X Arcade Sanwa Joystick Upgrade

[BadMouth]

People ask about upgrading the X-Arcade sticks fairly often.  
I swapped in a pair of Sanwa JLF-TP-8T sticks yesterday, so I thought I'd post some pics and let them know what they are getting into.

JLF, JLW, & X-Arcade mounting plates:


JLF plate on top the X-Arcade, X-Arcade on top the JLW plate


When people ask about swapping in Sanwa JLW's the response is usually "widen the holes and either route out the x-arcade case or put a block under the plate"
After having the parts in my hands, I'm gonna say widen the holes and trim the edges of the mounting plate.  It's easier to work on the plate than work inside the case.  You also won't lose any height that way.  This is about how much you'll need to widen the holes: (and how much you'll need to trim off the edge)


The JLF's aren't as simple.  I had planned to give the X-Arcade base and JLF plate to one of my machinist friends and have them make an adapter for me.
The parts sat on the kitchen table for about a half hour before I got impatient and decided to attempt it myself.  I figured I'd make a temporary solution so I wouldn't have any down time.

Warning:  The following was done by an impatient amateur.  Results not absolutely perfect, but turned out pretty good!  Attempt at your own risk.

I had some scrap 1/4" ABS plastic in my shed, so I used that.  To make a template, I taped the JLF plate to the front of the X-arcade plate and put it on the scanner.  Then I scanned it, printed it out at the same dpi, & made sure it was true to size.  

Then I drew crosshairs from the center points of the JLF mounting holes to get the center of the joystick opening.
Then I cut it out, taped it to a piece of ABS plastic that I had cut to the X-arcade plate dimensions and used a punch to mark the center points of all the holes that needed to be drilled.  I figured as long as the spacing between holes was correct, it didn't matter how ugly my plate was.

Holes drilled.  Joystick mounting holes countersank; these were later redrilled to make the countersink deeper.  The original screws allow for hardly any thickness at all.  If going this route, it would probably be better to get longer screws.

Mounted:

The JLF's snap together, so the restrictor plate & switches can be removed in just a few seconds, making it easier to tighten down the nuts.

The Sanwa bat tops are smaller than the x-arcade:


I tried to remove one of the x-arcade bat tops to see if they could be made to work on the sanwa, but was unable to separate it from the shaft.
The x-arcade shaft covers can be made to work with the sanwa, but they must be cut down.  They ended up just under 1.25".  The sanwa dust covers will not fit around the x-arcade shaft cover.  
The x-arcade stick needs the shaft cover to hold it up!  If you hack your original shaft covers, your x-arcade sticks will no longer be useable.
The dust covers that came with my JLFs (from Lizard Lick) are just barely big enough to cover the hole in the x-arcade control panel.  If the centering of your joystick is anything less than perfect, the hole will be visible when the joystick is pushed to the side.  I'm not sure if they are sanwa or not, they don't say sanwa on them like the one from my JLW does.  The one that came with the JLW is larger and won't be an issue.

Height difference, original, Sanwa (using 1/4" ABS to mount):


It's a sleeper:


So here's where I'm supposed to wax ecstatic about how great the JLF's with the octagon restrictors are...
eh...I'm not as thrilled as I thought I'd be.  The action is soooo light that they just don't feel like arcade equipment to me.  (at least not from my day)
With the x-arcade sticks, I rested my hand on top the stick and banged it against it's limits.
With the Sanwa, I rest my hand on the cp and work the joystick with my fingertips.
They feel "dainty"     I'm wondering if I would have been happy just adding cherry switches to the X-arcade stick or using IL Eurosticks, which drop right in.

The octagon restrictors are making me more conscious of the stick position.  I was able to pull off fatalities in MK that I had trouble with before.
I think it's even helping on 4-way games because I'm so conscious of where the stick is.  They feel like training wheels.  Once I'm trained, I think I will move on to a round restrictor plate.

I may still have a metal set of mounting plates made.  
If I do, I'll scan & post it so it can be made into a good template.

[jimmy2x2x]

The JLF excels for street fighter type games where you roll the stick, nothing comes close to them for this type of action.  I would use the square gate for this type of game.

If you want a more versatile stick, something with stronger spring, shorter throw and authentic arcade feel try out the Seimitsu LS32, it comes with a 2/4 and 8 way gate.  My favourite traditional microswitched all rounder.

[MiahXGaming]

I have found that the easiest way is to simply buy a 4" Square Steel Flat 1/2" Knockout Box Cover and use some metal snips to cut it to the proper size. I bought one from Home Depot in the electrical section. The hole in the center is the perfect size.

I will add pics later.

[LeedsFan]

I used to have an X-Arcade when I first entered this hobby. I quite liked it at the time but I've grown to realise that the sticks in that unit are pretty sucky to say the least.

I've been reading lots and lots of old posts on here and elsewhere regarding joysticks just lately. From what I can gather the JLF's are the stick of choice among hard core fighter fans. Nothing can touch them it seems. But unfortunately they apparently suck in 4 way mode. The Seimitsu LS32 is considered the best "all rounder" as it has a 4-way that works as it should and is still very good for fighter games. Which is why I will be buying these for my next project. I will be sticking with Sanwa buttons though.

Then again arcade equipment opinions will vary widely as it's what you, the user, should feel comfortable with ultimately.

[ark_ader]

I'm tired of the clicking (even with the cheeries in there) but want to put leaf sticks in there.  Any good suggestions?

[thedirtychemist]

I have found that the easiest way is to simply buy a 4" Square Steel Flat 1/2" Knockout Box Cover and use some metal snips to cut it to the proper size. I bought one from Home Depot in the electrical section. The hole in the center is the perfect size.

I will add pics later.

I know this is an old topic, but I wanted to add to it for "completeness" sake.  I know that there are still some who are holding on to their x-arcade sticks (for nostalgia?).

I purchased this box cover (as recommended by MiahXGaming) from Home Depot.

SKU# 201960 (call your local Home Dept store and ask an associate to see if they carry it).

I used an electric saw to cut this down to size, although I suppose metal snips could do the job.  It's a bit on the thick side for metal snips, but you could manage.  I had to make two, so I went with the saw as it was faster and more precise.  The whole process of cutting with the saw and drill took less than 10 mins.

I uploaded the template that I made.  It's in .pdf.  Simply print using its true size, cut, and paste on the metal.  Drill through the shaded holes (the middle simple punches out) and cut around the edges.  I apologize for the roughness, I traced and measured free-hand.

The measurements are very accurate.  I tried to make one by "eyeballing" and using simple markings by super-imposing the sanwa plate over the metal box cover, but the slight imperfection in alignment can wreck the alignment of the stick especially when using an octagonal gate.  You want the "down" direction to be directly down.. not "down and a slight left".


Best of luck.

[LeedsFan]

The JLF excels for street fighter type games where you roll the stick, nothing comes close to them for this type of action.  I would use the square gate for this type of game.

If you want a more versatile stick, something with stronger spring, shorter throw and authentic arcade feel try out the Seimitsu LS32, it comes with a 2/4 and 8 way gate.  My favourite traditional microswitched all rounder.

^^  This!  I was gonna post my own thoughts but these were exactly my thoughts on the subject anyway.  

EDIT:  didn't realise how old this thread was... and that I'd already posted in it before.