Mounting joysticks, nuts and bolts or screw from bottom?

[nickynooch]

Basically like the title.  My joystick square piece (have no idea what to call that thing) for my U360 will be underneath my control panel, so basically can I just drill 4, 1/2inch screws into the MDF conrol panel from the bottom up and be good?  Or do I need to use nuts and bolts drilling from the top.

Obviously drilling 1/2 inch holes from the bottom makes it so you can't see the screws which is nice, but I'd imagine not as sturdy as nuts and bolts.

Has anyone used the 1/2inch screws drilled from the bottom for your joystick?  If so is it sturdy?  Any suggestions?

Thanks as always for your help!
-Nick

[severdhed]

thats how i mounted my x-arcade joysticks and they have held up just fine now for 2 years or so.   and that is how i plan on mounting my u360s when i get my new panel done. 

[Blanka]

Do you cover the CP with anything? If so, you can countersink it into the MDF, and screw it from the top, yet the screws stay invisible.

[nickynooch]

Do you cover the CP with anything? If so, you can countersink it into the MDF, and screw it from the top, yet the screws stay invisible.

Yeah that makes the most sense.  Dunno why I never thought of that before!  I think I'll do it that way as I am not the best with a router.

[drventure]

You might also consider insert nuts. you drill a bigger hole, screw the insert nut into the hole, and they you can screw your joystick mounting bolts into the insert nut. The nut itself is contained within the panel, so there's nothing visible on the panel top.

[severdhed]

these should work well...

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=317

[StarControl]

I went with the threaded inserts and mounting from underneath.  MDF doesn't give you many chances to screw and unscrew directly into it before the wood strips out.  If you are just doing a couple of joysticks then I'd go with the Groovy Game Gear kits.  If you are going to be doing a lot, then you can get packs of 50 or 100 inserts from eBay really cheap.  Just search on "threaded inserts".  I use the 8-32 size for controls, but some prefer the larger 1/4-20 size.

Some people prefer the looks of having the dustwasher underneath the CP instead of on top.  If you do that then you will need to rout something like a 1/8" recess on the back of the CP as well.  I haven't made up my mind which I prefer yet, but i routed the recess just so I'd have a choice.  Building a cabinet is a good excuse to get intimately familiar with your router.

[wbuschman]

I order everything from McMaster Carr.  I have it the next day and it lets me look at about a million options.  For mounting my joysticks, I went with these:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#92105a016/=ja8vi

Same thing as what others suggested pretty much.  It's a threaded insert with a flange.  This one is for #10-32 screws.  I went with #10 because I wanted a little more slop than 1/4" would have given me to make up for any errors I made in drilling the holes.  These things are easy to install, keep the top of the CP clean looking, and are VERY sturdy in plywood, and I would assume in MDF as well.

[ViciousXUSMC]

I used insert nuts from Lowes and I wish I had gone with the just using wood screws method.  Would have been cheaper & easier.

Those inset nuts I bought did not tell you what size hole to drill so I eyed it, and figured you want it just a bit smaller so the grooves dig into the wood.  However with the hole just a bit smaller it was total hell to get them started into the hole, and even harder to get them in straight.

On the first joystick the 1st one blew out the front size a bit because I guess I did not drill quite deep enough or it had wood dust in the hole.  The other 3 went in ok but slightly crooked.

On the 2nd joystick I made sure to drill as deep as I could and make the hole wider (just very so slightly wider by moving the bit around some while drilling) so I had no blowoutand it was much easier to thread them but they still were every so slightly crooked and the last one refused to go in straight no matter what I did, when I just forced it in with dome down force and turning it, it went in but before it got deep enough it suddenly stripped out the hole.....

When I went to go mount the joysticks i was at the mercy of the position of the inserts even though I marked them, my joysicks did not mount as flush and center as it would have been just using the screws.

I had to use a screw for that 4th hole on the 2nd joystick since the insert striped out and it was so fast and easy....

I learned my lesson.

[Ginsu Victim]

these should work well...

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=317

I've got these on my Dreamcast control panel and they are great. You definitely want to follow the instructions, because getting them wrong is not an option.

[Todd H]

these should work well...

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=317

I've got these on my Dreamcast control panel and they are great. You definitely want to follow the instructions, because getting them wrong is not an option.

I used these as well. They were more of a pain to install than I thought they would be. Seven of the eight went it fairly well, but one just completely blew out the hole I drilled. On that joystick I ended up using a wood screw to make up for it.

Also, make sure to vacuum out the dust inside the insert before screwing in the screw or else you could end up causing a bulge on the top of your control panel. And, like Ginsu Victim said, definitely follow the instructions!

[StarControl]

I used these as well. They were more of a pain to install than I thought they would be. Seven of the eight went it fairly well, but one just completely blew out the hole I drilled.

You do need to be careful.  A trial installation in a piece of scrap wood is a good idea if it is your first time.  The hole has to be big enough to accept the insert without making the MDF bulge, but not so big that the insert's threads barely grip the sides and rip out the MDF.  I've made both errors, but I still like the inserts enough that I wholeheartedly recommend them.  If you do blow out a hole, then the fix would be filling it in with some sort of epoxy such as JB Weld and then drilling and reinstalling a bit more carefully.  For bulges, unscrew the insert, drill the hole deeper or wider as necessary, vacuum it out, reinstall the insert, and sand the residual bulge down flush with the rest of the CP.  Once you figure out the proper hole diameter and depth on a scrap, it is very easy to replicate without issue as many times as you need to.  Of course, some of us think we can get it right the first time and then we have to figure out a way to repair our nearly finished CP...

--edit--
I almost forgot.  Be sure to test your final screw length in the scrap as well.  It would be very easy to use a screw that was too long and create a bulge that way.  Of course, you can also buy screws that are too short.  My inserts sat further down in the hole than I originally accounted for.