MDF Thickness, PS1 Controller hacking and more

[king88mob]

Ok, so i've read for about a week or two, i have a good idea of what i'm doing, so now it's time to clear up some final details:

1) Will 5/8" MDF be ok for the entire thing? I'm trying to avoid getting two different pieces of wood, and i'd like to put some lexan over my CP without having to go the router route.

2) I want to build a CP that will eventuall be able to control my PS2 and my PC. I'm going the console controller hack (PS1 controller) anyone know of aftermarket, easy to mod PS1 controllers that will work with the PS->USB converters?

3) I'm planning on building a CP that will be on a little bit of an angle, (back part will be 5.5 inches, front will be 3.5 inches) The angle isn't very steap and so i'm wondering if i can just leave the front and back pieces flat (as opposed to beveling them in the same angle as the side pieces)

4) how do most people attach the lexan to the top of the CP, for that matter, what's the best way to attach the joysticks as well?

5) Where can i find some overlays that i could print out to put behind the lexan? if i don't find anything, i'll make something abstract, what DPI should i be working in?

Thanks a million, you are all a fantastic resource!

In case anyone's curious, here's an image of what the top will look like (in theory) done in visio (is there anything it can't do??)

(BTW the button colors correspond to the PS2 colors)

[king88mob]

Oh, one more thing, w.r.t. Mame, do you generally suggest a button for getting into the menu, or do you just use a combination of buttons (setting it to coin1, coin2, p1, p2 all at the same time for example...)

[meta87]

Can't answer all the questions but I'm using 5/8 MDF throughout and it seems to work well. It's quite sturdy.

I'm using the ultimate arcade 2 plans and thats the thickness it recommends

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

I bought two madkatz ps1 controllers from target... I mainly got the for the price ($5 bucks each) but they had an exposed circle of copper close to the end of lead that was real easy to solder and it also had a common ground for all buttons... i also didn't angle the front and back pieces (my cp is 3.5" in back and 2.5" in front)...