Making Arrow Panels-some questions

jjang1993 · Trick Member Joined: 05 Aug 2005

hey im going to built some lexan panels for my metal dance pad. i have to some questions
- Is the foam on the panels between the arrow decal and contact mandatory?
-What does the foam on the bottom of the panel do?
-if foam is needed, what kind is the best that you can buy at home depot?
- Instead of using duct tape to hold down the sheet metal, would spray on adhesive work? If it will work where should i spray it and what kind of spray on adhesive should i use?
- also, if spray on adhensive sheet metal modding works, is it ok to use Aluminum Foil Tape instead of Duct Tape to hold the sheet metal down on the sides?
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mouseish · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:46 am Post subject:

Some form of dense weather stripping is needed to seperate the contact from the arrow. As for the sheet metal, spray adhesive it but make sure you get it all or the edges will hang down and make contact at bad times

Synaesthesia · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 10:10 am Post subject:

OK, let's see. When I built my pad, I had 2 kinds of things separating the 2 contacts. I had foam triangles in the corners, and I had some weather stripping on the edges. However, I'm going to be doing upgrades to my pad when I get home after finals, and I'm going to take a look at whether I really need the wx-stripping. (See, after playing on an arcade machine a lot, I think my pad isn't as sensitive as it could be, and the foam core held the contacts apart just fine by itself when I was originally testing it.)

The actual foam core I used is just that: 3/16 foam core that you can get a ton of for like $2 at some store that has an arts/crafts section. If you're using wx-stripping, I got 1/4" thick, 1/2" wide high-density weatherstripping (comes in tape form, all rolled up).

I didn't have any spray-on adhesive; but I did have "the big guns," such as Liquid Nails. I used Liquid Nails adhesive to attach the metal to the lexan (or wood, depending on which contact I was forming). For the one attached to the lexan (since it would be hanging, obviously), I still put duct tape around the edges. (Since I cut my sheet metal with tin snips, the edges were not totally flat.)

Now, I don't know exactly how large your metal contacts are (mine were eventually like 10.25" square in an 11" square arrow area), but if you use wx-stripping, having aluminum foil tape won't mean much of anything, since if the stripping is over the tape, it won't be making contact there anyway. I'm fairly sure my total contact are was large enough in the end, because I passed most of ITG's 10s on it. Now that I'm actually good at FAing stuff, though, I'll be better able to tell if my pad works as well as it should, and what kind of mods I'm going to have to make if it isn't. Because of that, I may end up giving you different advice in a couple weeks or so.

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mouseish · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:04 pm Post subject:

If you could show me a couple pics of under your arrow panel, that would be awesome. Im finishing the process of working kinks out of my TX-2000 mod (more like overhaul) and the only problem left is that the arrow feels too hollow.

Synaesthesia · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:26 pm Post subject:

Whose arrow panel do you want to see?
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jjang1993 · Trick Member Joined: 05 Aug 2005

lol i dont want to make lex panels for a homebuilt pad. im builting panels for a TX model pad. u know the foam between the panels with a tx1000 pad (4-screw). dont yell at me cause im getting a tx1000. its for my brother and sister so they have their own pad while i have my tx4000. anyways about the foam. anyways about the foam. if you dont know what im talking about look at this

ARROW PANEL PIC. NOT HOMEBUILT PAD PIC.

______ Plastic
---------Foam
-_-_-_- Contact Foil/Sheet metal
(yes i know thats a crappy picture)

the foam im talking about is between the plastic with arrow decal and the contacts foil on the panel. on the picture the foam is the "--------".

1. What does the foam do?
2. Is the foam mandatory?

Im not talking about making a homebuilt metal pad. I am talking about making lexan panels for a TX-1000.
_________________

My Favorite DDR Song is So Deep.

mouseish · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 4:50 am Post subject:

Synaesthesia · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:26 am Post subject:

jang, from that description, the foam doesn't sound like it's mandatory, but I could be wrong. It may add height, it may sort of cushion impact, may protect the contacts (from what I don't know). And mouse, I'll try to get a picture of the arrow panel relatively soon; any particular part that needs emphasis? (oh, and the camera's max resolution is 640x480, so they WILL be pretty blurry/choppy).
_________________

im a lasagna whale

G_G

mindless2 · Trick Member Joined: 24 Oct 2005

I'm wondering where you guys got lexan, and how much did it cost? Also, will the store cut it there for you? Im making stoli's pad and using lexan so it's really strong.

for the foam core, were the triangles in the corneres where the screws are, like having a screw hole through a piece of the foam? A picture would help

mouseish · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:38 am Post subject:

the part that I'm interested in is the spacing material between the two surfaces...