Ideas for cheap "box" for DIY arcade stick?

[bmoc]

Cigar humidors would also work. You could probably find a decent new one for under $30 USD. Because you are in Canada, it should be easier to get the 30mm/24mm drill bits you need than it is in the US.

And since you are just looking at playing on PC, I'd consider using a Brook Zero Pi PCB to power your stick. It is pretty inexpensive and you can get it with a 20-pin cable harness so no soldering is required. https://focusattack.com/brook-zero-pi-f ... s2-psx-pc/

[SuperDerpBro]

Thanks. Finding quite a few cigar boxes on eBay. Might just do that.

Yea, im trying to do this on the cheap so i might just do a 360 "pad hack" (basically free)

[Jagosaurus]

These always remind me of us making custom speaker boxes in high school for vehicles. Ply wood, sealant, & boat carpet ... they went behind or under the truck seat anyway.

3/4 particle board, not plywood lol. Did that back in the day myself.

You doubt our level of janky...

I specifically remember using OSB plywood.

We started finding pre fab boxes that sounded better for around $100 per 2 x 10". That was never my favorite part. I enjoyed the electrical piece

[Anapan]

My first one was a cheap used Hori Tekken 5 PS2 Fight Stick with the controls swapped out for a Sanwa joystick with 8-way restrictor & Sanwa buttons - the layout was already perfect, just the controls were bunk. I soldered everything to the original PCB. Since it's PSX compatible, I have adapters for every other system: NES, XBOX, GCN, PC, PS3, Xbox360, ETC. I cleaned the face plate down to bare metal and used black spackle vehicle gravel-guard paint. Only thing that was kinda difficult was I needed to get my brother to spot-weld the joystick's metal plate to the underside of the face plate. I think I could've gotten away with rough-sanding the two surfaces and liberally applying JB-Weld, or using pop-rivets.
It still looks great 12 years later after being lent out to various ppl, and I still use it. It weighs more than any wood-built would, which is a plus when sitting in a comfy chair with it on your lap. It's my go-to for the Pac-Man CE series as I learned on it.

[samsonlonghair]

My first one was a cheap used Hori Tekken 5 PS2 Fight Stick with the controls swapped out for a Sanwa joystick with 8-way restrictor & Sanwa buttons - the layout was already perfect, just the controls were bunk. I soldered everything to the original PCB. Since it's PSX compatible, I have adapters for every other system: NES, XBOX, GCN, PC, PS3, Xbox360, ETC. I cleaned the face plate down to bare metal and used black spackle vehicle gravel-guard paint. Only thing that was kinda difficult was I needed to get my brother to spot-weld the joystick's metal plate to the underside of the face plate. I think I could've gotten away with rough-sanding the two surfaces and liberally applying JB-Weld, or using pop-rivets.
It still looks great 12 years later after being lent out to various ppl, and I still use it. It weighs more than any wood-built would, which is a plus when sitting in a comfy chair with it on your lap. It's my go-to for the Pac-Man CE series as I learned on it.

That sounds really cool. I'm sure we'd all love to see pictures.

[SuperDerpBro]

Yea, pics please.

I ended up using a laptop box for now. LOL. It works and, no, you will not get pics

[Anapan]

http://www3.telus.net/a6120536/horips2.jpg
Picked it up at a pawn shop for something like $30

[samsonlonghair]

http://www3.telus.net/a6120536/horips2.jpg
Picked it up at a pawn shop for something like $30

Looks cool. I dig the industrial look.

[SuperDerpBro]

Not bad

[Ziggy]

Anyone have any ideas that do not include (more than super basic) carpentry skills, Tupperware or shoe-boxes? lol
Cheers

Dude, I see really nice boxes with hinges all the time at goodwill, and I think they'd make good boxes for arcade sticks. It took me a minute to figure out what they originally were.

They're silverware boxes. I see 'em on the shelf at goodwill all the time. They come in different sizes.

They never have the silverware left in 'em of course. They're just wooden boxes with velvet lining.

I'm thinking an appropriately-sized hole saw would make quick work of a box like these to build your arcade stick. Check your local goodwills. I tend to see one or two of these every couple weeks.

Alternately, I also see wooden jewelry boxes at goodwill too. They are kind of hit-or-miss on quality of materials. Even one of those would be much nicer than a shoebox.

I just wanted to say... I think that's a fucking awesome idea! A silverware box from a thrift store! It would be a pretty nice looking box (usually) and at most maybe you would have to refinish it if it's really old and beat up. But otherwise you could just drill some holes in the top and you're good to go!