My custom arcade joystick

A

arr4ws

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Nov 8, 2005
Messages
6,671
Well here it is , my custom arcade box. The construction took 1 week , but i gathered information for a least a month or so.

Here is the final product. Its an all cherry wood veneer box with teak stain and 6 coats of varnish. I had a blast doing it!






for all pictures : http://www.joystickvault.com/showgallery.php?cat=763
 
Very nice looking!

I'll bet you've got those 9-hit EX combos down-pat now, eh? :D

What was the build cost?
 
snaggletooth said:
Very nice looking!

I'll bet you've got those 9-hit EX combos down-pat now, eh? :D

What was the build cost?
Click to expand...

not yet! I finished it this morning at 1am ;)

overall cost :

arcade parts : 52$
cthulhu pcb : 51$
wiring n' friend: 5$
wood veneer: 7$(half of a 14$ sheet)
bottom clear lexan: 7$
varnish and stain : 6$
rubber feet: 3$
15 feet usb cord: 10$

total of 141$

not too bad when you think a madcatz Tournament edition cost more.
 
That looks fantastic! I love the wood box sticks. Yeah, the Madcatz TE cost more and doesn't look nearly as good. Did you use Sanwa stick/buttons or did you go a different route (there's a few good brands, Sanwa is just the best known)?

Wanna make me one? :p I want to build my own stick but the wiring/soldering will confuse the heck out of me methinks...
 
all my button are sanwa and the stick is a seimitsu ls32.

As far as making one i do not feel confident enough right now to make a box for someone else ... but i can help you along the way if you want to do one.

I decided to do one because of the ease of use of the Cthulhu pcb(printed circuit board). No soldering at all... its all plug and play!
 
arr4ws said:
I decided to do one because of the ease of use of the Cthulhu pcb(printed circuit board). No soldering at all... its all plug and play!
Click to expand...

Really? Hrm, that would make it alot easier, not I'm really tempted! You built the box yourself, drilled/dremmeled and such?
 
kabob983 said:
Really? Hrm, that would make it alot easier, not I'm really tempted! You built the box yourself, drilled/dremmeled and such?
Click to expand...

Yes i did the box all by myself. Here are the tool i used

Drill with hole saw ( for the pushbutton)
bench saw( you can substitute it by circular hand saw)
Router
sander
Dremel
and a little bit of imagination ;)

If you are patient im sure you can find all those tools in your friend and family.

Also the best forum to gather information is shoryuken.com . Thats where i ordered my PCB directly from the guys who make them.
 
Yeah, I'm sure some friends have all the tools, just don't know if I'm savvy enough to make a slick lookin' box.
 
kabob983 said:
Yeah, I'm sure some friends have all the tools, just don't know if I'm savvy enough to make a slick lookin' box.
Click to expand...

trial and error will be your friend along the way. I would like to be able to make you one. But with the finals at my doorstep im not sure you would like the timeframe i would give you.

And its not regular plywood . Its russian cherrywood plywood. Cost like 15$ for a 2x3 sheet.
 
Very nice work! I might have to do the same, but I don't really have the time at the moment. Maybe it will be my summer project.
 
IcedEmotion said:
Very nice work! I might have to do the same, but I don't really have the time at the moment. Maybe it will be my summer project.
Click to expand...

i think when you are ready... with your parts , tools and plans, it takes 1-2 weeks maximum!

If i can help anyone PM me or ask away!
 
This stuff:

2igy43d.jpg


Basically a full set of Sanwa and a full set of Seimitsu (making two sticks).
 
Psychotext said:
Basically a full set of Sanwa and a full set of Seimitsu (making two sticks).
Click to expand...

I've heard good things about Sanwa and Seimitsu. As an owner of both which do you think feels better? Any difference in feel or build quality?

I know you've not build said sticks yet so it might not be possible to tell yet.
 
kabob983 said:
I've heard good things about Sanwa and Seimitsu. As an owner of both which do you think feels better? Any difference in feel or build quality?

I know you've not build said sticks yet so it might not be possible to tell yet.
Click to expand...

Most people feel sanwa are better

The JLF joystick series from sanwa is what most people like but they are out of stock everywhere right now because of the SF4 craze. Sanwa pushbutton are the most sensitive around.

Seimitsu is the second company of arcade hardware. They have more color combination of button ( especially the clear ones) .

but its all a question of taste seriously
 
I always wondered what JLF stood for, it's a series of sticks?

Yeah, I noticed that on the...Lizard website (whatever the popular website is for buying the parts) they they weren't even taking orders at the moment because they were so backordered.

*edit* I wouldn't mind picking up something like this (although that is horribly overpriced) to save me from having to cut/fabricate the box itself. With your plug in board and wires you mentioned I think the rest would be relatively simple.
 
Last edited:
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Having tried both sets... there's so little between Sanwa and Seimitsu that I wonder just what people are talking about when they say one is definitely better than the other.

Seimitsu stuff feels a little tighter, Sanwa a little looser.
 
My parts just shipped today :D

Sanwa JLF and OSBF-30 buttons

Really looking forward to modding my current POS stick :)
 
Hey arr4ws don't suppose you have the diagram for your button and stick layout do you. I've got and arcade machine and I was seriously thinking about changing my button layout to the curve type you are using but haven't come across any good measurements/diagram for that style of layout.

I'd really appreciate it.
 
Creepingdeath1977 said:
Hey arr4ws don't suppose you have the diagram for your button and stick layout do you. I've got and arcade machine and I was seriously thinking about changing my button layout to the curve type you are using but haven't come across any good measurements/diagram for that style of layout.

I'd really appreciate it.
Click to expand...

i actually do my friend! its all on slagcoin.com but here is a direct link

http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html

i used the ninth on the list there , called the Astro City. By the way , i changed the joystick position on it , its much higher on mine.
 
Just wanted to add my 2 cents to sanwa vs. seimitsu. If you feel the jlf is a bit too "loose" then you might want to try an ls-32. If you find that you want to rest your fingers on the buttons before you press them you might find that you like seimitsu buttons better than sanwa. Personally I've found that I like seimitsu sticks and buttons better than sanwa, but really you should try them both if you have the chance and determine what you like.

As for the case, very nice. How is the height on the joystick? It looks like the exposed height of the joystick is very low(since ls-32s are made to be mounted right under a metal panel.)
 
brighenne said:
As for the case, very nice. How is the height on the joystick? It looks like the exposed height of the joystick is very low(since ls-32s are made to be mounted right under a metal panel.)
Click to expand...

yeah its a little low, but makes no difference for me.
 
Creepingdeath1977 said:
Ok dumb question, for actual size to print off as a template do I pick the 100 pixel per inch one?

And thanks for the help bro;)
Click to expand...

As far as i remember i used the 100 pixel per inch format. Try printing one and check if the button hole is near 30mm. If it is youre good to go!
 
Question, I know it's not "custom" but is this a lost cause or do you think a new stick would fix it? Worried that it's the board that's damaged...
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
There could be 2 problem about this stick.

Its maybe the joystick itself. If it is you swap it for a sanwa jlf wich is 15$ + shipping
It could also be a PCB problem. If the circuit is the problem... it will cost you at least 40$ to change it to a new one.

Im really not sure you should go with this one. Maybe someone at shoryuken forum can help you more.
 
Can't get to the Shoryuken at the moment.

Anyways, my guess is more towards a PCB problem. Were it a joystick problem I'd buy it right up as I'd want to replace it with a better stick anyways.
 
kabob983 said:
Can't get to the Shoryuken at the moment.

Anyways, my guess is more towards a PCB problem. Were it a joystick problem I'd buy it right up as I'd want to replace it with a better stick anyways.
Click to expand...

Yeah ... just skip it i say. Those madcatz SE have a bad reputation... really bad. Even some TE stick are failing.

I just found something really nice to add to my stick for the USB cord.

P4017_NAUSB.jpg
 
Ooh, going for the professional looks.

I'm still waiting for someone to pick up the mandle and find a way to cheaply and quickly build/sell custom made sticks. Right now we're stuck with the overpriced Hori or the overpriced/buggy Mad Catz sticks, methinks there needs to be a better option. Every once in a while I see 'em on ebay but it's rare.
 
Very hard to do this sort of thing cheaply. Your best option would be something like arcadeinabox.com
 
Yeah, I guess custom made + cheap don't really go together...but still!
 
I was looking to maybe do a wireless one... but i think wired is the way to go.
 
Last edited:
arr4ws said:
not yet! I finished it this morning at 1am ;)

overall cost :

arcade parts : 52$
cthulhu pcb : 51$
wiring n' friend: 5$
wood veneer: 7$(half of a 14$ sheet)
bottom clear lexan: 7$
varnish and stain : 6$
rubber feet: 3$
15 feet usb cord: 10$

total of 141$

not too bad when you think a madcatz Tournament edition cost more.
Click to expand...

$10 for a usb cord? Ever hear of monoprice.com, you could get it for under $2.
 
S1N3R6Y said:
$10 for a usb cord? Ever hear of monoprice.com, you could get it for under $2.
Click to expand...

i know , but i bought it at a local shop ... wich was a bad move on my side. Next time i will go with monoprice
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top