Joystick mounting question about routering

[Jakobud]

I have seen several people actually route the area on the bottom side of the CP where the joystick mounts, in order to make the thickness smaller.  My CP is 5/8" MDF, and I think I want to do this routing also.  My question is, how much have you guys been routing out?  I know a lot of you use 3/4".  Perhaps you guys can tell me how much wood is left after the routing (what is the final thickness between the top of the CP and the mouting point of the joystick)?  I want to route so that the joystick is sticking up at a height of a normal arcade cabinet, however I do not want to route it so much that it is unstable/weak.  I'm thinking about routing out 1/8-1/4".

Jakobud

[betacrash]

I routed down to 1/4 of an inch and it is stable. It's a good idea to route it out because I see some guys not do it and the joystick looks like a ball sitting on a piece of wood. -betacrash

[Lilwolf]

I didn't route it and I'm fine with mine.  Most joysticks have the plastic thing for wood control panels.  But most peoples controlpanel are thicker then the original I guess..

I never had a trouble with mine because I'm used to it.  But I'm probably going to do it at some point now that I have a router.

[Jonathan_the_Red]

I routed my 3/4" MDF panel down to 3/8" for my Happ Competition joysticks. Seems a good thickness. The machine screws holding the sticks are countersunk so the actual thickness there is a bit thinner.

The area where I mounted the circuit board from a Crystal Trackball is routed down quite a bit more. Most of the area is about 1/4" thick but in parts (like where the optical wheels stick up) it's as little as 1/8".

[1UP]

It might be a better idea to router DOWN into the wood from above for very short joysticks.  That way, you only have to lose about 1/4" of wood and therefore retain the strength.

I have a 4-way that's a MsPacman/Galaga replacement made for metal CPs, and it works great this way.  First, I cut a hole that's the size of the body of the joystick (about 2.5" square) all the way through the wood.  Then I routered about 1/4" above and below and 1/2" on the sides around the hole for the lip of the joystick plate.  Last,  I freehand routered out some 1/2" holes to allow the tabs on the microswitches to fit thru.  Cover it all up with some formica or lexan and printed artwork drill holes for your joysticks and buttons, and you'd never know the difference.