Starting my build

[InvalidName]

This looks great. Did you stick with the 4-40 screws and inserts or switch to metric?

[SC-Maik]

This looks great. Did you stick with the 4-40 screws and inserts or switch to metric?

I've used 4-40 screws and inserts BUT if I find M3 inserts from European seller, I will convert all drawings for use with metric M3/10mm screws.

[shuttercat]

Oooh I can't wait to see what you use the proximity sensor for. Your build looks fantastic.

[SC-Maik]

Oooh I can't wait to see what you use the proximity sensor for. Your build looks fantastic.

Proximity sensor will be placed inside handle, so when you move your hand away from it, all axes will set to 0.

[M2RiverRat]

Love your setup, makes me want to redo mine! Lol, very interested in the proxy sensor.

[mike43110]

I was lucky enough to get a local source for brass inserts.

Still need to place orders for everything though. Planning on putting multiple HAT switches on it. Found an 8-way I can use and adding a small joystick without spring return for throttle or using a slider. Then strafe forward/back works by increasing or decreasing your velocity around that. Will want to also add a proxy! That is a really good idea. I wonder though whether a delay is needed to ensure that the hand is in position. It will solve my concerns though.

Will obviously have to modify a few things for adding all of that though! May wait and see first if hall effect sensors are specified and rather make a single final build. Need IO extenders and ADCs to ensure I have the space on the micro. Thinking the Arduino micro for a bit more space on the board.

A quick search though turned this up which you may like:
https://www.anchorinserts.co.uk/parts/BW4365.php?src=tree

No MOQ and ships to EU!

[SC-Maik]

I've just placed a sample order for that insert you just linked to check it out.

Proximity sensor is my next project once I finish testing hall sensors.
I even have some ideas how to make throttle stay in zero position using rubber bands.

[mike43110]

I've just placed a sample order for that insert you just linked to check it out.

Proximity sensor is my next project once I finish testing hall sensors.
I even have some ideas how to make throttle stay in zero position using rubber bands.

Hope they are good! I found some very good ones by me for around 4 Euro excl. VAT for 100.

The rubber band idea is interesting. I would have thought a special made spring set would work as well. Seeing as I have to get my springs made for me the idea is intriguing. a parallel pair of compression and extension springs should be easy enough to move around while hopefully still resisting enough to ensure that it returns to a fixed position and resists a light touch. Thoughts? I still need to figure out the mounting of the extension spring and I need to do 2 things with the compression spring - which is why I liked the proximity sensor.

The compression spring will sit on shims which balance the upwards force for your weight. The disadvantage being that the default position at rest is no longer 0. The proximity sensor will ensure that it zeroes itself when you put your hand on it as well as ensure that once your hand is off that certain inputs are disabled.
I am going to after all put a throttle slider or stick on my throttle. SC works quite nicely combining strafing and fixed throttle. The acceleration slider they have been mentioning has not been implemented but it will be a thing it seems. So two sliders would make sense!

This would be my 1st project that is actually for me a few under my belt but always for work.

[oijando]

I like the new base that you made. Are you sharing your 3d files and would the base from the Zdayton's design fit your extended base? I don't plan on making the new circuit board, but I'd like to hide the pro micro and perhaps add some weight and your extended base looks like it would do the trick!

[Ghostpilot]

If someone would want to get a hold of brass M3 (or M2.5 in some cases) threaded inserts, there are a handful of them inside an average broken laptop.
I happened to get into my hands a very broken laptop computer a while ago. The previous owner seemed to have attacked the laptop screen, with a screwdriver in a fit of gamer-rage. A powerful blow had pierced right through the LCD screen, damaging it beyond any repair. As I dismantled the laptop in search for a small speaker and other minor parts for another project, I noticed that the case had more than a few brass inserts for most of the screw fittings in the case. Since the laptop was beyond repair or salvage at that point I just took a big pair of pliers and bent and wrenched some of the bass inserts out. After maybe 30min of work accompanied by a variety of curse-words in up to three languages I ended up having a small heap of brass inserts (mostly M3 but some M2,5 as well) on the table beside the now mangled and mutilated corpse of the laptop computer. After that final salvage the remains were returned to the e-waste room where it came from to begin with.

The conclusion I came to was that if one needs just a handful of brass inserts in a hurry for a project (like a Delta Throttle build for instance), a broken laptop, a pair of pliers, some patience and maybe 30 minutes of my life is all that's needed to cover that need without spending any money in the process. Then again, it's not everyday you can just find broken laptops just lying around to be pillaged.