Routing space for mounting happ super joysticks.....

[GroovyTuesdaY]

I am getting ready to start drilling my holes for joysticks and buttons and have come to the point where i need some input about whether or not i need to route out some space to  mount my happ super joysticks.    

My wood is 3/4" thick  plywood.   What experiences have people had not routing out some extra space?
I am not going to be adding any plexiglass or other covering, so thats not really an issue.  
Will it be ok and not be too stubby as far as  how much shaft will be sticking up ?

Also, what do you do about bolts sticking up on the top of the panel from mounting the joysticks?  I want a flat surface and dont want any nubs sticking up from bolt heads on the playing surface.

Any input or questions back would be wonderful.

Thanks ahead of time.

G~

[paigeoliver]

Real games have nubs sticking up. But you can avoid them by drilling down slightly into the top of your holes with a larger bit, thus letting the top of the bolt sink down inside the hole.

Why not just use half inch plywood? It is plenty strong.

[GroovyTuesdaY]

Yea, real arcades have nubs.....and i hated them lol.  My wrist was always hitting them funny and i would have little sores where the nubs rubbed my wrist bones lol, so for my home stick, i want to avoid the nubs.....lol....i sound like an old dominoes pizza commercial lol  AVOID THE NOID!  LMAO.

As far as wood thickness,  i already have my wood cut and to shape and its 3/4 " thick.   I picked that because that was what most people seemed to be useing for theirs when i was doing all my research.  

[paigeoliver]

I really don't understand why everyone here seems to use 3/4" wood for control panels. I guess it is because they use MDF instead of plywood?

Most factory cabinets tend to use either 3/4" (or 9/16" for Nintendo cabs) for the sides and front. I believe most wooden controls panels are a bit thinner, as are the other wood parts of the cab. Although everything is different in most every cabinet.

My old Defender Mame cabinet had a big old control panel made out of 1/2" plywood and it was plenty strong. Using stronger wood is easy than routing anyway, although metal is still much better.

[skirge66]

I recessed my comps 1/4" into the back side of my cp. It was easy to do, took maybe an extra hour including making the jig...less it you freeand it. As for not wanting the "nubs" showing this is simple as well, after marking the hole possitions I drilled  holes all the way though and installed threaded sleeves into the holes with a 1/4" inner diameter, these are easy to find at home depot in the nuts bolts and screws section, they are convieniantly 5/8" long and will sink flush with the front and back of your cp...it tells you right on the package what size to drill the hole too...simple, and looks clean.