Custom Arcade Stick Build!

DillingerRadio

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Hello folks!

I figured I'd share my custom arcade stick build with you. This is the first thing I made after picking up a few games and getting into the hobby! It actually started out in concept as a superstick, a project I still want to eventually make down the road. But, I realized I was a little out of my depth on that project at the time, and decided to focus on a nicely built regular stick to get some experience, instead.

I wanted something bright and colorful, that felt well built. NEO GEO stole most of the quarters from my childhood, and the colorful buttons from a Big Red are a fond memory for me. So, I chose to follow that color scheme with the buttons. Graphics wise, I decided on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (one of my all time favs). The colorful buttons would go great with the Turtles, along with a nice bold purple base and some fluorescent green accents (for the radioactive slime, naturally)!

For the buttons, I used 8 Seimitsu PS-14-G 30mm snap-ins (in red, yellow, green, and blue), as well as 6 Sanwa OBSC-24 24mm (in clear green).
For the stick, I chose a Sanwa JLX-TP-8YT with a FocusAttack short-shaft mod and a GT-Y octogate, and I also picked up a set of translucent dust and shaft covers.
For the enclosure I picked up an AllFightSticks (AFS) 14" in purple.
For the brains, I chose Brook's UFB Fusion board, which will allow for the use of the stick on a variety of modern platforms in addition to my arcades.
For the USB to DB-15 conversion, I utilize an Undamned DB-15 USB decoder.
For the art, I grabbed a printing template from FocusAttack and whipped up something to my liking with my theme in mind, then had it printed through FocusAttack's print service.

The build was altogether quite simple, thankfully, though certainly not without its share of tedium!

The non-modular, purple, 14" AFS base is nicely made, and the fit and finish were just what I was looking for with my chosen theme. I started first by mounting the Seimitsu PS-14-G 30mm snap-in buttons in a noir layout- since that felt most comfortable to me- using the NEO GEO colorway (red, yellow, green, blue). But, with the art and the acrylic top, the snap-in buttons didn't actually fit far enough in to snap into place- whoops! Unfortunately, even after acquiring a thinner acrylic top, I was unable to fully seat the buttons, as they were just shy of the necessary clearance. Undeterred, I instead secured each button with a couple small dabs of hot glue from the bottom (they were close enough). I decided on Seimitsu for the face buttons because I noticed that my resting hand often unintentionally triggered the Sanwa OBSN-30's I was originally considering for use. For the front of the base, however, I utilized clear green OBSC-24's from Sanwa, which snapped into place as expected.

I then set about the stick. After trying a couple different models, I decided I enjoyed the Sanwa JLX-TP-8YT the best. I swapped out its original square gate for an octogate, and I also swapped out the shaft for a short shaft mod from FocusAttack (which takes about 8mm off the overall height of the stick). I subsequently had to modify the shaft cover I bought, and pretty much just went to town on it with a hacksaw after marking the appropriate length. The rough edge is covered up by the ball top, so it's not a big problem. Speaking of ball tops, I picked up a few, including a classic Simpsons blue ball and a NEO GEO style bat. But, ultimately, I really enjoyed the looks of the #7 Dragonball top the most and that's what stuck.

With stick and buttons settled, it was time to turn my focus to the brains and wiring. I really wanted a super clean wiring job, and was thankful to find a nicely written guide with some great suggestions. I purchased several colors of wire sleeves to dress up the interior as well as a set of adhesive-backed wire guides to enable some nice clean management. Sleeving the wires would prove to be exceptionally tedious and difficult, on account of the fact that the sleeving is flat and requires you to thread the wire through it (which is quite thin and small, flimsy, so it doesn't thread through very readily). On top of that, I didn't make it any easier on myself by committing to the pattern I used, which meant that each sleeve has wires for two buttons and a daisy-chained ground. Inexperience demanded that I choose the hardest way possible, so I also pre-cut my wires after some fairly loose eyeball measuring, something I would not do again in the future (or, if I do, I would give myself a bit more slack to play with). It worked out fine but did result in some added difficulty on account of occasional wires that weren't long enough. As a result of these choices, I spent a considerable amount of time getting the wires sleeved (having to pull individual ends out in order to, cut, splice, and actually wire it to the buttons- for instance). After getting everything through and installed, though, I cleaned up the ends with a bit of heat shrink, then routed them around and under the UFB board for installation (leaving a nice clean space). I don't actually need 3 of the 6 front buttons with my current usage, but I installed them for appearance and for expansion later if desired (they remain unwired).

Overall, I'm quite happy with the results. I have to commend FocusAttack's printing department, they really did a great job with the piece I sent in and I was very pleased with the rich colors and print quality. I learned a number of lessons during this build, including better ways to thread wire through sleeves, as well as just better practices when wiring in general. I think if I ever decide to make another one, I'll definitely take a bit more time in the planning section and probably try to execute the sleeving a bit better (I may also try a different manufacturer for some higher quality sleeves, which might help alleviate some issues). I also won't rush as much. I was pretty excited with putting it all together (and having something more authentic to replace the PS5 controller I was using), and made a few more mistakes than was necessary as a result. It was a lot of fun to make, though, and better still- it works great!
 

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