Kaytrim's Kustoms Back in Action

[Kaytrim]

Thank you very much, i can not wait to get it !!!

Was a good choice to have you to build the ArcadeFever stick 

I included a wiring diagram for the JLF joystick.  Though I think the directions are a bit mixed up.  You may have to swap left-right and up-down.  Otherwise enjoy your stick and please post some pics after you get it wired up.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[arcadefever]

Thank you very much, i can not wait to get it !!!

Was a good choice to have you to build the ArcadeFever stick 

I included a wiring diagram for the JLF joystick.  Though I think the directions are a bit mixed up.  You may have to swap left-right and up-down.  Otherwise enjoy your stick and please post some pics after you get it wired up.

TTFN
Kaytrim

I will post pictures, as soon as i get it 

[Kaytrim]

Another commissioned stick complete.

Sanwa JLF,
pink buttons,
pink bubbletop,
Seimitsu 24mm buttons on the front.
PSX Dualshock pad hack.
Dymondwood Case.

[javeryh]

Wow Kaytrim - now that's a stick!!  Very nice job!   

[SNAAKE]

very nice finish..matchs the artwork too !

I gotta get back to you on my box asap 

[Kaytrim]

Wow Kaytrim - now that's a stick!!  Very nice job!   

Thanks javeryh.  This stick gave me a fight but it was worth it.  This dymondwood is real hard stuff and didn't take to normal wood glue.  Here is a link to the manufacturer of the stuff.  The wood comes in various colors and the process compresses it down to about 1/2 it's normal thickness.

very nice finish..matchs the artwork too !

I gotta get back to you on my box asap 

The finish is just a clear high gloss spray polyurethane on raw wood.  The color is impregnated into the fibers of the wood during the manufacturing process.

Take your time SNAAKE, I have three in the que currently.  One of which is going to be another stick with this wood that I am about to start only in my angled style.  I could have the other two cases ready for viewing next weekend.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

The cold weather is slowing me down with painting.  I had two cans of spray paint clog up on me due to the cold.   On another front here is a little taste of the next Dymondwood stick in progress.   I got a new 3/4" round over router bit just with this box in mind.

[Jeff AMN]

WOW! That pattern is GORGEOUS!

That is going to be one beautiful stick. Maybe you ought to invest in a space heater or two to get things warmed up before you work in the garage and to help with drying times.

[Franco]

Verrrry nice work as always sir 

Im not usual a wood fan but that last CP in progress is looking awesome

[Kaytrim]

Verrrry nice work as always sir 

Im not usual a wood fan but that last CP in progress is looking awesome

WOW! That pattern is GORGEOUS!

That is going to be one beautiful stick. Maybe you ought to invest in a space heater or two to get things warmed up before you work in the garage and to help with drying times.

Thanks for the comments guys.


I am toying with the idea of creating a 'warm box'.  It'll be a 3'-4' cube with an inlet and outlet vent where a small ceramic heater will pump in warm air keeping things warm enough to let the finish dry properly.  The ceramic heater has no spark or flame so any fumes will not ignite.  It also has a fan built in so it will push the air into the box.  The outlet vent will allow the fumes to escape the box so they don't build up.  I'll keep my wood and paint in the house so they go out to the garage warm and I won't be trying to thaw they out before I use them.  My spray paint dries in under 15 minutes under good conditions so the heater won't be on for any long periods.

What do you think?

TTFN
Kaytrim

[HaRuMaN]

If it has a fan... good chance it may have sparks, too...

[patrickl]

Is the paint that flammable that it might combust on a spark?

[HaRuMaN]

Is the paint that flammable that it might combust on a spark?

If its concentrated in a 3' by 4' space....  very possible.

[TeamTEOR]

I'll agree here. Just about the only fan you can use that won't spark would be any kind of Brushless fans. Most computer type fans are of the brushless type. I still would be concerned about the use of a ceramic heater as well, but if you have it on a very low setting, you should be ok, however I would only have something like that outside (just in case). I am sure you idea is to keep things at good drying temp (70F to about 85F).
Tom

[Kaytrim]

Is the paint that flammable that it might combust on a spark?

If its concentrated in a 3' by 4' space....  very possible.

I am using Krylon spray paint.  My plan is to not have a sealed box with everything inside.  The box will have two vents one for the heat to come in and the other for the fumes to go out.  I have some flexable vent ducting that I can use to vent the box to the outside of the garage.  I also have some metal ductwork that I can use to direct the heat into the box.  Am I still creating a fire hazard?

TTFN and thanks

[Kaytrim]

I didn't get any sticks finished this weekend but I started to play around with my new toy.    I picked up a Jet Mini Lathe and here are my first attempts at turning ball tops for Sanwa and Seimitsu sticks.  The white and purple tops are from Sanwa and are there to compare size.



Here is my first batch of Oak ball tops.  None of the are perfect and a few of them have minor tear out near the base.  I have them for sale in the BST forum at $5 each.


Here is a closeup of the Oak along side an Acrylic that I find interesting.  If there is interest in the Acrylic tops there are about a dozen different patterns to chose from.

[blueznl]

Show-off!

 
 


 

[bfauska]

Is the paint that flammable that it might combust on a spark?

If its concentrated in a 3' by 4' space....  very possible.

I am using Krylon spray paint.  My plan is to not have a sealed box with everything inside.  The box will have two vents one for the heat to come in and the other for the fumes to go out.  I have some flexable vent ducting that I can use to vent the box to the outside of the garage.  I also have some metal ductwork that I can use to direct the heat into the box.  Am I still creating a fire hazard?

TTFN and thanks

If you put the fan on the "out" side of the ducting and suck air over the parts instead of blowing it over the parts you won't have to worry about the motor sparking at all.  If it sparks it's away from the system.  This is one reason that commercial spray booths are set up this way.  Build a box with fan sized holes in 2 sides, put a filter over one hole and a fan blowing out of the box on the other side.  If you want to heat the air that is being drawn into the box, you could maybe use a radiator style space heater instead of a fan and ceramic based one.  Heat the air near the intake of the box and the fan will pull that air through.

If you are still worried about fire, do this setup in your garage or workshop while you are working (you can run the exhaust duct out a window) have a fire extinguisher available and keep an eye on it.  You should be able to stop any flare-ups before they become a problem (and there shouldn't be any.)

Pretty nice new ball-tops by the way.

[Timoe]

congrats on the 3/4 round over bit.   It makes all the difference.

[TOK]

I warm up the garage before I paint (kerosene/electric). I've never had it cause a problem, but if I'm finishing something nice I shut it off  for about 10 minutes first since the fan tends to stir dust up.
A good trick for painting with a spray can in the cold or even warming up a cold can is to let it soak in a pan of hot water (tap hot, not boiling hot).

[Kaytrim]

So even if the can is kept in the house is it a good idea to warm it up like you suggest?

Thanks & TTFN
Kaytrim

[TOK]

So even if the can is kept in the house is it a good idea to warm it up like you suggest?

Thanks & TTFN
Kaytrim

That will keep flow more normalized if you're spraying in a cold garage. My garage is typically in the mid 40's on a cold winter morning. If a can from inside is left out there for just a short time, it doesn't spray as nice. The hot water trick buys a little more time.

[Kaytrim]

So even if the can is kept in the house is it a good idea to warm it up like you suggest?

Thanks & TTFN
Kaytrim

That will keep flow more normalized if you're spraying in a cold garage. My garage is typically in the mid 40's on a cold winter morning. If a can from inside is left out there for just a short time, it doesn't spray as nice. The hot water trick buys a little more time.

  Thanks for the tip.

[Kaytrim]

Kaytrim's Kustoms introduces the first hand turned wooden ball and bat style joystick tops. These tops are patterned after the standard Sanwa ball LB-35 and bat LB-30-N tops. These tops have brass threaded inserts and will fit the following joysticks.

Sanwa JLF Series
Sanwa JLW-TM-8
Seimitsu LS-32 Series
These will not fit the Sanwa JLW-UM-8

These are turned by hand they so they will stray up to -/+1mm from the mold formed Sanwa tops. Only a mechanical duplicator can create a closer match. I have used calipers to measure the size of the top at various points on the originals and transfered those measurements to my tops as I turn them. You can see in the pics below the bat tops also have the recessed threads the same depth as the standard tops Each wood top is sanded smooth then polished with a high grade wax that will protect the wood from liquids and normal use.


From Left to right Yellow Ceder, YellowHeart, Spalted Maple & Oak.  Future offerings will include Walnut, Curly Maple, Cherry, Purpleheart, Jatoba, Peruvian Walnut and Acrylic Acetate.


Bat Tops, yellow Sanwa Bat top shown for scale




Ball Tops, red Sanwa ball top shown for scale

[polaris]

i really like those maple ones, great finish.

getting good with your mini jet thing dude.

btw can you post a link to such tool?

[Kaytrim]

i really like those maple ones, great finish.

getting good with your mini jet thing dude.

btw can you post a link to such tool?

Just Google "Jet Mini Lathe" and you will find several links. 
I will say that it is not a cheep tool either and you still need to purchase the proper chisels.

[Kaytrim]

Here is a new stick finally complete.  This one was done for Snaake here on the forums.  YellowWood case, battop, dustcover and shaft cover.  Joystick is Seimitsu LS-32-01, Snaake will install the rest.

[psychotech]

Not bad ..

Actually ...

Great work .. once again 

I'll spy

[SNAAKE]

mine..ALL MINE !! MUAAHHAAHH !!

looks pimp..probably gonna put some sf4 artwork in there

[Timoe]

wow   

[Gatsu]

Well. I'm back from all the holiday stuff. So if you need any more artwork man just let me know.

new sticks look really good man. Im gonna have to commission you for one soon.

[Kaytrim]

Here is another one to feast your eyes upon.  This will be the last case I build with Dymondwood.  This stuff is hard and it took a few chunks out of my fingers as I was working with it.  Glue won't hold it together I ended up using screws and cutting plugs to fill the holes.

[Kaytrim]

And yet another complete stick.  This one is headed to the UK







TTFN

[Dave_K.]

That Mushi stick is gorgeous!  You should show this off on the shmups forum.

[Kaytrim]

That Mushi stick is gorgeous!  You should show this off on the shmups forum.

Thanks, that is where the order originated from.    I'll post it there in a few days.  I need to clear my plate a bit before I solicit more orders.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Gatsu]

Nice.

I'm gonna have to order one from you soon. My first one isn't quite turning out how it needs too...lol.

[Kaytrim]

For those of you who subscribe to GameRoom Magazine look at page 14 of the January 2008 issue.  Kevin Steele did an interview with me via PM two months ago and now the result of that interview is in his magazine.

Kevin you Rock.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

Last weekend at this time I was in the ER getting my thumb stitched up.  The culprit was my drill press loaded with curly maple and a 1 1/4" drill bit.  The stock table is only about 6 1/2" square so there is not much room.  I was holding the maple with my left hand and operating the quill with my right.  The bit grabbed the wood and in so doing pulled my thumb into the bit.  I am missing 1/3 of my thumbnail and received 10 stitches for my troubles.



This is a warning to everyone.  Treat your tools with respect and they will work well for you.  If you feel something is not right then figure out a way to do it safer.  I had hints that what I was doing was dangerous because of grabs earlier.  However I chose to ignore the warnings and I paid the price.

I finally got enough parts purchased and time to heal partly to build a custom table for the drill press today. Here are two pics.




This new table has an adjustable fence with hold downs for the wood being drilled.  This keeps my hands out of harms way.   It is also 18" x 12" so there is much more support area for what ever I am drilling.  I started out with a piece of 3/4" MDF and cut out the shape of the original work table.  Then I glued a 1/2" piece of MDF on top with some screws counter sunk to hold it all together.  I also cut out slots for the T-Track that the fence locks into.


On another note I will have some new sticks for your enjoyment in the next week or two so keep an eye on this thread.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[HaRuMaN]

Ouch...  hopefully you'll heal up quickly...

[arcadefever]

 

Hope you get better very soon !!!