Clear plastic covers for custom sticks.

[[NIUE] BIRRY WONG]

A few quick questions for those who have experience making their own sticks.

For the clear cover that goes over the top, Im just wondering:

A)What material you recommend using, and how thick i should go? I was gonna use polycarbonate, but is there anything cheaper/better? I was going to aim for about 3mm, but the more i think about it, the more that seems unnecessarilly thick, but that thickness means i can substitute a ghetto piece of MDF until i get whatever clear material i end up using.

B)Where the hell can i source it? I know i can get polycarbonate from various building suppliers, but that shit is fucking roofing grade, and while i get it pretty cheap from where i used to work, it only comes in large sheets, which are quite expensive

c)Cutting/Drilling. Im aware this shit likes to chip. And naturally, id rather not fuck it up. Do you guys do it yourselves or is there somewhere that will do it for me properly? (Im kind of hoping there is an answer that will cover both this question, and question B, but im not gonna get my hopes up)



And for a more general building question, I can only seem to find drill bits in 21, 25, and 32mm diameters. Which is a pain in the ass for 24mm and 30mm holes. I dont mind filing, but i would prefer to just grab drill bits that will drill the holes i need them to. What do you guys use? And where did you get them?

Im just planning on working with MDF at the moment. So i was just going to go with some flathead drill bits or something.


For reference, for my first stick im going to go with something similar to 'the idiot box' that is on slagcoin.com, and this link: http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/example3.html

[Gankatron]

Keep this in mind when its time for drilling bro.

Clamp both the perspex panel and MDF panel down tight then drill your holes. If you drill it separately you will almost always have alignment issues when it comes to putting the buttons in.

Bunnings has 3mm perspex sheets for sale but its not cheap, $50 for 1 m2.

Otherwise you could try popping into a sign writing place and ask nicely to see if they have any off cuts of perspex they might have left over.

[fluxcore]

Lexan is SUPER easy to work with in comparison to Perspex, you can cut it, drill it, whatever, and it won't chip. It scratches a little easier than perspex though.
All my sticks with clear tops (including my arcade cabinet) all have lexan.
No idea where you'd get it from though, my mother brought home a few sheets of it one day from work.

As for the 24mm and 30mm spade bits, I think I got my most recent set from Bunnings. You'll probably have to buy them separately rather than as part of a set.

You really have to think about thickness, because it effectively shortens the stick shaft. The TE stick is actually mounted slightly low even by default, so adding extra can really make a difference. If you look at my stick it actually has a nut from the TE stick feet between the top of the stick and the balltop, just to raise it back up to a reasonable height. Of course, this changes the feel of the stick a bit. So far I think only Lenny has complained about it though

However, if you're intending on covering over button holes (like on mine), you don't want to go too thin, otherwise it'll be weak there - but I think it'd have to be pretty severely thin for that to be a problem.

HTH