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Anatomy of a joystick? Looking for exploded-view diagrams/photos and specs.
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DarkBubble:
Before I start, I want to say that this is not for the purpose of a commercial venture.  I'm not ambitious enough to try to step into the ring with the engineers and parts dealers here on the forum.  Also, this is not a project announcement.  I need all the information I can get before I can go that far.

What I'm trying to locate are good exploded-view diagrams, photos, and specs of various brands of sticks.  Someone had brought up the possibility of making one's own components from scratch, and while they were dissuaded, the prospect of doing something like that myself has been burned into the back of my brain.  While the cost outweighs the practicality for most, the material and tools are available to me at little-to-no cost to me, and I like to do those "because I can" projects.  This is purely for me.

The reason I'm looking for specs and complete breakdowns of parts is because I want to be able to closely mimic the feel I'm used to with what I might build.  I want something that is more than a clunky conversation piece.  While I don't intend to build a duplicate of anything, I know that there's only so many ways to build a joystick, so it's not as if there's going to be some massive variance in design.

Any help would be appreciated.
shardian:
http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/joysticks_amusement.htm

Click on any joystick, and then click the big grey "exploded view" button.

If you want to build your own joystick, have at it dude. Those kind of projects are kind of neat. Some people will get on you with the "why build when you can buy one for like $7?". DIY is what this hobby is about - though some of us take it a little farther than others. ;D
Ken Layton:
Yes, Happ Controls has diagrams of all their line of joysticks.
DarkBubble:
I'd forgotten to mention that I'd checked Happ in the past.  For some reason, I didn't remember it being as descriptive or too low res to be useful.  I was probably sucking down beers while I was looking though. ;D  Don't think that I don't appreciate it, because if I hadn't double-checked after responses from both of you, I'd have completely blown off Happ's pics.


--- Quote from: shardian on May 01, 2007, 11:04:16 am ---If you want to build your own joystick, have at it dude. Those kind of projects are kind of neat. Some people will get on you with the "why build when you can buy one for like $7?". DIY is what this hobby is about - though some of us take it a little farther than others. ;D

--- End quote ---

Yeah, I'd felt for the guy who had wanted to do so, because he got a lot of that.  Why anyone who goes to the lengths and expense that they do in order to put full-size arcade cabinets into their homes would bring up the subject of practicality is beyond me.   :P

If anyone's got similar info on Sanwa and Seimitsu, I'd greatly appreciate it too.

I'm really not wanting to mess with trying to machine stainless steel for a stick.  Galvanized steel should be fine, as long as it's cleaned properly before painting, right?
crashwg:

--- Quote from: DarkBubble on May 01, 2007, 12:52:47 pm ---Galvanized steel should be fine, as long as it's cleaned properly before painting, right?

--- End quote ---

Galvanization is only a thin coating on the outside of the metal.  Once you cut through that you just have mild steel which is pretty average when it comes to machining...  Of course once you take off the galvanized layer, what you have left will be a rust magnet so keep it oiled until you paint it and make sure you paint it well.

I must agree with the statement of "why build when you can buy one for like $7?" though, there comes a point when you have to ask yourself how much your time is worth...  By the time you're done constructing a working joystick you will have spent at a minimum maybe 3 hours.  One might look at that as saving $7.  I look at it as getting paid a little over $2/hour.  It's not even a question of practicality at that point, it's simple economics.
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