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Post by jasonbar on Jun 24, 2013 11:25:25 GMT -5
Howdy- I've come across a stickless Vectrex controller in a recent lot purchase. I dug up my old SolidWorks model & drawing from 2009, when I machined a replacement thumb stick. I know that Richard H. is making plastic reproductions & that zenman1 (first name Alex, last name...?) on eBay made & sold out a lot of 20 pieces ( www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121030095663 ). I wanted to share my SolidWorks model & drawing here & on rgv so that anybody can have access to the information needed to make reproductions, either via plastic rapid prototyping or by giving the documents to a machine shop to make some from metal, or just for the heck of it. Before I do so, I wanted to make sure that I'm not stepping on the toes of anybody who's already making/selling these for fun and/or profit. Thanks, -Jason |
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Post by dgo on Jun 25, 2013 9:39:26 GMT -5
Not that I am, but that is very considerate of you :thumbs up:
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Post by woodentulip on Jun 27, 2013 15:50:37 GMT -5
Since I was working on my Own Joysticks making use of the Analog Joystick from the PS2/PS3 analog sticks.
It would be interesting if these same thumb stick ends could be used as a drop-in replacement for the old analog stick on the vectrex controller.
The only main difference in the sticks is that the older one uses a more tensioned spring. The PS2/PS3 Analog stick is quite weak in comparison.
-sean
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Post by jasonbar on Jul 8, 2013 13:51:19 GMT -5
Not many peeps out of this post or the duplicate post at rgv, so I'll go ahead & share some files that I used to make a reproduction joystick way back when. Enjoy! -Jason |
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Post by jasonbar on Jul 8, 2013 13:51:52 GMT -5
3 attachments max per post. 3D model in a few more formats. -Jason |
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Post by jasonbar on Jul 9, 2013 12:24:42 GMT -5
I've also been pursuing using off-the-shelf parts to make reproduction joystick thumb pieces. I have a few options. I settled on 1 for the Vectrex that I'm cleaning up for sale. The joystick nub has an M3x.5 metric thread. I looked at various threaded standoffs that will work with this joystick, & I ordered a bunch from McMaster-Carr to compare them. --- Easy route: use a standoff with M3x.5 threads! The catch is that they only seem to come in hex shape, not round. Nonetheless, they're comfortable. For cosmetics, I tried popping in a button head cap screw with or without a washer, to round out the top. Both work fine & feel fine, but they're certainly a bit funny in looks. I ordered the aluminum flavored version--perhaps the stainless steel version, with a bit of polishing, might look snazzier. 1 - 95947A236. 6mm hex, 20mm long, aluminum, $0.86 ea. for QTY 1-9, $0.72 ea. for QTY 10+. Also available in zinc-plated brass or 18-8 stainless steel. 2 - 95947A336. 8mm hex, 20mm long, aluminum, $0.85 ea. for QTY 1-9, $0.72 ea. for QTY 10+. Also available in zinc-plated brass or 18-8 stainless steel. 3 - 92095A179. M3x.5 x 6mm long button head cap screw, 18-8 stainless steel, $5.06 for a pack of 100. --- Hard route: use a round standoff with 4-40 threads. 4-40 & M3 are very close in major diameter (.112" vs. .118"). So, I found that it's relatively easy to run an M3x.5 tap through the 4-40 threads in the standoff to cut the metric threads (especially if you buy the aluminum version). Sure, this isn't the best practice, & it wouldn't fly in a "serious" application, but it works fine for this Vectrex stick. If you want to reinforce it a bit, at the expense of making it difficult to remove, you can throw on some threadlocker too. The best part of using these cylindrical 4-40 standoffs is that there are matching caps that close out the standoffs & look slick. I ended up taking an M3x.5 tap, grinding down the tapered tip a bit to sort of turn it into a bottoming tap (best to just buy a bottoming tap!) & tap about halfway through, & I snipped the male threads on the cap to be a bit shorter (using the bolt snipper integral to my cheap Radio Shack crimp connector tool.) Here's what I used: 4 - 93330A370. 1/4" OD, 1/2" long, aluminum, $0.44 ea. for QTY 1-9, $0.38 ea. for QTY 10+. Also available in zinc-plated brass, 18-8 stainless steel, brass, or off-white nylon 6/6. 5 - 93330A380. 1/4" OD, 5/8" long, aluminum, $0.46 ea. for QTY 1-9, $0.39 ea. for QTY 10+. Also available in zinc-plated brass, 18-8 stainless steel, brass, or off-white nylon 6/6. 6 - 93558A715. Cap for female round threaded standoffs. 1/4" OD, 1/4" long, 3/8" long threaded 4-40 stud, 18-8 stainless steel, $1.57 ea. Also available in zinc-plated brass, aluminum, zinc-plated steel. I went with the stainless steel version of cap because there was negligible cost savings over aluminum for this part (unlike the standoffs). Also, I found the two-tone effect is slick, & I didn't want to gall the threads by screwing aluminum into aluminum. The 5/8" long standoff worked out better for matching the stock joystick. I ultimately ended up using the 5/8" round aluminum standoff with the stainless steel cap. |
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Post by jasonbar on Jul 9, 2013 12:25:07 GMT -5
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Post by jasonbar on Jul 9, 2013 12:25:35 GMT -5
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Post by jasonbar on Jul 9, 2013 12:25:48 GMT -5
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Post by xefned on Nov 18, 2013 20:09:11 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing!
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Post by 50tbrd on Nov 18, 2013 20:25:38 GMT -5
That's actually pretty useful. Using a dremel you could shape something pretty decent.
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Post by skanderberg777 on Jun 5, 2020 12:42:46 GMT -5
Hi. Could you please share the exact scaling or size the thumbstick should have?
Without that, the stl file is pretty much useless.
Thank you
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Post by fruktodlaren on Dec 4, 2021 3:50:34 GMT -5
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