Building a Star wars yoke from scratch

[menace]

yep they're slanted--although wider than the original (i am, after all, no longer 12 years old )

as far as rotation goes i'm going to have 60+ degrees in each direction (I had brax do some angle guesstimation for me) and with a 2:1 gear ratio that roughly equals 240-260 degrees or close to 3/4 of a turn--piece of cake--now to just finish building it....

[GamingGreg]

yep they're slanted--although wider than the original (i am, after all, no longer 12 years old )

as far as rotation goes i'm going to have 60+ degrees in each direction (I had brax do some angle guesstimation for me) and with a 2:1 gear ratio that roughly equals 240-260 degrees or close to 3/4 of a turn--piece of cake--now to just finish building it....

So that's about 120+ degrees of turn on the x-axis.  How about the y-axis (the grips)? Is it the same there as well?

[menace]

yep going to be the same

could someone tell me if both the x and y return to center?  I'm pretty sure they do but just wanted to double check--its so close to being done now--woohoo....

[Stormy151]

I've seen people mention refurbishing original yokes, is there a place the springs can be purchased?

If not, I'll figure out another way to get them to return to center, I'm basically copying Atari's design.

[FractalWalk]

Both X & Y return to center.

[menace]

thanks!

[GamingGreg]

I imagine that finding some springs with the right strength will be tricky.  They need to be strong enough to return you to center, but not so strong as to make manuvering the control difficult.  I believe you can find rotational springs (is that the right term?) like the original yoke used, but I'm not sure where (hobby store maybe).  I have seen some yoke designs (such as Joey's) that use just a standard pull spring that is pulled and partially wrapped around the axis. So that's another option.

Menace,

I'm looking forward to more pics and your writeup when you're done (no pressure).  I'm still curious as to what kind of turntable bearing you've found that holds those two pieces together (and also where you found it). Also I'm curious as to how you attached the grips to the pipe.

Anyway, thanks again for insipiring us all.  I really want to make a yoke now too!

[menace]

I have it all together now, and am probably going to finish the writeup-tonight or tomorrow--i hit a few snags and had to back track, but the writeup shouldn't reflect that.  There are no weird or hard to find parts on this entire build (with the exception of the grips--other than dollar stores, walmart or others, i don't know who cares them with regularity.)  Oddly enough the write-up is taking as long as the construction since I had to stop and document what I was doing before I got too carried away--be warned, there are still going to be some leaps of engineering required on the part of the builder

I will then pass the doc to tiger-heli for a proof read and then post away--here's an almost finished pic to keep the interest up  

[Gamecab]

Menace,

I really like it.  It's a nice design and looks pretty easy to build.  I am also Impressed by your choice in gears, they look to be the same ratio as the gears that I purchase.  

I just wish I was able to duplicate a plastic version of the SW grips that were loaned to me.  The SW grip duplication was a project that I was working on but I kept getting too many air bubbles in my latex molds.  After $150 in Latex I decided to give up.  I may dust off and complete my Road Blaster Grips as they are plastic and seem to take to a latex mold with less air pockets.  I'll let you know if I can manage to duplicate those grips, if your interested.

[Xiaou2]

menace, nice so far.  needs a bit of tweaking still i think...


  the metal y shaft looks like it has threads.  these will eat away at the wood where it rest, like a saw!  

 you could attach a smooth metal surround piece to act as a brushing to protect the wood.

 the cotter pins will probably wear into the wooden sides and carve into them.  this may also cause the springs damage... as well as the pins comming loose or bending

 the metal ends that attack to the wood arnt so pretty...  in my design... i took a thick wooden dowel and drilled a hole though it.  then glued the dowel to the hand grips (after sawing in the correct angle)   Since your grips need a greater surface strength - you could use a simuar technique but just glue the dowels to the woodblocks.   Youll still want to pop 2 or 3 micro screws into the dowel fron the woodblock side - for additional strength)    

  you can use the dowels as a means to keep the shaft from moving.  leaving just enough space for smooth movment.  
 
  Drilling  holes thru the dowels.. you then screw in some bolts into the shaft.  the nuts will be on the underside of the dowel so as to be invisible yet easy to access later on - if ever needed.

 funny enough... we both ended up using the same gears! : )  they are great.  heavy duty, and good depth so as not to slip.

 the springs look too flimbsy.  you may want heavier duty ones (thicker gauge).   Also.. you may want to use a different type of spring for the x axis - as shown in the original picture (cant recall the name of those types of springs) - as they would be better to return the thing to the center properly.

 the kind of springs you used will strecth out of whack in a short time period and cause the centering to be off... as well as maybe making an odd echo-ing stretching noise...

 ill try to pop some more pics of my yoke up soon for examples..

see dowel on upper middle part...  ill try to snap better pics later...

 

[Stormy151]

Are those the gears from McMaster?  I scavenged some gears for mine out of an old automatic swimming pool cleaner, I think they'll work but I haven't tried them yet...

[Tiger-Heli]

 the metal y shaft looks like it has threads.  these will eat away at the wood where it rest, like a saw!  
 you could attach a smooth metal surround piece to act as a brushing to protect the wood.

It looks to me like there is a nut on either side holding the Y-shaft in place.  As long as these are suitably tightened, I wouldn't expect a problem.  You might be right, though.

the cotter pins will probably wear into the wooden sides and carve into them.  this may also cause the springs damage... as well as the pins comming loose or bending

Easy solution to prevent this is a large fender washer between the cotter pin and the side support wood.

the metal ends that attack to the wood arnt so pretty...  in my design... i took a thick wooden dowel and drilled a hole though it.  then glued the dowel to the hand grips (after sawing in the correct angle)   Since your grips need a greater surface strength - you could use a simuar technique but just glue the dowels to the woodblocks.   Youll still want to pop 2 or 3 micro screws into the dowel fron the woodblock side - for additional strength)    

This might look a little better, but the metal ends don't bother me.  I think I would like the grips a little closer in to the side supports (shorter grip shaft length).

the springs look too flimbsy.  you may want heavier duty ones (thicker gauge).   Also.. you may want to use a different type of spring for the x axis - as shown in the original picture (cant recall the name of those types of springs) - as they would be better to return the thing to the center properly.
 the kind of springs you used will strecth out of whack in a short time period and cause the centering to be off... as well as maybe making an odd echo-ing stretching noise...

I think thicker springs might be a good idea as well.  I like the spring attachment design, though, simple and functional.

[menace]

the metal y shaft looks like it has threads.  these will eat away at the wood where it rest, like a saw!

no worries, for the x direction another bearing is taking the load so even if the hole widens some, the yoke will still function the same

For the y-direction--I anticipate some settling but the threads run parrallel to the wood grain and will be rotated with no (or little) lateral movement--its my hope that once they find their groove any future chages will not be appreciable.

the cotter pins will probably wear into the wooden sides and carve into them.  this may also cause the springs damage... as well as the pins comming loose or bending

good ctach--this happened on my first run but have since moved the cotter pins in 1/16" keeping them from hitting the sides--In hindsight I should have used a washer and will amend the write-up to reflect this.

the metal ends that attack to the wood arnt so pretty...

 

true enough but the shaft will have some heat shrink tubing covering it up to the edge and the rest will be painted black to match--it will just look like another contour when done.  the grips can be moved in or out depending on preference, nothing in the design would be affected by grip width.

the springs look too flimbsy.  you may want heavier duty ones (thicker gauge).

Its too early for me to tell, but I hope you're wrong --heavier duty springs might be needed but once the restrictors are in place they only lengthen the existing springs by 1/2" or so--easily managed by these little guys.

The 90% copy is about to be sent to tiger-heli, while I finish and test this beauty  

[Gamecab]

Are those the gears from McMaster?  I scavenged some gears for mine out of an old automatic swimming pool cleaner, I think they'll work but I haven't tried them yet...

No.  The McMaster gears are white and teeth of the gears have sharper points to them, but they are pretty close.  The McMaster gears are good but the price really is not.

[PacManFan]

If everybody is looking for good quality gears, don't forget about ripping apart an old printer. Every week on trash day in my neigborhood, I usually see one on the curb. Printers have lots of good electro-mechanical parts and are usually pretty easy to dis-assemble. You could use the shafts with the gears already mounted on them. I built an entire CNC router using only printer parts and a dremel .

-PMF

[Edgedamage]

If everybody is looking for good quality gears, don't forget about ripping apart an old printer. Every week on trash day in my neigborhood, I usually see one on the curb. Printers have lots of good electro-mechanical parts and are usually pretty easy to dis-assemble. You could use the shafts with the gears already mounted on them. I built an entire CNC router using only printer parts and a dremel .

-PMF

Wow I would love to see pics of that!!

[menace]

So the yoke is built, the write-up is done and everything tests fine EXCEPT...when I start star wars the crosshairs are positioned to the lower left??  It reads dead center in windows joystick setup and in empire strikes back--Anyone know how to adjust the game itself?

Once i know that its not yoke related, i will take a final picture, attach it to the write-up and submit it here--thanks to all who have helped me out with this--you know who you are...

[JustMichael]

Have you tried deleting the .cfg file for starwars?  Did you go into the test menu to see how it sees the yoke?

[menace]

drum roll please--here it is... (ignore the sawdust )

[menace]

front view

[menace]

Have you tried deleting the .cfg file for starwars?  Did you go into the test menu to see how it sees the yoke?

No i haven't --good idea, I completely forgot about those

As far as seeing it in the test program, it sees the yoke as perfectly centered as well--very strange

So who do I send the write-up to anyways?

[Generic Eric]

So who do I send the write-up to anyways?

Is it plain text or html w/ pics?  Could you just post it (as a reply) or attach it in the thread?

I am looking forward to reading the write-up.  Does it include a parts list?

[Tiger-Heli]

So who do I send the write-up to anyways?

Is it plain text or html w/ pics?  Could you just post it (as a reply) or attach it in the thread?

I am looking forward to reading the write-up.  Does it include a parts list?

I should let Menace answer this, but - Currently it's a Word doc with pics, but it could be converted to HTML.  It's 14 pages and 3Meg, so it would be hard to attach or post as a reply.

There is a basic parts list.  I'm not the most mechanically inclined and from reading the write-up twice, I felt I could build this.  Menace has done a great job of creating a simple yoke design and documenting how to build it.

[GGKoul]

Menace, that looks good.

Great Job!!  I can't wait to read the write-up.

-GGKoul

[Generic Eric]

So who do I send the write-up to anyways?

Is it plain text or html w/ pics?  Could you just post it (as a reply) or attach it in the thread?

I am looking forward to reading the write-up.  Does it include a parts list?

I should let Menace answer this, but - Currently it's a Word doc with pics, but it could be converted to HTML.  It's 14 pages and 3Meg, so it would be hard to attach or post as a reply.

There is a basic parts list.  I'm not the most mechanically inclined and from reading the write-up twice, I felt I could build this.  Menace has done a great job of creating a simple yoke design and documenting how to build it.

Sounds quite detailed.  Thanks for the reply.  I'll be waiting.

[Generic Eric]

So who do I send the write-up to anyways?

Email Saint, he posted it on page one.

Thanks for your effort Menace, and to those that helped you.  Looking forward to seeing it.

[GamingGreg]

I was wondering how those grips were going to look once they were painted.  Not bad.  Awesome work Menace!  Can't wait for the write up.

[GGKoul]

I can host the file for Menace.

Send it to ggkoul@cogeco.ca

I'll have it up ASAP once I receive the file.

[ErikRuud]

GameCab,

Have you tried RTV silicone instead of latex. I use it all the time for slot car molds.

http://www.smoothon.com

[Nannuu]

WHOA!!!!!  That is awesome!!  Very well done!!!  I guess I will have a yoke after all  

[Chris]

VERY sharp!  I particularly like the way the grips came out... when I first saw them I thought they were gonna look silly, but after painting, they're quite sharp.

I am concerned, though, about the possibility of the paint wearing off.  I wonder if the stretchy grip material used for baseball bat handles would work well here?

Oh, and what kind of controller are you using as your interface?

--Chris

[Stormy151]

Or you could try that spray on rubber grip stuff, it comes in black.  I think it's called "Plasti-Dip".

Where's the tut?  I'm dyin' ovah heah!  

[G@M3FR3@K]

Oh, and what kind of controller are you using as your interface?

--Chris

I believe he is using a Microsoft Sidewinder Dual Strike  Gamepad hack like the one documented on 1UP's Arcade site.

I'm pretty sure if you wait for Menace's writeup (tutorial), he will tell you exactly what he used and how he did it.  

[Xiaou2]

 looking pretty decent.

 however,  i still have to advise that you put some small metal tubes on the sides, to act as brushings/bearings.  (hmm, rollerblade bearings might fit the shaft if its not too thick...)

 when you mentioned that the grooves in the shaft would just settle in place - i dont think you realized something...

 if the handles moved left to right a bit as you moved back/forth - then yes... the groove wouldnt be altered much.  

 but since its meant not to sway - and even if it was... it might not because your hands force will alter its course... its gonna eat a new path into the wood.  Couple that with the constant downward pressure that your most likely putting on it as you play... it will further destroy and dig deep into the soft wood.

 ohh - and dont forget about the springs.  you have them pulling up on the shaft - thus it will also eat the upper part of the wood up at times.


 once the sawing takes place - there will be more and more 'play' - which will cause greater damage because the added forces will magnify with the pivot.   eventually the  gears will get out of place and chip/bind/break... ect.

 its not hard to find a part to act as a propper brushing... certainly not as hard as having to rebuild the entire 2 side assemblies with limited play...

  edit:  just noticed  -  easy fix.   just get 2 more of those metal end parts and pop them into the sides from the inside outwards. (so the large metal circle is on the inside)   Mount it by drilling 2 small holes in it and screw it down... or simply just woodglue it in place using the outter rim.    it might cover the bar all the way to the outter part - thus making it a bit more pretty. : )    if too long - just sand or cut down.... or use washers or a simular spacer to keep it from sticking out as far.

 

[Tiger-Heli]

 edit:  just noticed  -  easy fix.   just get 2 more of those metal end parts and pop them into the sides from the inside outwards.

If I understand what you are saying, the metal end parts above are a separate washer and a threaded nut, so that won't work.

I like your idea though, and it should be possible to add a spacer with a washer on the end (one piece deal) that will slide over lamp rod and could mount to the inside of the yoke side panels.  Failing that, it wouldn't be very hard to find metal sleeves and overdrill the holes and glue them in place.

Now that I think about it, you could make the sleeves the length of the side panel plus the threaded rod extension, place the sleeves loose over the rod, tighten the handles and have very little if any threaded rod showing.

And all of this is only required on the handle grip axis, the side-to-side axis is fine without a bushing (when the plans come out, you'll understand).

[menace]

Write-up submitted to saint, I will post details (or he will) on how to find it.  thanks for the help, tips and pointers thrown my way by you guys!  there's tons of room for adjustments and personal hacks so by all means feel free to contribute--I have been amending it with suggestions taken from here but I figured at some point a finished copy has to be submitted.  After you read it feel free to post any questions you have.  I was 50% done when I started the write-up so I may have glossed over some of the early bits--we'll see I guess...

[HagHore]

Freaking awesome!  Now all I have to do is come up with the funds to build another cab...oh, and find room for it and get the wife's approval.

[Lilwolf]

WOW!

When looking at the original pictures... I was thinking... it will probably work, but do you want that in your room?

Amazing Job!  Cleaned up VERY nice!

[menace]

I can't believe you guys didn't like the techno color handles I mean--nothing says class like florescent purple and green    I'm quite happy with how it looks and feels--other than I bought one glossy screw head cover while the other three are matte finish--ah well

Oh yeah, and once it stops F^%^NG snowing i will buy some black heat shrink to put on the exposed handle shafts--I'll take another pic after.

[Generic Eric]

So who do I send the write-up to anyways?

Email Saint, he posted it on page one.

Thanks for your effort Menace, and to those that helped you.  Looking forward to seeing it.

RIGHT ON!

Very detailed.  I want to work on my yoke now, even more than before.