Ever whittled an accurate Gorf joystick out of wood...?

[jasonbar]

My buddy did when he was 17...as a controller for the hovercraft that he built.   

http://titaniumcranium.net/cf22/fun/hover.html

Shows pretty well in this pic, by his left knee: http://titaniumcranium.net/cf22/fun/throw_me_a_rope.jpg

-Jason

[SavannahLion]

I read this post just when Whittlen' Man by Stephen Lynch swapped in on the player.

Seems interesting. When was this built? PopSci seems to have dumbed down in recent years. They still have interesting articles, but they're virtually useless for DIY projects.

[jasonbar]

A little over 20 years ago!

Does Make Magazine cover "historical" projects?  :]

-Jason

[syph007]

I think wood good be a viable medium as long as you had some way to cover it so it didnt look like wood.  I dont know what you would use, but if was some way to give it a plastic form fittling coating, you wouldnt know the core was wood.

[bkenobi]

Dip it in a rubber coating material?

http://www.plastidip.com/

They sell this stuff at Lowes and Home Depot.  I don't think it's the right feel for an arcade controller, but it would work in a pinch.  Also, I've only seen it in yellow.  The company does sell a kit that lets you create your own color, but I've never seen it locally.

[Octo]

PopSci seems to have dumbed down in recent years. They still have interesting articles, but they're virtually useless for DIY projects.

Ironically, it was an article in the 'How2.0' section of PopSci years ago that introduced me to MAME and building my first arcade cab.

[SavannahLion]

PopSci seems to have dumbed down in recent years. They still have interesting articles, but they're virtually useless for DIY projects.

Ironically, it was an article in the 'How2.0' section of PopSci years ago that introduced me to MAME and building my first arcade cab.

Aside from the occasional article in the waiting room, I haven't looked at PopSci since 1996. That was right around the time I tried to get a C.S. degree.