Yet Another Joystick Mod


subin

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
326
well, after feeling the limitations of the normal joystick quite quickly, i decided to mod the joystick.. it seemed a lot easier as a principle once my computer monitor ripped off the stock cap by accident as i pulled out my gp2x. i looked at the end.. for those of you that haven't, from the top its shaped like an O, but from the side its like this:
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| | except it's a d-shape, so that bit on the left is a semicircular prism, and the fat bit is a circular shaft extended into the dreaded joystick switch that GPH chose..

anyway, this looked pretty inoffensive. i remember someone modding a stick with a ballpoint pen, and picked up a broken biro. the ink-tube looked about right size, and i slipped a bit i cut off onto the shaft - all good. so now i had to find a way of protecting my thumb from the uncomfortable ink-tube-turned-sleeve-thing.

my first thought involved wrapping lots of thread or rubber band.. they both fell through. next i struck gold! i found a toy car from a christmas cracker with a wheel-fixed to axle arrangement - the axle and wheel were all one thing. furthermore, it slipped nicely into the sleeve! score! and i also found a bit of balloon thing that could slip over the top and act like plasticoat stuff.

then i got obsessed with making it lower, and ended up cutting too much of the sleeve and axle off, so it spun around and wasnt fixed, but i still had lots of ink tube and lots of toy car wheels.. so i made another, this time "bonding" them by melting the plastic with a soldering iron, and then melting the top to make it lower - this also made the surface uneven and bumpy, but it feels kinda grippy, and feels like a crunchie mini-bite thing.

anyway, you can see the fruits of my labour, and yes i am aware it looks TERRIBLE. but it is quite grippy and the balloon is pretty comfortable.

 
well, after feeling the limitations of the normal joystick quite quickly, i decided to mod the joystick.. it seemed a lot easier as a principle once my computer monitor ripped off the stock cap by accident as i pulled out my gp2x. i looked at the end.. for those of you that haven't, from the top its shaped like an O, but from the side its like this:
_
||
||
||_
| | except it's a d-shape, so that bit on the left is a semicircular prism, and the fat bit is a circular shaft extended into the dreaded joystick switch that GPH chose..

anyway, this looked pretty inoffensive. i remember someone modding a stick with a ballpoint pen, and picked up a broken biro. the ink-tube looked about right size, and i slipped a bit i cut off onto the shaft - all good. so now i had to find a way of protecting my thumb from the uncomfortable ink-tube-turned-sleeve-thing.

my first thought involved wrapping lots of thread or rubber band.. they both fell through. next i struck gold! i found a toy car from a christmas cracker with a wheel-fixed to axle arrangement - the axle and wheel were all one thing. furthermore, it slipped nicely into the sleeve! score! and i also found a bit of balloon thing that could slip over the top and act like plasticoat stuff.

then i got obsessed with making it lower, and ended up cutting too much of the sleeve and axle off, so it spun around and wasnt fixed, but i still had lots of ink tube and lots of toy car wheels.. so i made another, this time "bonding" them by melting the plastic with a soldering iron, and then melting the top to make it lower - this also made the surface uneven and bumpy, but it feels kinda grippy, and feels like a crunchie mini-bite thing.

anyway, you can see the fruits of my labour, and yes i am aware it looks TERRIBLE. but it is quite grippy and the balloon is pretty comfortable.



You melted your GP2X??? Wow I dont know if I could do that... but its yours and it works for you :) And that is cool that it works :)
 
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How many of these can you produce and how much will you charge? :D

Looks very... organic? Okay, it's hideous, but if you like it that's what matters.
 

looking at the photos, my thoughts exactly. it is hideous.. but hey, it works. one of the main points i forgot to get across is that anyone can do it, and to try and bring some creativity to it.

anyway, the one i didnt melt looked way better, ok.. ;)
 
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Try sticking some chewed chewing gum on the joystick, word is it makes it quite grippy.
 
Has anyone tried putting blue tack on the stick? Mine comes tommorow, and i tested the blue tack onthe slickest plastic i could find and it held in place againts all pressure i put on it. That would make it grippier, and you could mold it as well if you could figure out how to make it stick in place (perhaps a coating/mixture of glue)
 
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