| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
stoli
Trick Member
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Location: Southern NH |
4200.  Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 3:59 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
My pad is 1 5/8" thick. The arrow panels are recessed a bit so call them 1 1/2" above the floor that the pad sits on - assuming you don't add anything to the bottom to protect a hardwood floor, etc.
-Stoli
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Plautus
Trick Member
Joined: 17 Oct 2002
|
| 4201. Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 4:52 pm Post subject: Re: Brannigan, Begin Again |
|
|
| Quote: | | (Edit - I noticed that in the videos, Riptide just used screws, sans brackets. Is this better, worse, or indifferent from the whole mending bracket thing?) |
Well for me it's academic (since I haven't assembled the pad yet), but I got the mending brackets because a)it seemed like with more surface area for the contacts, there would be less risk of arrow cracking (and since I'm 275 lbs., I'm concerned), and b)you'd think that it would be much easier to get the mending brackets all the same height, since you're tightening them down rather than fiddling with them like in the Riptide video  Maybe I'm wrong. Was making the contacts work fairly easy for you?
| Quote: | | But yeah, the mending brackets are working OK for me, though I still get the occasional flutter-step (which is making clearing Mission mode a touch difficult.) Perhaps a little work with a screwdriver can help things... |
This is a bit distressing  I'll report my findings in construction and play. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ZacJanes
Basic Member
Joined: 13 May 2005
Location: Australia |
| 4202. Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 5:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Oops, just realised I actually am wanting to do mine off Stoli's design, not DDRhomepad's. (Simply because Stoli has more pictures and clearer instructions for a noob like me!)
So firstly, you can all call me Zac....
And secondly now you've got me really thinking about putting the x and o in, because I agree it would be a pain to have to grab a controller between every game... hrm are there any other ways around this?
*Zac |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Klott
Trick Member
Joined: 15 Apr 2005
|
| 4203. Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
YEah, Zac there is. Use push buttons, It is clearer in the pics, so check them out.
My pad is a mix of different designs.
The arrow switches are from Stoli's site. They work well, the only prob is that the soldering to the sheet metal is kinda weak. After a bit of dancing they might come off. Also, there is no static buildup on my pad for some reason...I danced for 2 hours straight with shoes and its fine
So check the pics out :
http://home.simplecheck.net/iv/Klott/
Post any questions here
Hope this helps
I love my new pad  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
slvrshdw
Trick Member
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
|
| 4204. Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 6:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | | does anyone know of the height difference between a Stoli pad and a Riptide pad? |
the riptide pad is WAY thicker becuase it has 2 by 4s on it, 1/2 in plywood, 3/4 in plywood on it..like 3 inches i think..its pretty much the same as a real arcade
| Quote: | | My pad is 1 5/8" thick. |
stoli used the other design that doesnt have the 2 by 4s in them so it is roughly 1/2 the height, so no u cant make 2 of those COMPLETELY different pads and play doubles easily..
for easeness of building riptides is prolly better because its a pain to rewire the pad w/o the 2 by 4s IMO... 
klotts pad is basically like mine  except that mine has the super cool box, which i HIGHLY recommend  , or just built buttons in the pad, either works 
ive gotten the 5 sheet metal non-arrow panels cut and sheet metal on them, and i got the base measured, and im putting on the borders first
so i SHOULD be able to get it done by saturday
ill get some pics soon
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stoli
Trick Member
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Location: Southern NH |
| 4205. Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 7:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Klott wrote: | | ... the only prob is that the soldering to the sheet metal is kinda weak. After a bit of dancing they might come off. ... |
Soldering tip:
Clean the area well using steel wool. Use flux (resin) core solder. Hold the iron firmly against the sheet metal where you want to make the connection and melt a nice little dollop on to the metal before you attach the wire. Now, "tin" the end of the wire with a bit of solder. Then, go back and re-melt your dollop and stick the end of the wire to it. Quickly remove the iron while holding the wire in place until the solder solidifies. The wire should break before the solder joint gives way!
-Stoli
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Klott
Trick Member
Joined: 15 Apr 2005
|
| 4206. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 7:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Stoli, even that sometimes doesnt work. Making a little groove in the metal with a dremel did it for me. Its also hard to solder to the top part of the arrow. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stoli
Trick Member
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Location: Southern NH |
| 4207. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 9:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Klott wrote: | | Stoli, even that sometimes doesnt work. Making a little groove in the metal with a dremel did it for me. Its also hard to solder to the top part of the arrow. |
Hmmm .. Can only think of 2 possible reasons.
1. Soldering iron isn't getting hot enough.
2. Possibly a different grade of sheet metal. I tried soldering to the mirror finish stuff that I got and I couldn't get solder to stick to it after heating it up with a propane torch.
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Heffenfeffer
Trick Member
Joined: 22 Apr 2002
Location: Las Cruces, NM |
| 4208. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 11:24 am Post subject: Re: Brannigan, Begin Again |
|
|
| Plautus wrote: | Well for me it's academic (since I haven't assembled the pad yet), but I got the mending brackets because a)it seemed like with more surface area for the contacts, there would be less risk of arrow cracking (and since I'm 275 lbs., I'm concerned), and b)you'd think that it would be much easier to get the mending brackets all the same height, since you're tightening them down rather than fiddling with them like in the Riptide video Maybe I'm wrong. Was making the contacts work fairly easy for you?
| Quote: | | But yeah, the mending brackets are working OK for me, though I still get the occasional flutter-step (which is making clearing Mission mode a touch difficult.) Perhaps a little work with a screwdriver can help things... |
This is a bit distressing I'll report my findings in construction and play. |
I concur on the whole cracking thing - It's a lot better to have a nice solid plane instead of a single point getting all the force exerted on one side of a panel. (Being a big man myself, I emphatize there. )
As far as the flutter steps go, they're pretty much for the same reason that Riptide had trouble with his screws in the video - they weren't all the same level. I've had multiple problems here that've driven me up the wall - mainly because not only do you have to get the screw straight and aligned to the proper height (I used a power drill out of screwing frustration (No jokes please, I'm happily married )) - but the mending bracket has to be level too. I eventually went out a bought a level and some #10 and #8 washers (in addition to the #12 (1/4") washers I already had) - the problem is that if the wood bows even slightly, one end of the bracket is gonna pop up, and be like an errant screw in a screws-only design.
So, yeah - instead of having fun with screws, you get to have fun adjusting washers!
Still, it's a very good contact system when it works. It's not so much that the contact system is unreliable - it's that when you think you're done building, you've still gotta put in a while adjusting brackets. Though I think I could've saved a lot of time and heartache if at the beginning of the project, I made sure to pre-drill the screw holes straight and checked screwing them in *at the time* with a level instead of much later, after construction details eluded me.
Klott & Stoli - I'm not sure, but I recall reading somewhere in this thread about how galvanized sheet metal won't let solder stick to it (due to the galvinazation.) Is your sheet metal galvanized, Klott?
_________________
"If something should happen to me, all the world's women will grieve!" - Edgar Rene Figaro
"Your charisma exceeds that of mortal men. Many would lay down their lives for you." - Fall-From-Grace |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Marvel627
Trick Member
Joined: 07 Jun 2003
|
| 4209. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 11:43 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Is there anyone who knows an altenative mirror of riptide's videos? His mirror is always down. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Aflac
Trick Member
Joined: 28 Mar 2005
|
| 4210. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 2:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Marvel627 wrote: | | Is there anyone who knows an altenative mirror of riptide's videos? His mirror is always down. |
this is Plautus' mirror.
http://plautus.kundor.org/DDR-Riptide/
worked for me. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Klott
Trick Member
Joined: 15 Apr 2005
|
| 4211. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 3:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
You guys got me all wrong. I managed to solder. It works fine. Im saying that when you jump around, you're jumping on the soldered parts. So a few of them can pop off. But no, its fine.
BTW, i use 30gauge galva sheet metal. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Aflac
Trick Member
Joined: 28 Mar 2005
|
| 4212. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 4:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| does it really matter what gauge sheet metal you use? is there any preferential gauge to use for contacts, static panels, and borders? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
xoxoRenegadexoxo
Trick Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2005
|
| 4213. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 5:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| is flashing a good material to use for the dance pad? Ive heard a few people talk about it and they said it was cheaper. I was just wondering how it compared to 22 or 23 etc. guage sheet metal. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
slvrshdw
Trick Member
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
|
| 4214. Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 6:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
ive ONLY used flashing, never any sheet metal
its way thinner, and from what i can tell, easier to bend around the panels. (aluminum flashing)
just if u use it for the contacts, like i did, make sure that it is NOT aluminum, because it doesnt hold the current
im just now making a border, and it seems to be working out very well.
ill get some pics of the flashing tomorrow for u guys (if i get to work on it, heh)
i went ahead and re-did everything, except i didnt bother to cut out 1" bigger pieces of 2 by 4s..so there is a 1/2" gap of either side, but it wont show due to the border im puttin on 
its coming along nicely, i basically just need the plex arrows cut and the brackets attached, and thats about it
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
xpguardian
Trick Member
Joined: 11 Mar 2005
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stoli
Trick Member
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Location: Southern NH |
| 4216. Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 4:58 am Post subject: |
|
|
| xpguardian wrote: | stoli, im getting ready to start on your pad in a few day. but before i start i was wonder, could i make the back border a little bigger and put holes in it for a bar. thanks.
GREAT DESIGN
-XP |
I don't see any reason why not. Just need a little more plywood and sheet metal. Structurally, I might suggest a few things. First I would use some decent wood glue, in addition to the screws, to secure the back border plywood to the base. That should make it rigid enough to support a bar. I also suggest using carriage bolts to secure the bar because I don't think lag bolts would be strong enough. If you fed them up from the bottom, the heads will protrude only slightly from the bottom of the base so you would need to add a 1/4" (maybe less) sheet of plywood or pegboard/hardboard to the bottom of the base to level things off. You could try to recess the heads, to avoid the need for the extra plywood, but that might weaken the base enough so that it won't support the bar. I suppose the safe way to go would be to make a 2x4 frame underneath (2x4s on thier side) and make sure the carriage bolts went through one of the 2x4s. If you did that, you could feed the bolts from the top down (just to make it look nicer), and recess the nuts in the 2x4. You would be adding a lot of height (kind of like riptide's I guess) but it should be plenty strong.
Also, make sure you use a washer with the nut on the carriage bolt.
-Stoli
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
daitenshi
Trick Member
Joined: 11 May 2004
|
| 4217. Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 9:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
Has anyone tried closed cell foam with the riptide pad? I'd think that would help some of the noise...
And does anyone know the bluebeefman mod? Is it better than the mending brackets/screw contact system? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
BlueCrystal
Basic Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Location: IRC |
| 4218. Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 4:31 pm Post subject: Question about Riptide Pad |
|
|
Me and my dad were going to build a riptide pad (i was gona see a patster pad but i cant find any links for it). My dad is worried that the bottom of the riptide pad will scratch up the hardwood floor. Is there anything that i can put on the bottom of it so it wont scratch anything?
(sorry for typos..crap keyboard)
_________________
Yes I used to type like a bundle of sticks |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
slvrshdw
Trick Member
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
|
| 4219. Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | Is there anything that i can put on the bottom of it so it wont scratch anything?
|
um..if u buy a softpad u can just put the base under it, like im going to do,
or just get some sort of carpet and staple it TIGHT to the base.
(some one here did that)
i would think that would slide though..
BEST option is prolly just to get that non-slip rug holding grip stuff
put that down and u really shouldnt have a problem EVER! (course i havent tried that one yet)
i finally basically finished my pad, except i need to cover the border with metal, now its just duct tape , and attact my box to it better
heres some pics.
http://img277.echo.cx/img277/351/pad4wo.jpg
http://img277.echo.cx/img277/1918/arrowdown9am.jpg
http://img277.echo.cx/img277/3746/ducttape7oo.jpg
note the part of one wheel on it too..this this is HEAVY
ill get more later..AIM me if u want some more pics..i have them
_________________
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Forums FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Login to check your private messages
Login
My Chrome Pad Website
