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First (Sortof) 4-Player CP (drilling complete!)

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pjdangerous:
I'm back... I've acctually finished all this before Thanksgiving. Then I was out of state for a bit.

Heres some posts on my progress.

I borrowed (without the intent of giving back) a cardboard box from work, and cut holes from various templates I found on this site and others.



I did not like the Street fighter layout. It was too uncomfortable for my hands. Also I wanted to use only six buttons, and I found that an ergonomic layout can be used for a 4-player Neo-Geo layout.



I finally setttled on a layout I found. I can't find the post again. But I used my Search-Fu to find an ergonomic layout I liked. It was provided by that "creepy prince" dude.



The scaling did not feel right. So I played with it using GIMP. I found this scale was the nicest.



The glue was dry and it was time to layout the buttons. As I said before I was going for more of a typical old school feel. So I cut the panel top as a rectangle.



Heres some pictures of the drill holes. I found that the drill bit chipped the ply on the backside worse than on the front side. I just taped my template. Drilled a pilot hole, and used a 1 1/18th bit. The buttons fit perfectly.

Tips for drilling:
1.) clamp the piece being drilled to a piece of scrap wood. This minimizes chipping.
2.) Do not force the bit. The drill should feel smooth. If you feel bumping. Withdraw the bit whille drilling a second before gently continuing.





I later realized that I forgot to drill the start button holes and the exit/pause hole buttons. I went back down and drilled them. My stupid drill jumped on the last hole!!!! Gougeing the wood!!!

I have:
Fixed the gouge with wood putty.
Sanded with a course ply paper.
Tested the buttons, and wired them to my IPAC.

I need to:
Finish the sanding.
Rewire the buttons.
Stain the CP and add a couple of coats of polyurethane.
Add Hinges.
Create artwork decals.

I'll post pictures later.

Xiaou2:

 The reason why the SF layout was uncomfortable, was because you had the
buttons spaced way too far apart.   There should only be like 2mm max space
between the edge-lips of the buttons.  Basically,  you put them as close as possible
while still being able to turn the button nuts without too much trouble.

 Keyboard keys have been in straight rows forever, and they work just fine.

 You may find... like others (myself included)  that while the Ergo layout seems
great at first... that when playing an intense game of SF or similar... you will
land your middle finger on the edge of the button instead of the middle of it...
merely because your brain thinks that is where the button should be:  Aligned
with the others. 

 In reality... the straight alignment is also more comfortable
as the fingers compress & bend and adjust easily to the shape...  where as the ergo layout has the middle finger nearly fully extended... which leaves it almost no
up/down travel, without straining the finger by having to extend it further than is comfortable.   

 Also, buttons are easier to press when the motion is straight up and down.
Being that the middle finger is very much extended... it will mean that your
finger will have to strike it more at an angle... which again... is uncomfortable in
duration.

 This and the angle mounted 3 & 4th player are the two most common
and tragically repeated mistakes on Byoac.   Almost everyone who has had those
setups for any length of time comes to regret it.. and probably will say so.

pjdangerous:
I appreciate the suggestion. The SF layout was spaced far apart, but I also tested other SF layouts with smaller spacing designs, I only took a picture of my first example. I spent a lot of time scouring this site and other sites reading up on the ergo. vs. standard layout. And I went through about 5 standard and 7 ergo designs. You are right in that most people perfer the standard layout, but in my playtesting of games so far the ergo layout just feels right. I guess time will tell. So far I prefer the ergo.

Plus, no need to worry about the angling of the joys. I printed the template angled for the stick hole distancing to make it look more symmetrical, but when I mounted the joys I squared them against the box. Through my searches I found while the standard vs. ergo. debate is about 70:30. The angeled vs. square layout is like 5:95. I figured in this case i did not want to be in the minority.

Thank you though for the advice. happy builds!

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