This is cool!
I am looking for something that can go right next to my Warthog throttle to add a few more levers and switches - something that I can augment the warthog with. This gives me some ideas! 
How did you cut out the slots for the throttle/mixture/prop pitch levers?
Aluminium is very easy to work with, you can use bigger drill bits to drill the holes at either end, then remove some of the middle with them too if you would want to, or just use a mill bit to cut through it sideways, then use a file to even it out.
Perhaps @Troll used another method though.
Nope!
Troll drills the ends, and cut the middle with a dremel and a cutting wheel. I use a file to even out the cut.
Troll would like a CNC milling machine though… Or a laser…! 
I knew the @TheAlmightySnark would take a keen interest to this thread - he has that engineering mindset too. Me - I’d very likely cut a finger or two off making that thing. And what a thing it is - form AND function…what a beautiful creation!
Even a drill press would be epic, been looking for a second hand one, just haven’t gotten around to picking one up yet. Really need it to since the drill I currently use has the chuck offcenter from the axis due to having had to suffer too much pressure during normal work! Makes it hard to accurately drill.
Laser engravers also have my fancy, makes building panels really really easy!
@BeachAV8R If you never try, you never know! Get a sheet of aluminium and some basic tools and play around! As Adam Savage says, you really need to build things twice, once to learn, and the second time to do it right.
These look like the most complicated mechanical bits. Do you have a link?
Where do you have your rotary/axis mappings? On the PCB?
Also. What is this?
See I start thinking of this and I get lost in all of the details.
I ‘think’ this is one of the locking switches but it looks to be side mount. Would you need a momentary switch version? One that only fires the on ‘signal’ for a short time or would this version, which I think is on until you switch it off, be good enough if the software handled the momentary part (ie: a single key press instead of holding down the key? Is that a thing? A concern?)
Very very nice. Thanks for thepost
I have got that! Best tool in my inventory.
Another hobby of mine is building radio controlled aircraft, so I have a bunch of nifty tools.
LoL! That’s so true! 
This is actually my second throttle. The first one had DIY hall sensors and lever mechanisms. It got too big, in the end.
A few pics of my first:
Yes. DVik has a CNC lasercutter, which makes this part of the build a lot easier.
The mechanisms are quite fancy with adjustable friction…
Yes. Here’s a picture of the PCB design.
A shift register is a chip that allows 8 different buttons to connect to 1 pin on the controller.
Normally, every button need to close a curcuit which basically means shorting 2 pins.
The controller board normally has just maybe 10 pins, which would mean just 5 buttons, right.
Now you can either set it up as a matrix, where 5 pins form the columns, and 5 pins form the rows. This will allow for 5x5=25 buttons. Or you can use shift registers which will send 8 different button signals to a single pin on the board, making it possible to use 80 buttons, in this example.
Now I’m no electrician, so I’m trying to explain this so even I understand it
You can find a lot of good information at the MMJoy2 wiki:
That’s the beauty of MMJoy2!
You can program the switch to send a momentary “press” when it’s switched on, and another “press” when it’s turned off again.
MMJoy2 is written by a flightsimmer, for flightsimmers…
Who says I didn’t…?
Well, not usually, even if you don’t use a matrix you either pull the pin high or low with the button, which usually means making a short with ground, or VCC depending how the internal pull-up/down works.
Ok?
I just went with what the MMJoy2 Wiki says…
Single button connection
Buttons and switches have at least 2 contacts and thus require 2 pins. They will send the signal by connecting them. Any board pin, except for the service ones (Reset/GND/VCC/AREF), can be used for a button
I see now that you are talking about a very specific instance, pins usually refer to connection points on a chip in this context, but i see they use it for generic GND connections. Fair enough then. I am usually of the opinion that you can dump anything in the ground plane as long as you are working low freq, when you go high you need to start taking the noise you create into account.
Btw, their debouncing is a little… weird. Using diodes works but is prohibitly expensive and is usually used as a debounce on a relay(the field being destroyed creates a loop back current). It’s often easier to grab a 10K resistor and just either go GND or VCC with that.
Hey, I’m learning something!
Like mentioned earlier, I’m no electrician… Everything I know I had to google or pick up from others.
But that’s what is so great about DIY projects. The need to learn comes as a bonus…!
Wait, they debounce in hardware? Why not in software? It’s ridiculously easy…
Ehm…? Debouncing? Is that why you use diodes in the matrix?
How is this done in software…?
One cool thing with my ConTrollR throttle, besides the whole thing being cool is the gear handle…
I got the Honeywell “pull to operate” switch from a Italian military surplus seller on ebay. It was marked as “New, Old stock. Military aircraft surplus” and came with this round wheel metal handle.
Now, there are some civilian light aircraft that has electrically operated landinggear, that use similar switches as a gear handle. The Bonanza comes to mind…
Does anybody know what aircraft this switch may belong to…?
