14
1. x-axis pot was mounted weakly -fix: modded pot
2. threaded shank extension came loose -fix: trapped in place with set screw
3. slight play and in x axis pivot with intermittent ratcheting -fix: see below
This last problem was at the heart of the matter however since it affects the actual precision capacity of this stick, but without use of a lathe could not be dealt with properly. Don't get me wrong, my stick was completely passable, but I still felt like there was enough room for improvement to keep working on solutions. Frustrated by the slight amount of play in the x-axis pivot that would come and go (depending on the alignment of half a**ed bushings), occasionally leading to slight ratcheting (I say slight I mean it only affect things like long range sniping...), my planned fix was to make a whole new gimbal using viscous dampers instead of plastic rubs, but unintentionally discovered (ran out of my first choice grease) I was also a victim of my poor choice of grease for this application. Since switching from SuperLube to White Lithium grease have for the time being suspended any work on the viscous damped version, since I think I found what I was looking for with what I already have. There are also more and better greases out there, so even if white lithium starts to lose it's feel, there's more to try, many more.
Since this project was mostly made with scrap materials and began it's life with parts worked on a drill press in a moldy garage, compromises were made. Initially I drilled a 3/4" hole (my personal collection of oversized drill bits is limited) through the gimbal deck for the Cougar shank to mate through. Problem is a 3/4" drill makes a rough hole that's slightly larger than 3/4", and the shank itself is not a true round either -plus the shank had an inside radius at the shoulder, further complicating matters. This all led to slop in that pivot, bad enough even to be visible to the naked eye (shot 11 of the album), and what are not seen are the little metal bits I used to try fill the gaps, which mostly worked... mostly
Adding bushing to x axis
I squared the shoulder on the Cougar shank, and made a bushing out of 1" round brass stock, that was pressed on the shank right after this shot. The hole in the deck was drilled <1" and hand reemed up to 1", for a much nicer, nearly slop free fit and smooth walls on the hole. Stupidly this is the only pic I took for some reason, but the whole stick was disassembled before being rebuilt, and it looked pretty neat with all the parts laid out.
When rebuilt, I used thick white lithium grease on the slides, and OMG! -all the sudden it turned into the stick I had been trying to make all along. No more slop, and the damping now feels perfect. I *was about to make a whole new one, using viscous rotational dampers to achieve this level of precision, but for now this feels great and I've already got a few hundred matches on it since the rebuild, with plenty of testing and using of long range weapons to verify it not only feels better, it IS better! Total MWO matches on this HOTAS at the time of this update is just under 2500, which is >400hrs of in-game use, and it shows no signs of fatigue whatsoever ...other than metal starting to show on the triggers where the paints getting worn thin!
Updated stick album --->http://imgur.com/a/ixi64<----
ps. here's a sneak peak shot of the new mechpit, which will be getting it's own thread shortly:
