Is Mike's DK replacement joystick decent?

[jimkirk]

 :)pcolson  the long stick is 3 5/8". It also has a larger ball with a set screw. I sent  blkdog7
a pm telling him this.

[blkdog7]

My buddy just bought a DK Jr. machine today. We took apart the joystick and it's definitely longer. I have to admit I didn't measure it but it's noticeably longer when playing. And it sits just enough above the dust washer so it can never touch it. His little area on the bottom where the "C-Clamp" goes in is also tooled differently. It looks more finished than mine if you ask me.

His ball is also held on by a allen screw that is seen on the side of the ball. My ball is clean looking and is threaded on. Honestly, I think I like my shorter stick better but wouldn't mind a longer stick that doesn't have the allen screw. Do they all have the allen screw?

[jimkirk]

You might get a long stick and try switching ball tops or just filling set screw with something that can be removed if needed.

[blkdog7]

You might get a long stick and try switching ball tops or just filling set screw with something that can be removed if needed.

So, all the DK sticks have allen screws?

[jimkirk]

Not positive but I had 3 long shaft joysticks and all had set screws

[pcb]

Ok, I pulled a stick off a bunch of games:

TKGU (DK Upright), TKG3 Table (DK), TRS &  SDM tables and a VS Unisystem Upright. All the shafts are identical at:

78.80mm - 3.10" in length (+-.05mm)

The balls are different sized though.

TRS (Radarscope) and the SDM (Space Demon) Tables both have a ball diameter of 25mm, the rest have are 30mm.

Best,

 - Mike -

[blkdog7]

Ok, I pulled a stick off a bunch of games:

TKGU (DK Upright), TKG3 Table (DK), TRS &  SDM tables and a VS Unisystem Upright. All the shafts are identical at:

78.80mm - 3.10" in length (+-.05mm)

The balls are different sized though.

TRS (Radarscope) and the SDM (Space Demon) Tables both have a ball diameter of 25mm, the rest have are 30mm.

Best,

 - Mike -

Mike, my buddies DK Jr. stick (which appears to be completely original like the rest of the cabinet) is clearly longer than my stick. I have no idea where the hell my stick came from but it does seem to be a totally legit Nintendo stick. Mine doesn't have the insert screw, his does. Mine has the c-clip inserted at the very end of the shaft, his end shaft looks different and is squared off at the base.

[MaximRecoil]

Ok, I pulled a stick off a bunch of games:

TKGU (DK Upright), TKG3 Table (DK), TRS &  SDM tables and a VS Unisystem Upright. All the shafts are identical at:

78.80mm - 3.10" in length (+-.05mm)

The balls are different sized though.

TRS (Radarscope) and the SDM (Space Demon) Tables both have a ball diameter of 25mm, the rest have are 30mm.

Best,

 - Mike -

A lot of conflicting information here. Mike here from Mike's Arcade says that the ones he measured were all the same length, which included sticks from uprights (both wood and metal CP's) and cocktails. This makes the most sense to me given the fact that the metal CP joysticks already have that black plastic spacer plate to mount the sticks lower, so you'd think there would be no need for different shaft lengths.

However, a few others claim there are different lengths, with one person claiming 3 5/8" which would be more than a half inch taller than the shafts Mike measured (a significant difference indeed). Can someone take a picture of both lengths side-by-side to settle this? I think the problem might be that people might be using different points of measurement (e.g. to the top of the ball, to the bottom of the ball, or just the shaft with the ball removed).

[MaximRecoil]

Mike, my buddies DK Jr. stick (which appears to be completely original like the rest of the cabinet) is clearly longer than my stick. I have no idea where the hell my stick came from but it does seem to be a totally legit Nintendo stick. Mine doesn't have the insert screw, his does. Mine has the c-clip inserted at the very end of the shaft, his end shaft looks different and is squared off at the base.

I've seen the pictures of the joystick from your machine and it looks like any other Nintendo joystick I've seen (I own 4 of them myself). I don't know what you mean by "squared off at the base". Also, what do you mean by "insert screw"? Do you mean in the balltop? If so, only the Nintendo joysticks with the removable balltop had a set screw. None of mine have that.

Can you get pictures of your friend's DK Jr. joystick shaft beside the one from your machine?

[pcb]

Here is a picture of one of the shafts I compared, they are all the same here.

 - Mike -

[MaximRecoil]

Here is a picture of one of the shafts I compared, they are all the same here.

 - Mike -

That's interesting. It looks like yours is squared off at the base like blkdog7 was talking about regarding his friend's joystick. None of mine are like that, nor do any of them have a removable balltop (no set screw). Mine all look like the one in blkdog7's pictures of the joystick in his own machine.

That squared-off extension would add length to the shaft but not effective length.

[blkdog7]

Here is a picture of one of the shafts I compared, they are all the same here.

 - Mike -

Yes! That's exactly what my buddy has. See that squared off end? If you go back and look at my photos you can see that my end is not like that at all.

Actualy, here's a photo:

[pcb]

Yes, yours IS different, since there is no set screw, they probably didn't need the flat end to hold it while they put the ball on.  You said yours had a molded on ball too, right?  Strange.

 - Mike -

[jimkirk]

Ok, I pulled a stick off a bunch of games:

TKGU (DK Upright), TKG3 Table (DK), TRS &  SDM tables and a VS Unisystem Upright. All the shafts are identical at:

78.80mm - 3.10" in length (+-.05mm)

The balls are different sized though.

TRS (Radarscope) and the SDM (Space Demon) Tables both have a ball diameter of 25mm, the rest have are 30mm.

Best,

 - Mike -

A lot of conflicting information here. Mike here from Mike's Arcade says that the ones he measured were all the same length, which included sticks from uprights (both wood and metal CP's) and cocktails. This makes the most sense to me given the fact that the metal CP joysticks already have that black plastic spacer plate to mount the sticks lower, so you'd think there would be no need for different shaft lengths.

However, a few others claim there are different lengths, with one person claiming 3 5/8" which would be more than a half inch taller than the shafts Mike measured (a significant difference indeed). Can someone take a picture of both lengths side-by-side to settle this? I think the problem might be that people might be using different points of measurement (e.g. to the top of the ball, to the bottom of the ball, or just the shaft with the ball removed).

Here is a picture of both sticks the one on the left is form a DK and the other came from an 8 way nintendo

[MaximRecoil]

Here is a picture of one of the shafts I compared, they are all the same here.

 - Mike -

Yes! That's exactly what my buddy has. See that squared off end? If you go back and look at my photos you can see that my end is not like that at all.

Actualy, here's a photo:

Yours is exactly the same as the four that I have here (mine don't have a removable balltop either).

[MaximRecoil]

Here is a picture of both sticks the one on the left is form a DK and the other came from an 8 way nintendo

Thank you. Awesome picture. That definitely settles this matter. The short one on the right, that is like the ones I have.

[blkdog7]

Here is a picture of both sticks the one on the left is form a DK and the other came from an 8 way nintendo

Thank you. Awesome picture. That definitely settles this matter. The short one on the right, that is like the ones I have.

I have the one on the right and my buddy's DK JR. has the one on the left.

Mike, would you sell me one like the one on the left??

[MaximRecoil]

Mike, would you sell me one like the one on the left??

Better yet Mike, why don't you have the long wooden CP-type shaft reproduced? That way, anyone could convert a common VS. (or other metal CP Nintendo joystick) to a DK (wooden CP) joystick.

Those threads, will they accept other balltops, like maybe a Sanwa balltop? Replacement Nintendo balltops are not common.

[jimkirk]

Yes, yours IS different, since there is no set screw, they probably didn't need the flat end to hold it while they put the ball on.  You said yours had a molded on ball too, right?  Strange.

 - Mike -

mike I'm thinking maybe the shorter sticks came from a punch out or maybe popeye. I have never seen those joysticks.

[MaximRecoil]

mike I'm thinking maybe the shorter sticks came from a punch out or maybe popeye. I have never seen those joysticks.

The shorter ones come from Punch-Out for sure (that's what mine are from), and I assume any other Nintendo machine with a metal CP (like VS. or PC-10). Popeye had a wooden CP so it should have the longer shaft.

[pcb]

I'm looking at reproducing the entire joystick.  It's been in the works for a while, but I still don't have the shafts back from fabbing yet.  I'll post when I have them.  The originals are metric threads, which is what I'm making also.  They will be available with either a 1" or a 1.25" black ball.  Anyone have a lead on the springs?  I'd rather use an off the shelf spring if I can find one that's close.

If you can get the thread specs on the sanwa stick, or tell me where to get one, I'll see what i can do about making some allowing the sanwa balls to fit.

[MaximRecoil]

I'm looking at reproducing the entire joystick.  It's been in the works for a while, but I still don't have the shafts back from fabbing yet.  I'll post when I have them.  The originals are metric threads, which is what I'm making also.  They will be available with either a 1" or a 1.25" black ball.  Anyone have a lead on the springs?  I'd rather use an off the shelf spring if I can find one that's close.

Wow, that's awesome. I don't know about the springs, but again, maybe Sanwa has something? I didn't see anything that was very close at my local hardware store last time I checked.

If you can get the thread specs on the sanwa stick, or tell me where to get one, I'll see what i can do about making some allowing the sanwa balls to fit.

You can find Sanwa balltops at LizardLickAmusements. There are also a couple different types of Sanwa springs there, as well as a Seimitsu spring. I mention Sanwa because they are a popular company (especially among the fighting game crowd) and they are Japanese like Nintendo. In fact, their JLF-TP-8T joystick uses the same mounting bolt pattern as a Nintendo joystick. BTW, the Sanwa JLW-SP Spring looks similar to a Nintendo joystick spring in that it has the same number of coils (7), but I can't tell anything more about it just from looking.

However, if you plan on reproducing the Nintendo balltop, then compatibility with Sanwa balltops is not really necessary, except for people who want other balltop options (there are some fancy balltops for Sanwa joysticks).
 

[WunderCade]

Hmm...we'd probably just transfer the original spring over to the new stick. Although I know that isn't exactly marketable....lol

[blkdog7]

I'm looking at reproducing the entire joystick.  It's been in the works for a while, but I still don't have the shafts back from fabbing yet.  I'll post when I have them.  The originals are metric threads, which is what I'm making also.  They will be available with either a 1" or a 1.25" black ball.  Anyone have a lead on the springs?  I'd rather use an off the shelf spring if I can find one that's close.

If you can get the thread specs on the sanwa stick, or tell me where to get one, I'll see what i can do about making some allowing the sanwa balls to fit.

Mike that sounds great! I'll be sure to buy one when it is available. Did I notice you are now also making new Nintendo cabs? Is this new for you? Just wondering if this is somehow related...

[pcb]

We've been making the Nintendo cabs for a few years now, but they were only available to distributors.  I put them up on the site this past weekend.  Figured it was time.

[WunderCade]

Very cool Mike. Ever thought about having the bottom bezel lift-up bracket fabbed? It seems like it would be a cinch to fabricate. Wouldn't it?

[pcb]

Very cool Mike. Ever thought about having the bottom bezel lift-up bracket fabbed? It seems like it would be a cinch to fabricate. Wouldn't it?

The problem with making the bottom bezel bracket made, is the orignal plexi is thicker than all the repros, so it would be hard to get it right for everyone.  Multiple parts would make it difficult for folks to get the right one.

[Paul Olson]

Mike (or anyone who knows),

On a DK cab, how tall is the stick measured from the top of the control panel. I received my long stick today (thanks Jim) and I want to install it this week on my mame cab. I want it to be accurate to the original, but I haven't actually seen an original DK in years. I need to be able to figure out how much I need to route out of the bottom of the panel.

Thanks,
Paul

If any of you in this thread are familiar with the wiki, can you add this information? It is hard to believe so many of us did not know this info.

[jimkirk]

 Measured my DK joystick and it is approx. 2 5/8" from top of dust washer to top of ball and approx. 2 11/16" from top of CPO to top of ball. Hard to get accurate measurements but these should be damn close.

[Paul Olson]

Thanks for measuring. Are you sure it is not 1 5/8 and 1 11/16?

[jimkirk]

Thanks for measuring. Are you sure it is not 1 5/8 and 1 11/16?

Yes my bad it is 1 5/8 and 1 11/16 sorry bout that

[shmokes]

Mike,

Do you sell just the sticks?  I've got a reunion stick but it's my only stick without a black handle.  It'd be nice to make them match. 

BTW, I lived in Cedar City for the last ten years.  I often worked in Beaver and Panguitch.  I had no idea I had an arcade parts manufacturer/distributer so close.  I just moved to Florida last summer.

[pcb]

Do you sell just the sticks?  I've got a reunion stick but it's my only stick without a black handle.  It'd be nice to make them match. 

Not normally, but PM me with full details and we can works something out.

BTW, I lived in Cedar City for the last ten years.  I often worked in Beaver and Panguitch.  I had no idea I had an arcade parts manufacturer/distributer so close.  I just moved to Florida last summer.

Very cool! We've been in Circleville for about 5 years now.  Vegas before that.  Our 'Arcade' should be open this summer.  Just a few games 15 to 20 to start with, all classics.

 - Mike -

[pcb]

Ok, here's the proto stick.  Let me know what you think.

http://www.mikesarcade.com/arcade/temp/njoy4-way/

 - Mike -

PS: Just updated the link

[blkdog7]

Looks awesome, Mike! When will it be for sale??

[pcb]

Probably right around May 1 or so.  I'll post for sure when they are ready for sale.

[Coin_Op]

Can't wait 'till this is ready!

This looks very promising

[djruden]

I was wondering about the status of this repro as well...  I have the Donkey Kong Control Panel from MikesArcade, but dont really like the stick that comes with it.  I was thinking of trying to fix up my old original stick and put that back in, but nice and new would be way better!

[Timstuff]

On the topic of 4-way joysticks, I highly reccomend Tornado Terry's custom Ms. Pacman / Galaga Reunion sticks. You can get 'em in pretty much any color you'd ever want, and unlike the original Happ version, they can be used on either wood or metal control panels by requesting the appropriate shaft sleeve (the actual shafts Terry uses are custom, too). Here's his website, although if you look him up on eBay you might be able to get a slightly better deal. I'm not sure if at his site you have to order the ball top separate if you want a different color on the MPGR.

http://www.tornadoterrys.com/surplus.htm

I'm very happy with mine. The MPGR is pretty much the de facto standard for 4-way microswitch joysticks, and I was glad that I could get one that fits my wood panel (and in a color that works with my CPO, to boot)!