On Tue, 18 May 2010 21:21:32 -0700, Searcher7 wrote:
....
It's really the stainless steel look I'm after. But like I said sweaty
hands may cause problems over time.

So can I assume this is what you'd use if you were making a one piece
ball-top joystick out of stainless steel?

Â* Â* Â* Â* Actually -- I probably would not try to make one. Â*How big is
the ball? Â*That will determine the diameter of the steel stock you will
need, since you are making it one piece. Â*[...]

Thanks. The ball-top will be 1-1/2" in diameter, and the shaft will be
3/8" in diameter. The total length will be 5-1/2".

Have you tried out a joystick like this before? A sphere of SS
that size weighs about half a pound, which seems sort of heavy
to have out at the end of the stick.

House-recycling stores near you probably have SS doorknobs like
http://www.doorlockshop.com/products/mediaBase.aspx?groupId=617766
which, being hollow, would be much lighter. You then could epoxy a
3/8" stainless bolt into it, avoiding the need to thread SS. If
you find doorknobs cheap enough, you could use them for throwaway
proof-of-concept testing.

If you really want the weight, perhaps look for some bright and
shiny 1.5" ball bearings; drill a hole (see previous r.c.m threads
about holes in ball bearings), turn the shaft of a bolt for a good
fit, and press or loctite it into place.

Â* Â* Â* Â* Then -- you will probably need cloth wheels and various
compounds to produce the nice shiny finish you want (a different cloth
wheel is needed for each compound) and a *lot* of time to produce the
polish.

--
jiw