TM warthog joystick broken

But the grips are metal and look fantastic!

Just wish the innards were as top notch as the rest of the kit. Again, it's a great joystick. I just wanted more, is all.

That's garbage, price if the stick that should be a decent cast alloy or steel. Talk about cutting corners to maximise profit. It's not hard to get into a decent foundry, they still needed to make a tool to cast that junk.

The metal is very brittle in the warthog - similar thing happened to my throttle. The throttle plane and throttle box have separated as the screw holes have cracked from the frame.

this stick is metal afaik. how did you manage to brake it? 3 yers are quite a time but not that long. i am planning to replace my ch sticks with this tmw but now i started to hesitate.

My ipad2 fell from table ontop of center mounted stick

I can maybe lathe one for you..... if we get ecxact dimensions

Thanks for offer...still waiting for jb weld to arrive across the pond from uk..then i will try to reinforce it with tube and then glue it

If that fix with tube inside work well, people can do this preventively. :)

Well the fix didn't work because the part fell apart in many pieces when my car mechanic tried to put u tube in it..Now it can't be fixed.

That's gotta be frustrating when that happens... :(

Bad luck. That metal is crap. I don't think it is possible to glue it for use on Warthog. Spring is too strong.

I made this model, you can try and print it on Shapeways.

I don't know if model is OK jet, I just ordered one. It will arrive after new year. Plastic prints sims strong enough, I don't know what is quality of stainless steel prints. One thing I cannot make is treads in two smaller holes for connector but it it is easy to tap treads, you just need right tool.

is it 3d print ? you create and then they produce it from plastic or metal and send to you?

Yes. Also almost every month they ahve free shiping day. Postage is 11$.

that's great then. i think this would solve the problem easily

Probably. I am still testing this. I ordered plastic piece first. It should arrive next week. I'll post photos.

I just saw this on TV: http://www.lazerbondusa.com/?uid=1977D59C4FC653059DC10AC7CE2AABBC

You never know..maybe it'll work.

Probably. I am still testing this. I ordered plastic piece first. It should arrive next week. I'll post photos.

What option of plastic you choose?

In SimHQ a guy say that printed parts have tendency to separate the layers...

:huh:

I ordered black strong and flexible plastic. Hreich just ordered stainless steel part. Mine will arrive on monday. Shapeways use industrial printers and have much better quality from what you can buy in store as desktop printet. Time will tell if plastic is good solution. I'll test it on my joystick, cougar with all mods and warthog.

I'll post images as soon as part arrives.

This part is still in test phase and I recomend not to order yet, it will probably need some modifications. When I am finished I will add new part on my Shapeways store, also one with 13 degrees angle and one for suncom sticks.

I can make alsmost any model in 3D. If you guys have any suggestions please send me a message.

Yep..and i decided to jump the gun and ordered steel part to fix my broken stick..i will post updates and pics when my part arrives. Just hoping that measures are correct. TM support was not support at all...They offered to sell me new stick...So lame..

And mirage 2000c is just around the corner

What option of plastic you choose?

 

In SimHQ a guy say that printed parts have tendency to separate the layers...

 

:huh:

That depends on the method (and material, obviously). Fused layer depositing (like in RepRap printers) will tend to be weak when exposed to shearing forces or traction forces. Shapeways seems to use laser sintering so that should not be a problem - some new airplane parts are done with laser sintering.

Looking forward to what hreichs and debolistes have to say about the replacements.

I can make alsmost any model in 3D. If you guys have any suggestions please send me a message.

This trigger. :D

Do you have any dimensions?

No, just this pictures, seems from Sukhoi planes. Su-15?

It can be done but you have to give me some dimensions. And more photos. Where do you want to install it?

Happy New year to everybody!

I have received new 3D printed parts from Shapeways. I ordered plastic tailpiece or shaft for TM sticks, but this one is at 13 degrees angle like this one:

This is from web page http://www.patterson-equip.com/. I read somewhere that there is a minimum order of 20 or something like that and price is ridiculous over 100 US$?!?

This one I payed 12$.

I orderd it for testing purposes. I didn't want to print in stainless steel before I am sure that everything works as it should. Stainless steel tailpiece costs 58$, I will print that as well when I am done testing.

It needs only a minor modifications. I forget only this, to add these two holes. On a connector below tailpiece are two screws. I will change this as soon as possible.

Plastic tailpiece is black, but it is actually painted, I was modifying some other Shapeways' parts and paint can be removed. Black paint has rough texture, white parts are much smoother.

It is also very light, I'll have to measure but it feels like 10% of original metal part. I thought that it could brake, but it is very strong. I borrowed Cougar with NXT mod. Springs in that mod are very strong on extreme positions and it worked fine, it didn't brake. It was a short test, I'll test it more in future.

One problem in original design is this area:

Here it usually breaks, Probably force here is strongest. It would be much better if tailpiece is 5 mm longer and than I can do this:

It must be longer because the connector must fit inside. As you can see central hole is smaller, it means more material in critical area. I think this would work even on warthog with plastic tailpiece. Unfortunately this will increase a price a little because more material will be used.

I'll add new model on my Shapeways page in next few days. I have to do proper measurements.

Nice, indeed that is the weak spot where they break. The fins where the screws go are also weak.

 

Don't forget that the hole needs to be that width because the connector on the wires has to be threaded through it.

 

Is the plastic stronger than the metal? It will need to be. To be fair, that is why Patterson's are bronze and $150 USD plus shipping.

Plastic is not stronger than most metals, but I want to try this. Maybe it will work. I'll test my plastic part on Cougar, and I am sending it to somebody from this forum to test it on Warthog. We'll see how long it will last.

Narrower hole is also OK if you remove pins from connector. It is not that difficult to. Connector is small 1mm pin spacing but it is doable.