Vectrex controller overlay hacking

From: Graham Toal <gtoal_at_gtoal.com>
Date: Thu Jul 02 1959 - 18:24:35 EDT

I hope I got this message off before Neil shuts synthcom down!

I buy every type of fancy specialty printing material that turns up
in our local shops, just in case it turns out to be useful someday :-)
... today I bought a packet of "Burlington photo silk fabric" which
is advertised for craft projects and such things as making mouse mats.

Well, the stuff turns out to be a great match for replacing the front
label on the vectrex joystick controller. It's stiff, has a similar
dimpled texture, and sticks well.

Two problems: 1) the surface is a little tacky. It has to be applied with
care - too much mangling with fingers and it smudges. Once in place this
isn't as much of an issue. It would be nice to find some sort of
treatment that fixed the surface to ensure long life. Still, I'd rather
print a fresh one every few months than use the nasty damaged original
that had been peeled back to get at the screws. (you can get 4 per sheet)

2) cutting those damned little holes is nearly impossible. I tried scoring
circles using a compass and an exacto knife. Useless. Then I tried cutting
them by hand with the exacto knife. Middling OK after the 4th attempt.

What I'm mailing for is this: anyone who has replaces the overlay on the
joypad - do you have any good tricks for cutting neat perfect circles?
If the holes were smaller something like a paper punch would have done (and
in fact that's what I'll use to cut screw-holes) but I can't think of
anything mechanical that's large enough, and I don't want the expense of
having a custom tool made.

ideas?

G

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Received on Mon Aug 6 21:16:40 2001

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