Arcade Parts & Cost
To build an arcade stick your obviously going to need parts. Your also going to need some tools.
In general one of these things costs around $70. This can be more or less by a large margin depending on how much stuff you need as well as your design.
All prices are estimates (favoring high). Prices do not include any shipping prices.
Box Building:
Parts
| $15 | Wood |
| $5 | Finish (Con-Tact Paper, Paint, Stain, whatever you like) |
| $3 | Hinges |
| $2 | Rubber/Foam or Velcro for between the box base and lid. |
| $2 | Rubber Feet (Optional, these should be screwed in, glue alone won't hold) |
Tools & Supplies
| $20 | Drill |
| $2 | 1 1/8" Drill Bit |
| -- | Access to a saw. This depends a lot on your design. For something simple (like the Model-1), most hardware stores will do the cutting for you. Otherwise you will need a table saw at the least. |
| $5 | Hammer |
| $2 | Nails or Brads (for 1/2" fiberboard I use 1" 17 Ga. Brads) |
| $2 | Sand Paper (Not needed if using Con-Tact paper finish) |
Electronics:
Parts
| $20 | PCB (Pressed Circuit Board), typically from a gamepad. |
Tools & Supplies
| $15 | Volt Meter with continuity checking (Optional, helps with troubleshooting) |
| $10 | Soldering Iron |
| $3 | Solder |
| $3 | Soldering Flux (Required) |
| $3 | Desoldering Braid (Not always required but highly recommended) |
| $5 | Some clamps or a friend to help hold things in place when you run out of hands. |
| $8 | Small phillips screw driver (price shown would be for a typical set) |
| $5 | Wire |
| $5 | Wire cutter/stripper (scissors will do if you don't have any) |
| $3 | Electrical Tape |
| -- | Flat table to work on with good light. |
| -- | Small screws to mount the PCB (You can often use the screws from the gamepad's casing). |
| $3 | Quick Disconnects (optional, allows you to plug your wires onto the microswitch connections instead of soldering) |
Arcade Controls:
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