The Builders' Shed - The Bear and Badger

Escape

Bust metacarpals on my right hand from an old injury. Unless my fingers are fully spread, I've limited reach without moving my hand.

The square buttons mirror a keypad, where all buttons are available with the fingers almost closed. On the other stick, my HK button is offset in the direction my clawed ring finger takes.

Mod74

No offence, but why do people spend ages making the perfect stick then shove it in a box that looks like you'd see it in the background of a Howard's Way set.

I realise looks aren't the most important bit but surely somebody makes blank boxes that don't look 100% awful. As a former joiner I find the whole thing rather distressing.

Brooks

I'm into Scape's utilitarian approach, even as they don't appear 100% ergonomic masterstrokes.

I insisted on a fancy leather top surface for my last build, and the whole plane was slightly angled. Otherwise, nothing to remark on.

Nice plain boxes... suppose one could start ripping off classic electric guitar design. Curly maple sunbursts anyone? Surf green poly with a white/black/white ply panel?

n0face

Escape wrote:

I still think this is one of the most pleasing sticks I've seen but I still think it need a decent led array to set it off.

Escape

Mod74 wrote:

No offence, but why do people spend ages making the perfect stick then shove it in a box that looks like you'd see it in the background of a Howard's Way set.

Covered: my merchant gave me a couple of offcuts for nowt. I care for how it performs.

As a former joiner

Pro tools.

Escape

Brooks wrote:

Curly maple sunbursts anyone?

Doug J of Foe Hammer used to make some nice, affordable DIY cases out of curly maple, but they've moved on to somewhat offensively rad modern sets.

Not my colour, but you get the idea:

(Davie's is Tiger Blue on the last page, and he also offered a fetching dark red.)

They still make custom tops from your 1:1 PDFs, though:

Plus full customs, but I imagine their prices are getting up there:

Escape

By the by, Mod...

Mod74 wrote:

No offence, but why do people spend ages making the perfect stick then shove it in a box that looks like you'd see it in the background of a Howard's Way set.

Who are these 'people'? I'm not easy to offend, and it's not the first time you and a few others have tiptoed around me.

Mod74 wrote:

Yo, Escape. Your woodworking wasn't the best, what gives?

Limited skills and poor tools. I could've bought some nice wood, but life's been sufficiently tough in recent times to realise it's only a controller. It works.

Mod74

I'm not tip toeing round you in particular, yours isn't the first utilitarian box we've had roll by these parts.

I'm not even remotely bothered what it looks like, it's your choice and I freely admit it matters not a jot. It's just the gulf between time, care, attention and effort spent on the inside compared to the outside that vaguely puzzles me.

Roujin

Mod, the reason many cases are shoddy in appearance is because people don't have the tools or experience to produce a nice tidy case.

Comparitively speaking the stick, buttons, pcb and wiring are childsplay and require only basic soldering skill to hook up. Today you can buy custom screw terminal only PCBs, wires that come pre-crimped with quick disconnect terminals, and a whole host of other components that take a lot of effort out of the assembly of the internals.

I built my own stick, I had to improvise a case, I went for a metal briefcase, the cost of the briefcase was £40 off ebay. To make my own wooden case would have set me back hundreds as I'd have to tool up for the job. All I needed to build my case was a cheapo soldering iron, some solder, and a couple of hole cutting bits for my drill, cost less than £50 all in.

Brooks

Only thing I don't really like about the Madcatz stick, having now fucked around with it for several hours, is the plastic top. Apart from looking a bit posh, a leather surface deals with grease/sweat a bit better. Fortunately that's a piss-easy upgrade, just need a Stanley, a steel ruler and a piece of cow.

The lapweight is real nice though and obviously the bits are all Sanwa and so entirely adequate.

Mod74

Roujin wrote:

Mod, the reason many cases are shoddy in appearance is because people don't have the tools or experience to produce a nice tidy case.

Yeah, I get that. Which is why I asked whether somebody was making nice blank boxes.

You wouldn't have a crack at making your own PCB, but hammering a box together yourself is fine. As a former joiner it's vaguely insulting.

(that last sentence is at least 85% joke)

Roujin

People make nice basic blank boxes but they run you £100+ easy, which is often the same or more than a set of buttons, stick, wires and donor PCB will run you.

Brooks

Strictly, there's no need to build one's own one anymore unless you're doing something a Madcatz or a RAP or a Qanba simply won't physically or mechanically accommodate (including lack of multi-platform functionality or even just the basic dimensions and layout of the controls not working in the favour of particular personal comfort) now that they ship with solid, reliable sticks and buttons. I really don't see the draw of paying for a total custom box that is feature-identical to a now really good and not bankbustingly dear shop-shelf model.

Escape

Brooks wrote:

I really don't see the draw of paying for a total custom box that is feature-identical to a now really good and not bankbustingly dear shop-shelf model.

Otherwise, it has to be custom-made. Foe Hammer used to make boxes for around £65 delivered.

http://www.foehammershop.com/index.php/shop-fh/diy-cases

And you can sketch your own PCBs with DipTrace, and then order from TinkerBEE.com. There's a very good, cheap supplier in China, but their name escapes.

n0face

I really want to build a nixie clock

Bloody expensive though

Escape

I'd like one with two-ply neon tubing.

n0face

£260, but so pretty.

n0face

Bear and badger hive mind, I need help. After a brilliant SfIV session with my son and mates I've decided to build a cab so I can thrash then in proper style. Building the thing shouldn't be a problem but I'm really struggling to come up with a slim cab design that looks in proportion. I'm hoping somebody with some design skill can throw something together and I cab rip some measurements together and get cutting.

I'm after a slimmer wider version of the cab in this link (can't seem to link images)

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,102957.0.html

I'm looking to fit a 27 inch monitor in so cab will probably work out 700mm ish wide.

Any suggestions/designs much appreciated.

n0face

Rough sketch

This idea but not as deep.

n0face

Like this

Hodge360

Would the monitor be set in a few inches behind glass or would it be right at the front?

n0face

I'm thinking closer to the front then the above picture but with a glass/perspex cover tight against the monitor.

wonderbanana

Could base it off an Aero, very compact though SD:

http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/File:Sega_Aero_City.jpg

Hodge360

Just wondering coz when reading your posts I was thinking why not just wall mount a monitor and build a large,strong boxlike shelf underneath for the sticks and various innards? But then maybe you'd be too close? I've never built more than a sandcastle so I'm not going to be very helpful but as much as I think the idea of owning a cab is cool,if I was thinking of building one I probably wouldn't build an actual cab.

n0face

I want the classic upright look, thinking nice wood veneer, 70s style.

Hodge360

I suppose it's the angle of the screen that's better?

n0face

I'm really chasing after nostalgia, I just want the old school cab.

Hodge360

That's cool. I was kinda arguing with myself in the second post!

n0face

Going to adapt this i think.
index.php?action=dlattach;topic=110805.0;attach=164265;image

Eric

I want to build one of these now. Couldn't you just refurb an old unit or is that cheating?

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