Repos / hi.imnhan.com / 4f60d62f9d
commit 4f60d62f9ddb53934f70691e3a7356d8bbbd64f3
Author: nhanb <nhan@nerdyweekly.com>
Date: Sat Jan 23 18:32:30 2016 +0700
diy fightstick part 2
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+Title: My first DIY fightstick - Part 2
+Slug: my-first-diy-fightstick-part-2
+Date: 2016-01-23 17:10
+Thumb: /images/fightstick2_02_top.jpg
+
+
+It's been a while since I [started][1] my arcade stick project. To be honest I got lazy and paused
+the whole thing for a while, but yesterday I needed a distraction so... everything came together
+much more nicely than I thought!
+
+## I did it!
+
+I was almost done in Part 1, except for the fact that button holes on the top panels didn't align,
+and the topmost panel flexed a bit because of imprecise screw holes:
+
+
+
+To fix the button holes, I simply wrapped my roughest sandpaper around the drill bit and used it as
+a poor man's sander to make the holes slightly bigger, just enough for buttons to fit. This took a
+while because the sandpaper pieces kept failing on me. Good thing I stock a huge roll in the first
+place! :-)
+
+The flexing panel was surprisingly trivial to fix: I simply made one corner's hole a bit bigger to
+allow its screw to go all the way in properly. No more stupid gaps!
+
+Now that every piece was how it should be, the fun part began: assembling. The inside looked like
+this:
+
+
+
+Notice the knot where the USB cable poked out? It was there as a safeguard against pulling so that
+the PCB doesn't get yanked around. Later on I actually labeled every pair of wires for each button
+and secured the PCB better with more resilient tape, but I forgot to take photos and I'm now too
+lazy to open up the whole thing again so... you get the idea.
+
+As for the top panel artwork, I planned quite a few colored designs, but was too lazy to go to a
+printing shop. As luck would have it, I had a black and white printer at home, so I grabbed some
+random Galford image on the internet and printed out one sheet just to see how it would look. It
+turned out much better than expected so I kept it that way.
+
+
+
+Note that I bought translucent buttons. These are worth the higher price tag because it is possible
+to take them apart and [insert artwork pieces][2] under the cover. Just google custom fightsticks
+and you'll find people making use of these buttons with [stunning][3] [results][4]. But then again,
+I'm a lazy butt so my minimalistic design actually saved me from some tedious button modding.
+Maybe when I get better inspirations, maybe.
+
+Following the monochrome theme, the placeholder "Ken Flowchart" bottom piece from last post became
+official (I also trimmed the excess paper later):
+
+
+
+Oh, and here's a front shot for completeness' sake:
+
+
+
+## Thoughts
+
+All in all, this turned out much better than I expected. The whole thing feels solid to play with,
+and the plexiglass top panel makes a nice feeling palm rest. However, since I went a bit liberal on
+panel layers, it's a tad heavier than my previous stick (which is already heavier than your average
+big brand sticks). On the flip side, I can be more aggressive with my joystick spinning sessions
+thanks to the extra weight.
+
+I'm also thinking of adding non-slip padding to the bottom. I almost exclusively play with the
+fightstick on my lap so it's not actually necessary gameplay-wise, but without padding, the bottom
+screw heads stick out and would definitely scratch my table whenever I place the stick on it.
+Better be safe than sorry!
+
+That's it! This project has been fun, and to me it served as an awesome gateway drug to the DIY
+world. Hopefully I inspired some of you to start your own projects too. Let me know how it goes!
+
+[1]: {filename}my-first-diy-fightstick.md
+[2]: http://forums.shoryuken.com/discussion/25926/guide-how-to-put-art-under-clear-seimitsu-buttons
+[3]: http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/2/25628/2658140-photo+oct+04,+7+24+53+pm.jpg
+[4]: http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/custom-steampunk-fight-stick-by-sam-kurd-aka-b15sdm-designs.jpg