720 degrees controller question.

[Les]

Those of you who have a 720 controller will hopefully know what I am talking about.

On the 720 controller there is a plastic disc that covers the top of the joystick.  There is a hole in the disc that the joystick shaft goes through thus the plastic disc spins when the joystick is spun.

Well as I'm sure many of the joystick owners know that the disc after thousands of plays and all that friction wears down and needs replacing.

Has anyone had to replace this before and if so what type of material did you use?  I was thinking of Lexan or Plexi.  Also what was the circumfrence of the circle you cut (mine is more of an oblong now ). Thanks

[Lilwolf]

Someone has been trying to sell one on ebay for a while.  20 bucks I think... might be worth it... but check there first.

Hard plastic is going to be the trick... and it has to be thin...  

But then again... if you have any of the above items at home, try it and see if it works...  

[Les]

Someone has been trying to sell one on ebay for a while.  20 bucks I think... might be worth it... but check

$20!!!!!

I wouldn't give him the satisfaction!

Surely a thin piece of lexan or plexi would work.  The only problem would be cutting a perfect circle out with no pilot hole in the middle of the disk.  

I have a router but how do you set it up to cut a measured circle?

It's not the end of the world since I could always play without it.  But it does give the stick a nice finished look.

[jerryjanis]

Not sure the repair man for this one used - some piece of plastic out of the garbage can (also notice the POORLY named 720 joystick):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3226403253&category=13718&rd=1

[Lilwolf]

Yup... 20 bucks is high... why it's been up there for ages... and I remember it...

but I can see spending twice that trying to buying things to hack to it...  And never getting it working right.

I would be worried about getting something stiff enough that you can cut cleanly and strong enough.

Glue and a few layers of coffee can lids might do it also.

[Les]

Not sure the repair man for this one used - some piece of plastic out of the garbage can (also notice the POORLY named 720 joystick):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3226403253&category=13718&rd=1

Well this happens to be the actual controller I just bought.  AND I LOVE HOW THE AUCTION WAS NAMED.  The top circular piece confused me at first.  I was trying to think if Atari had made a similar joystick for a game other than 720.  This was a steal.  I have it now and it works perfect with MAME Analog+.  The top piece does look like a piece of plexi or lexan with a sticker on the underside.  I just need to know the best way to cut a circle out of plexi or lexan.  It must have worked when this controller was installed since there are signs of wear on the plastic disc.  I just hope those are not the results of a week of use!

[jerryjanis]

I dunno, but when I used lexan for a control panel it seemed like it would wear a lot faster than plexi.  Post here when you make it, because I need to make one, too...

[Les]

That's funny, I always thought lexan would be more durable than plexi.  Maybe that only applies to finish?  I don't want to use metal simply because I'm sure it will wear away at the "collar" portion of the joystick.

Again the same problem remains:  How to cut out a perfect measured circle in plexi or lexan.  I don't think scoring the hell out of it will work (well at least the results will be a sloppy cut and uneven edges).  I'm betting a router with some sort of jig will fit the bill.  

Time to hit the woodwoorking sites for some research.

[Beley]

here is an idea:
 
cut the right size circle out of some plywood/MDF or whatever scrap you have lying around using a hole saw , then using double sided tape attach the lexan/plexy to the top of the wood circle, then using a "trimming bit"?(cant remember the name, straight bit with a bearing on the bottom that is the same size as the cutter) cut the circle out

should work as long as the double sided tape is strong