XBox Arcade Stick - Enclosure
Woodworking
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;)
The coolest controls and best soldering in the world won't mean much if the stick sits in a cardboard box. For this I wanted a wood enclosure, heavy and big enough to be stable, but not too tall. I settled on some 2.75 x 0.75 wood for the frame. I cut two pieces to 12.75 inches length and two to 8.75 inches. I then assembled them with alternating butt joints so the total top size was 13.5 x 9.5 inches. Finally, I secured the ends with wood screws and reinforced each corner with .75 x .75 pieces inside each corner.
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The starting materials.
At one point I was planning on having just Lexan for the top.
I ended up using 1/4 inch pressed wood as it matched the frame nicely.
Plus, Lexan is a pain to cut.
The frame was built from some birch planks we had floating around.
I highly recommend a miter box for the cutting as it makes nice right angles.
I then spent some time sanding it smooth.
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The wood cut to size and drilled.
The frame consists of two .75W x 2.75H x 12.75L pieces and two .75W x 2.75H x 8.75L pieces.
The four corner supports are .75W x .75H x 2.5L inches long.
All butt joints were wood glued and secured with two 1 inch wood screws.
The corner pieces were secured with wood glue and .75 inch wood screws.
The top and bottom are 9.5W x .25H x 13.5L inch pressed wood.
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The first corner completed.
I used a T- square to help keep the corners square.
The wood screws securing the corner pieces go in the opposite direction of the screws for the butt joint.
For each corner I measured the corner support position and attached that, then attached the adjacent sides butt joint.
This made the construction easier, but resulted in a bunch of sanding where the butt joints weren't totally square to even the outside corners.
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The completed frame.
Not exactly square, but pretty close.
I had initially planned on having the Lexan sit inside the frame, supported by the corner supports to form the top.
Once I got a look at the quarter inch pressed wood, I changed my mind.
The final enclosure used two 13.5W x .25H x 9.5L pieces of pressed wood for the top and bottom.
It was easy to cut and ended up looking nice with the black wood screws.
