Neo-Geo mini poker project, looking for button reccomendations...

keithsarcade

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
8,875
Reaction score
160
Location
St Peters, Missouri
Neo-Geo mini poker project, looking for button reccomendations...

Thanks to a couple of our fellow KCMO bretheren, I now have another Cal Omega mini poker cabinet to work on. It will be my new Neo-Geo project and will fit right next to the 19-1 mini I put together last year as you can see in the photo. I have pretty much everything I need to get started (including some custom artwork I had printed), but I am looking for advice on buttons. Unlike the 19-1 where I was able to fit 4 full buttons in a 2x2 patern for each player, I am hoping to fit a more proper Neo-Geo layout while retaining a 2-player setup. But as you can see, I have little room to work with. By the time I mount joysticks I will have approx. 3 3/4" height and just about 4 1/8" width to mount buttons for each player. In order to do this, I'll need smaller buttons. I myself am only familiar with the standard HAPP style buttons and how they mount with nylon nuts in a 1 1/8" hole. I am guessing that my best bet would be to go with Sanwa 24mm snap in buttons which I am guessing mount in a 1" hole. But I'm not sure if even that will be small enough, nor do I know if they will snap into a panel that will be a converted metal panel with plexiglass on top. Too thick for snap ins?

So I am seeking advice on what buttons to use, where I can find them, and also looking for anyone with know how that can maybe draw up a custom template for this project. I appreciate any help I can get on this.
 

Attachments

  • WP_20170319_003.jpg
    WP_20170319_003.jpg
    359.5 KB · Views: 51
There are 20mm buttons - paradise arcade was the first one I noticed selling them (https://paradisearcadeshop.com/358-sanwa-sdm-20), I'm sure there are others. I found a drawing for this button at arcadeshop.de (http://www.arcadeshop.de/images/specs/arcade-pb-sdm20-data.gif) which indicates that the whole thing is only about 24mm wide, INCLUDING the bezel - you're going to have to lay that out on paper and see if it's really going to fit, but it might work for you.

Paradise arcade also seems to have an 18mm version, which is presumably even smaller, but now you're starting to get down into 'can I get my hands onto the controls' territory.

Another approach you could take would be to use full-size buttons and set the thing up for one player only. I don't know if that works for you (certainly most fighting games aren't that awesome 1 player), but it's something you could consider.
 
I saw the 18's and 20's. Unfortunately not every color is available (I'd like the standard Neo-Geo red, blue, green & yellow). I'm also concerned as to whether or not they will snap securely into a "plexiglass covering swiss cheesed metal" panel. Any expertise on that?

I could entertain a 1P setup, but would really prefer a 2P panel.
 
I saw the 18's and 20's. Unfortunately not every color is available (I'd like the standard Neo-Geo red, blue, green & yellow). I'm also concerned as to whether or not they will snap securely into a "plexiglass covering swiss cheesed metal" panel. Any expertise on that?

I could entertain a 1P setup, but would really prefer a 2P panel.

A 1P might not be a bad plan, as getting two people such that they can both see the thing at the same time isn't going to be easy anyway.

They've got red, yellow, blue, and green in the 20's at least, though the 18s are woefully lacking in color. You'll have to play with some layouts on paper and see if the 20's will do the job - the drawings I pointed to earlier indicate the OD of the bezel is like 23.2 mm.

As to snap depth - the arcadeshop.de site says 3.2 mm max panel thickness. So, as long as the plex + metal is total < 3.2 mm thick they should go in. The swiss cheese might give you trouble, as there might not be metal in a given spot to snap onto. Now that might work OK, because it would then just hit the plex, but then again it might end up making the buttons sit funny, or move around if they twist.

One thing you could try is to keep the plex on top to about 1.5 mm, then use something on the BOTTOM (perhaps another piece of acrylic, or perhaps just a bit of thin metal) of the CP. Then you drill through the entire assembly and the buttons have a flat surface underneath to snap to.

Alternately, you could drill out the holes in the metal bigger than the holes in the plex, such that the buttons only snapped onto the plex, which should also solve the problem. That also allows you to use thicker plex, if you want.

Good luck!
 
Back
Top Bottom