine just drilling, sanding, joining, routing the edges, routing the mounting plate, coloring, sealing, sanding again... AND IT STILL LOOKS LIKE A BRICK!

But, and this is why I replied to your post: You can use the measuremants given at the Happs-Site to prepare most of the panel. There they say its 3.24" wide. I can't verify this now (I'm at the office) but the other measurement have been precise enough.

RubbrDug

[Chainsaw]

Thanks for the reply. The 3.24" on the Happ site seems to be a little bigger than the hole itself. I'd imagine I'd need something slightly smaller as the ball will be a little lower (mounting plate then 2mm of plastic).

The reason I need to get it cut tonight is simple - I don't have any tools have access to some today! After today all the wood will be cut and assembled (with a little luck). It's not like I'm in a rush to make it; I've been planning it for a few months now and I won't have the parts for at least another month (and the trackball for at least a month after that). I just need to take advantage of the access to tools I currently have. Drilling the trackball hole in the plastic now just makes sense, though I won't be cutting the wood until I actually have it.

And no t-moulding for me, I'll just raid the DIY store and get something to stick round the edge  

Thanks

Matt
www.chainsaw-films.com

[Zinfari]

Actually I think you will need 3.24".  Look at the exploded drawing.  You will see a lip on the top of the trackball housing.  That is what you are accomidating not the ball itself so you shouldn't reduce the size of the hole as far as I can tell.

-Zinfari

[u_rebelscum]

FWIW, my happs 3" high lip TB lip is 3/16" wide, 1/8" of it not sloped.

Don't have a high ball.  If you had a high lip, I'd say drill the hole the size of the outside of the lip (3" for the high lip) and sand down the spacer by 2mm (3/64").  

I understand you want to cover the lip too.  Without the TB, you can guess to shrink the hole by 1/4", but it probably not be perfect.

[Chainsaw]

Thanks a lot for all the help. As it happens the largest bore size I could get hold of last night was only 2 1/4 inches so I wasn't able to do it anyway.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of it up over the next week or so.

Thanks again,

Matt

[Stein]

you can check out how I did the hole in my controler here

http://webpages.charter.net/mjellis1/

I don't know of a better way to make a perfect hole and be as precise as needed... even with a hole saw. This way you can do a little at a time untill you have the perfect fit.  Of course a drill press is handy....

Good luck with your project dude
Stein