[Build log] Basic Hotas Desk mount

[Warchild]

Ok so anything special going on here, you have probably seen many screenshots online about HOTAS solutions. I see so many with the same issue I had that I thought I would share what I did to create my own "removable" HOTAS desk mount. Not many setups really show what they did exactly.

Here is the typical dilemma we all have. Desk space used up by the HOTAS forcing the keyboard further back. In VR this is a no no, since we still need access to the keyboard for some features (excluding Voice attach and HCS packs since not everyone wants that)

Apologies if the pictures appear large. Hopefully they get resized

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It isn't really comfortable either having it on the desk, Even though I have a motorised one, it would be nice to have the layout like that of what you see ingame when playing Elite Dangerous, placed around the knees or in that area.

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Now im not going to spend a fortune on these Monster mounts even though they do look amazing. Since I have an adjustable desk I don't need something with height adjustment. Also at 130euros each.. I can't justify the cost.

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Looked in my spare room and found a block of Oak So marked out a basic design on one half.

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Pulled out the good ol' Dremel tools from Storage we love to use for PC mods and builds.

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Cut out both parts. Sadly the Dremel Motosaw was no use. Its only good for softwood/plastic so had to do this with a standard saw

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Clamped them together in a vice so I could sand them down and get them equal

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Once they were even, I marked out the base plate that I will use to attach the HOTAS throttle/stick. Since this is just a simple solution to my needs I wasn't aiming for precision.

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Found 2 acrylic panels from my old desk build I never used. Perfect for the base plate. So I measure out the inner dimensions of the HOTAS base. And marked the lines up for attaching to the side pieces.

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Once I drillled the holes. I counter sunk each hole by hand. The bit didnt fit in a dremel and in a power drill I think it would be too much on soft plastic. So some finger strength and patience will be enough.

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Quick test fit on side pieces. Not a bad first attempt. Remember everything has to be repeated for the other HOTAS mount.

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Got thrifty and found some more plastic off cuts which would be nice to serve as a back plate adding some support. Also cut out a slot for the usb to pass through. Holes do not look like they align, because.. well they don't. My first mistake really as I measured sightly inaccurately. However the wood pulled in allowed me to get this really tight and secure. So I left it as it is.

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Another test fit to make sure I don't waste time and need to back track or redo anything

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Now its time to attach it to the desk itself. So using some old cheap shelf mounts made of pine, I marked some holes and drilled to attach to the desk, but also wider holes for the HOTAS mount to affix to.

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My first attempt I tried putting the connectors on the inside of the HOTAS mount, but sadly this conflicted with the arms supporting my desk. I had to opt for them mounted on the outside.

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Another test fit to the desk. After sitting and getting a feel for it, I found the width and placements I wanted. And yes, I know it still looks pretty tacky, and well it is, but wanted to try and clean it up somehow.

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so repeated it for both sides.

And thats Diggle from Arrow in the reflection for anyone curious

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Cut down the base plates so they matched the HOTAS base with no overlap

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Now for the clean up. Premium black vinyl to match my desk

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Base plate done

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Side pieces done. One thing I wanted to do was to follow the wood grain and try to make it somewhat natural.

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Little before and after shot. For a basic mount I was quite proud of myself

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I considered screwing the HOTAS to the base, hence why I had drilled holes in the first attempt. But I realised the bolts needed were ugly so I settled with covering the unneeded HOTAS holes and opted for velcro instead.

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Here she is attached to the desk with the grain flowing with the desk for the plates.

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Attached some hooks to the back to help with routing the HOTAS cables. didnt want them handing down or in sight when im using it.

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And job complete

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The bolts attaching the mounts to the desk just pop out so it takes less than a minute to remove everything and have a clean desk when I need it.

Total cost if you consider everything were just offcuts... £10 for the screws and bolts. £10 for the Vinyl

edit* forgot the cost of the vinyl


So there you have it. There is no need to spend a fortune on mounts. Just make your own. Under desk mounting means I can maintain a close proximity to the keyboard which I think is necessary when using VR. You can bind all you want but its very annoying when you need to type for star systems.

 

[NeverBackDown]

That's pretty cool! I definitely want something like this for my basic HOTAS. All the mounts are more expensive than my $35 t.flight hotas x.

Good choice on the Vinyl btw. Looks 10000000x better than before

 

[Bartacus]

Subbed so I can see pics when I get home!! I forked out the $$$ for the MonsterTech mounts. They are amazing, but having SKILLS to solve the issue WITHOUT having to spend crazy money on mounts is PRICELESS.

 

[Warchild]

That's pretty cool! I definitely want something like this for my basic HOTAS. All the mounts are more expensive than my $35 t.flight hotas x.

Good choice on the Vinyl btw. Looks 10000000x better than before

Thanks

I really wanted the Monster mounts but the cost is just diabolical. Plus I love working with wood. Just a shame I don't have all the tools for proper precision. Did my best with what I had on hand. Funny thing is. seeing positive comments like this, makes me want to refine it even more
Like blackened screws or rotatable mounts on a hinge to swivel 180degrees and hide underneath it without removing. Shouldn't be that hard I guess

 

[FTLN]

Some nice handy work skills you get there !!

Always wanted to get into Elite Dangerous, or any space sim for that matter but never new where to start !

 

[Warchild]

Some nice handy work skills you get there !!

Always wanted to get into Elite Dangerous, or any space sim for that matter but never new where to start !

The beauty of ED is that its a sandbox. So you can start anywhere and choose any direction in style of play.

All you need to really get hooked is a hotas

 

[Bartacus]

DUDE!!!!!! I just saw the pics, and you CRUSHED it! Those are perfect, and LOOK the part too, great job man!!

 

[NeverBackDown]

Thanks

I really wanted the Monster mounts but the cost is just diabolical. Plus I love working with wood. Just a shame I don't have all the tools for proper precision. Did my best with what I had on hand. Funny thing is. seeing positive comments like this, makes me want to refine it even more
Like blackened screws or rotatable mounts on a hinge to swivel 180degrees and hide underneath it without removing. Shouldn't be that hard I guess

That's what I was thinking would be next. A way to put them a little more out of the way.

I'm wondering to if maybe making it from a 3D printer would work as well... Not sure if it would be strong enough

 

[g0ggles1994]

Thanks for the inspiration mate! Going to definitely give this a look for my issue as well!

Got to justify buying my Dremel as well :lol:

 

[Excalabur50]

This is really bloody clever might have to steal this idea for my HOTAS!

 

[Warchild]

This is really bloody clever might have to steal this idea for my HOTAS!

Go for it. Copy with pride

 

[Excalabur50]

Go for it. Copy with pride

Thanks buddy I shall!

 

[Warchild]

That's what I was thinking would be next. A way to put them a little more out of the way.

I'm wondering to if maybe making it from a 3D printer would work as well... Not sure if it would be strong enough

Was browsing my old posts to find some info i needed for another person then remembered this comment.

Gave me a lightbulb to give it a go. One downside to my current mounts are the space they take up. Very annoying to try and tuck them away. So decided inbetween changing the layout of my pc, id give this a shot.

Now I have a 0.2nozzle and 0.4nozzle, I can toy with accuracy.

One thing in the past I noticed is that precision with the default nozzles can be very hit and miss. Especially since PLA when cooling contracts and can pull things out of alignment. Often models walls will prevent that, but when you are building 2 models which should align, it can be a pain.

Spent last few days chatting with Dice about this and putting something together. I wanted to opt for a desk clamp but all my ideas meant it became to large and bulky or just not strong enough. PLA is strong for sure, but with enough force it will still flex "slightly" meaning your strong clamp on the desk can come loose over time.

That means, I will go for a permanent mount underneath the desk as before, but small, light weight, and allow the main hotas mount to be removable.

Draft 1 ended up looking like this.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Glad my comment sparked that lightbulb. Looking forward to your projects as always

 

[Warchild]

Glad my comment sparked that lightbulb. Looking forward to your projects as always

Going to try to drop the idea of pins and switch to magnets.

 

[Warchild]

Just did a basic magnet test. Printed two blocks and inserted magnets half way through the print.

My plan is to replace nearly all the pins above with some good Neodymium magnets. The guesstimate now is how thick to build the PLA walls between the magnets. I don't want it too strong as this will probably do soft damage over time with the contacts. But also can't be too weak that they fall apart from navigating the hotas stick to its extremities.

So far a 2mm wall seems to be ideal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mnzc9j5XD0

 

[Warchild]

Well the design is now finished. Next step is the printing phase. I need to check which layers will cover the magnet holes, so I can pause the print, drop the magnets in and let the printer continue with the models like before.

In the wireframe view, you can see the interior sections where the magnets sit. I opted to put a 3mm wall between each model so the magnets are not too strong.

My only issue now is the hotas plate. its slightly more than my printer max size
225x185 vs 220x220 of the printer

I picked up Simplify3D and i was able to create a custom print bed allowing me to get the full dimensions. I just need to learn how to script the slicer to pause at a certain layer now.


Its strange that Ender quote the Ender 5 pro only allows 200x200x300 when I have already printed a frame that was 235x235. It wasnt even a stretch. It handled the excess size very comfortably.

 

[Warchild]

Its been really fun printing the parts for this. Its not quite its final form though but
certainly getting there.

Added a script into the print code so that it paused at two specific layers allowing me to drop two magnets in. Then it simply continued to print over them.


This one will be used for the top plate that will come later as soon as I can figure out how to print it efficiently

Once I got to my second pause, I popped in the magnet that will attract the main body

Moving on to the rear main body. I had to print everything in sequence, in order to make sure that the magnets were orientated in the correct direction for strong attraction.

This one shows a single layer of plastic printed over it. Didnt stick hence the low quality layer, but it did not have any issues with laying it down luckily, so later layers simply corrected any flaws.

After many many hours of tweaking and adjusting, I finally finished one side. I went over the top on accuracy i.e. printing slow, with very thin layers in order to ensure all the holes aligned. Next time I will push it faster, but here are the results.

All of these can literally be thrown into a small box and stuffed in a drawer. And take up "far" less space than my original wooden mounts.

I also designed my own Gnurl grip head which I left blank so I can reuse for any future projects I want and add different lengths and/or threaded type variants.

These are the only pins that I had to print. The two long ones are to attach the shaft to the desk itself, and two shorter ones to adjust the height of the hotas body.

I also added two blanks, that I can insert above and below my chosen height. It allows me to remember the same position next time I reassemble it. Saves time fiddling trying to find what height I had it at before.

And here it is assembled

I was dreading alot of flex given the weight and length, but I am surprised its very rigid! It would be a problem if the body is mounted much lower. The shaft does flex a bit too much, but I have a fix for that coming later.

The four recesses are magnetised ready to attach the plate to the top, and 4 smaller holes are to allow a longer bolt to attach the Hotas to the mount itself.

 

[Warchild]

To put in perspective the time for this (excluding design and refinement)

Desk Shaft - 11hours
4 corner wings - 5 hours each
Rear body - 9 hours
Front body - 10.5 hours
Rectangle blocks to fix to desk - 2 hours each.
Pins - about 40mins each

These done at a 0.1mm layer, 40mm/s speed and 0.2mm nozzle for accuracy.

I think switching out to a 0.4 nozzle and doubling print speed could easily have this made 200% faster. My worry would be accuracy of hole alignment and hole diameter.

 

[Kleptobot]

To put in perspective the time for this (excluding design and refinement)

Desk Shaft - 11hours
4 corner wings - 5 hours each
Rear body - 9 hours
Front body - 10.5 hours
Rectangle blocks to fix to desk - 2 hours each.
Pins - about 40mins each

These done at a 0.1mm layer, 40mm/s speed and 0.2mm nozzle for accuracy.

I think switching out to a 0.4 nozzle and doubling print speed could easily have this made 200% faster. My worry would be accuracy of hole alignment and hole diameter.

I have done some 3D printing but am more familiar with mills and other CNC cutting systems.
Don't 3D printer tool path generators do 'tool diameter' compensation for the nozzle size so that the accuracy doesn't change with the nozzle used? I would have thought that nozzle size would be fairly easily compensated for.