Aug/092
More Materials Ordered
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- Spacer Drawing
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- Metal Letter Punch Set
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- Acrylic Rod
Tonight I’ve ordered a metal letter punch set. I want to punch the letters into the Aluminium button box and this is definitely the best way to do it. It was only about £8.99 for a 37pc set.
As for the buttons on the button box, I’ve decided against the Steel Coach Bolts. Although they would work, I think they might be a little bit too heavy for buttons. After all, they’re steel!
I’ve ordered a 1M section of 8mm Acrylic Rod. Which will be the perfect size, easier to cut and a lot lighter.
The same company I ordered the rod from to customising services, so I’ve sent off a CAD drawing to them for the spacers I want to use to attach the Momo 12C. I asked for 4 x 3mm discs with the holes drilled for me. Shouldn’t be too expensive, since a 50×50cm sheet of Acrylic costs £2.49 from their shop!
Costs:
- Acrylic Rod – £2.06
- Punch Set – £8.99
Links to the products:
Aug/090
Materials Received
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- Carbon Fibre Vinyl
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- Coach Bolt
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- Transparent Wallets
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- CF Vinyl Adhesive Back
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- Spray Adhesive & Carpet
After ordering the materials last week, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see them all arrive by today. I got the last item – the Carbon Fibre Vinyl.
I’ve already put the Aluminium to good use. The carpet was spot on, the adhesive was about 5 times bigger than it looked in the picture and the CF Vinyl is just as I had expected.
I’ve attached pictures of the materials and also of the bolts I purchased for the button box buttons. I also purchased a pack of transparent business car holders/sleeves. One of these will be ideal for putting a track map into and sticking it on the side of the cockpit. They have self adhesive on the back too.
Aug/091
Formula Force EX Teardown & Button Box Mockup
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- Button Box Mockup
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- Exposed 3 PCB’s
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- What I’m left with
I took apart my old Logitech Formula Force EX a couple of days ago. In search of using the buttons housed within it. Apart from the two I will put onto the wheel, I will need additional buttons and this seemed like an ideal way to get them.
Steve Jones – the guy who designed and made the Cockpit I am trying to re-create used Plastic boxes, and the buttons from a Belkin Nostromo. Using purchased wire and new red push buttons. While these look fantastic, I’m not sure if I’d be able to do that. I’ve no idea how he connected it all and got it working.
So…I pulled apart the FFEX. The PCB is quite simple and it was obvious which push connectors did what. I removed the one for power knowing that wouldn’t be needed, I removed the connection for the pedals and the other for the Force Motor. There were two remaining pushfit connectors – one for the USB and the other for the 12 buttons on the wheel.
After figuring this out, I pulled off the front of the wheel, exposing 3 PCB’s for each set of 4 buttons. I was left with the main PCB, 3 button PCB’s and the usb cable. I tested it in game, and it all worked.
The one issue that remains is the length of the connectors between the 3 button PCB’s. Its fairly tight and not very long either. I wanted to mount it on the inside facing vertical as Steve had done. However, using these buttons in this way it wouldn’t be possible. The smallest configuration I can achieve is to have 4 at the top and then two sets of 4 next to each other below. Creating a box around 12cm high and 8cm wide. Roughly.
This is going to be a bit of a bodge job, but it should work well. I cut the front of the wheel apart, so the 3 PCB’s are no longer joined by the plastic. I will however be leaving on the plastic front, as it contains the button pots/springs.
These plastic fronts will be glued onto the rear side of an aluminium plate. With the holes cut through the aluminium for the buttons. I purchased some bolts, identical in diameter to the existing buttons. I will cut these to size – Enough to stick out, go through the aluminium and press on the rubber to action the click.
I hope to punch in the button names with a punch (obviously). And then fill them with yellow.
These will be glued directly to the rubber. If all goes well it should end up looking something like the mockup I’ve attached to this post.
Fingers crossed!
Jul/092
Pedal Design Idea
Pedal Design
Here is my proposed Pedal Design idea. I plan to remove the pedals from the current plastic housing and mount them onto sturdier aluminium. Around 300mm x 250mm x 6mm. I will attach the remaining two pedals with two bolts – one at either end of the metal pedal base. Since the current Pedal housing leaves your foot around an inch off the ground, I will build a double step of Aluminium at the front to enable me to reach the pedals in the same way as I do currently. Then I will lay a carbon fibre vinyl over the top of the foot rest. The cables will be tied around and fixed into place at the back, leave nothing untidy.