trackball ring

[darkmanx]

trying to find out what exactly i can get from a home improvement store that will go around the hole for my trackball...i have the crystal trackball and im wondering.. what size should i get to have as much of the ball showing as possible. also what exactly are the things called? i know they are like some decorative ring for lights but the idiots working there had no idea what i meant. god i wish home depot were closer. i have to go to menards which is basicly the k-mart of home improvement stores. it once took them a half hour to find me a t-square  :-/

[Xiaou2]

 Hello There


   Not sure about how the mounting will be for the crystall tb.... but basically, when I ran into a simualar problem... I had to make my own Mounting plate.

 Grab a small sheet of metal at the hardware store... should be arround 2mm thick.    Cut by clamping to scrap wood and using a good jigsaw blade... or better yet, use a table-saw with a metal cutting blade.    

 Draw a circle in the middle of the plate,  that matches the balls size at the approiate height.   To cut the hole, first drill a small hole using a small drill bit.  Then grab a larger bit, and re-drill... repeat untill you can fit a jig blade in the hole.   If you had a nice metal hole saw, that would help.   Ive killed a few drill bits by trying to cut into thick steel... and found that by using progressively bigger bits, it keeps the bits from getting damaged.

 Use the jig to cut the hole in the metal.   Smooth and round the the edge with one of those drill bit sanding bits. (cylendrical stonelike material on a bit)    Sand with corse and medium sandpaper, and paint  : )

 Opps.... you will also need to drill like 8 holes.  Four arround the edges to secure the plate to the control panel... and 4 alternating holes to secure the trackball to the plate.

 You could probably make a plate out of thick plastic as well.   It would be a lot eaiser to cut, shape and drill.  

 
Good Luck

  Steve

   

[ArcadeFX]

Not sure if we are talking about the same thing but I used automotive door trim around my trackball opening.  I went with black and it worked great.  Might take you two or three tried to get it just right.

[1UP]

The problem with mounting trackballs that are meant to be used on the desktop, is that they are made with curved or angled tops.  What you really need to do is convert the case to something more square and modular.  Then you can just mount the whole thing flush with the CP in a nice, square hole.

I have a KYE kidsball that I converted for my control panel by using a plastic project enclosure available at electronics stores such as Fry's and Radio Shack.  You'll want to choose a size that is just large enough to fit all the trackball guts in, or the entire case itself.

Use the opening in your original trackball case to mark a hole in the top of the new enclosure, ensuring that the hole is centered properly so that the essential parts will fit inside.  Drill the hole with a hole saw that's the same size.  Hot glue the top half of the trackball case inside the enclosure so that the two holes match up.  You should now be able to screw the bottom half of your old case to the topside, with the ball and all the guts in place.

To finish things off, you could drill a hole in the end of the enclosure and run the cable out, using a plastic stain relief to secure it to the case.  Close it all up, voila!  Now just cut a square hole in your CP and use some brackets to secure it flush with the surface.

[Elkor]

I think he's talking about something like you have FX.  
that's door trim?  it almost looks like a speaker blowhole.
(come to think of it that might not be bad either!)

[sam_van]

On my controller, I also used the crystal ball.  I cut a hole SLIGHTLY bigger than the ball, covered the top playing surface with contact paper (tucking edges into the trackball hole), and then tapped a ring cut from PVC pipe into the hole until it was flush with the playing surface.

I ended up just taking the ball with me to Home Depot & finding the pipe that was just barely too small for the ball.  I cut a ring about 3/16" thick (with a hacksaw), and bevelled the inside (for the lower part of it). This has worked great so far, and looks good.  Oh, and it was super cheap.

[darkmanx]

thanks for all the feedback. 1up, i really dont want to cut a big part of my cp out..i thought about it but i have decided against that. FX and sam, could you show me or give a link to a picture of what you did? i would like to see how both of those look. basicly what i was looking for was a plastic ring similar to what is used on alot of trackballs to hold the ball in. as for a mounting plate, i dont really want anything above the rest of the cp. i have thought about routing into the top of the cp so a plate would mount flush, but its too much work and too much room for error. i just want something to cover up the hole and keep the ball from being able to be pulled out.

[darkmanx]

on second thought...my cp is too thick to just put a hole in it and have the trackball show through  :-/
i really really dont want to chomp a big square out of the panel. im concerned though that routing underneath would weaken that part of the panel too much. this part is really annoying me as i cant think of a really good way to mount it. all of my function buttons will be placed after the trackball so this is really holding me up.  

[Carsten Carlos]

Forgive me to ask, but why don't make it like on http://www.arcadecontrols.speedhost.com/arcade_voodoo.html descriped?

He routed only the two wheels out, and it seems that it worked perfectly for him! I'm after that ring he mentioned, too. I haven't found them on my electronics-dealer (who has some halogen-lamps also), but I hope to find them somewhere.

[Carsten Carlos]

But don't try to mail him, his email-adress doesn't seem to work  

[ErikRuud]

Here is a diagram of how I mounted my KidsBall.



My CP top is laminated out of two layers, a 1/4 cherry plywood, and a 1/2 birch plywood. The cherry looks good, and the birch provide the strength.

The ball is securely mounted to the 1/2 ply, so the strength of the 1/4 inch ply is really not an issue.

I don't have to worry about a ring, because I havee the original case to hold the ball in place.

[darkmanx]

very nice erik, unfortunatly i dont have a 2 layer cp top. as for voodoo's, im not sure that will give me enough reveal, especially after i put lexan on top. im curious, what thickness do people usually use for lexan or plexi on top? im thinking 1/4 or 1/8, which is almost 1" total thickness (my cp is 3/4"). maybe i will have to use voodoo's idea and rout something out.. i just dont want to have to rout too much and take away from the strength of the cp. hopefully the lexan on top will take most of the beating and give some support.

[ErikRuud]

I guess the point that I was trying to make is this,  if you make sure that the ball is attached to the thick part of your cabinet, you wont have to worry so much about the strength of the routed out part.

At an inch thick, you may find that you need to route out for more than just the track ball.

[darkmanx]

i know thats what i was tryin to say, i will have to rout out an area for the whole pcb to be closer to the top so i get some reveal i am happy with. one thing is for sure, i will definatly be trying it out on some scrap first. anyone know what size the ball is? i would see myself but im at work and trying to figure out what size hole saw to pick up on the way home.

[ErikRuud]

This Crystal Trakball write up says 2-1/4 inch.

[sam_van]

As far as photos go, I'm probably not going to be able to help...the cats, a concrete floor, and a digital camera don't make a good combo.

I did need to rout a significant amount under my CP (3/4") for the trackball + PCB, especially for the encoder wheels.  Another issue was actually getting the trackball up far enought to have a good amount of surface area above the CP.

I ended up using the bottom of the trackball case as a mounting harness by slightly enlarging the screw holes that originally held the case together, adding some washers, and wood screwing it into the CP.  This has worked great so far, and i've had no flex.

[Jonathan_the_Red]

I routed my control panel nice and thin for my Crystal trackball... down to maybe 1/4" for the PCB and 1/8" for the wheels. Still seems sturdy enough, and the reveal of the ball is good.

Some of the pix on my page show the trackball mounting. I'll be adding new pictures over the next few days.

[darkmanx]

thanx for all the advice every1

[1UP]

Forgive me to ask, but why don't make it like on http://www.arcadecontrols.speedhost.com/arcade_voodoo.html descriped?

He routed only the two wheels out, and it seems that it worked perfectly for him! I'm after that ring he mentioned, too. I haven't found them on my electronics-dealer (who has some halogen-lamps also), but I hope to find them somewhere.

But look how cheap it looks!

[darkmanx]

thats not a bad idea! only problem is i am not ready for my plexi yet.. err actually i will hopefully be using lexan if i can get my hands on some. maybe i will combine the ideas, and rout underneath for the pcb only leaving about 1/8" of wood over that. then have a hole for the trackball to come through and lexan on top as sort of a huge mounting plate. another question..is it easy to round the edges of plexi and/or lexan with some sandpaper? dont want any sharp edges!

[1UP]

another question..is it easy to round the edges of plexi and/or lexan with some sandpaper? dont want any sharp edges!

Shouldn't be a problem to sand it.

[Jonathan_the_Red]

To amplify a bit on what I did:

My CP is 3/4" MDF. I first drilled a 2 1/8" (I think) hole through it, then I routered out an area as big as the Crystal Trackball PCB down to about 1/4"-3/8". I set the PCB in the routered out area, saw where the wheels were, and routered out grooves for them down to 1/8". Then I installed the PCB using nylon spacers as standoffs. The whole CP is covered with Lexan.

Frankly, I'm not too thrilled with the hole in the Lexan. I suppose I could work on it with a Dremel to smooth it out, but I'd rather find a good ring to put in it. PVC sounds like a good idea.

[Elkor]

I investigated the speaker port idea I had  .

And I think it may be just what you are all looking for.

the only limitation is that they only come in 2,3,and 4 inch dia. (so mounting depth of the ball would have to be appropriate (at least to make the ball tight around the ring, a little gap would not be too bad).

here is a link:
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S-hTR6zQ42p1S/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=11&g=745&I=0733R8X5&o=m&a=0

the depth could be cut accordingly(it's only abs plastic) and pretty damn cheap at $3 for the 3".

-C

[Elkor]

Here's a picture:

[darkmanx]

hmm that looks pretty good. the crystal ball is 2-1/4" so it wouldnt be able to pass through the 2" tube. actually thats probably good for the most reveal i could get.  it'll be 1/4" bigger at the center of the ball... so i will lose about that much from the center to the top, thats really a minimal amount. good find!!!  
i think i will get 2 of them just in case of any errors.

[darkmanx]

nice also cuz the 2" one is only $2, i wont need the longer flange cuz it will be cut off anyway  

[Elkor]

Glad I could help dude.

-C

[DanU]

I know I'm joining this conversation a bit late, but I've done exactly what you've been talking about darkmanx. I had 3/4 MDF from an kitchen counter scrap, and I completely cut out a rectangle the size of the crystal trackball control panel. I tried routing at first, but couldn't get the ball raised up enough. I took some pieces of wood and attached the control panel to the wood, and the wood to the MDF, playing around until I got it to sit high enough, but not so high that the runners/light chopper thingies would bump the 1/8 acrylic (spraypainted black underneath) I placed over the top with a hole cut in just the right place, which was tough. (I still had to file the hole to expand it a bit, so it looks a little rough) Like you, I'm still looking for a ring to go over the top of the lexan and make it look a bit nicer, but it's perfectly functional now. Let me know if this needs more explanation, or a pictures!
Dan