DIY Ferrari 2011 Wheel

[William Geuze]

At this point in time I'm in the research phase for my future DIY project. I have never done anything like this, and I'm certainly no handy man. You think this sounds weird? Wait till you read what I want to do...

In short, this is what I want to build:

Features:
Leo Bodnar SLI-Pro
Shifter paddles
Clutch paddles
Hall effect sensors for clutch (Allegro A1302)
Microswitches for shifters (???)
12 rotary switches
3 regular switches
10 (knitter) pushbuttons (only if I can strike a deal)
Quick release
2 layers of Carbon fibre shell
glass fibre cast
rubber grips

I will create my own CAD drawings, guestimating measurements, with the help from some known sizes, and my own 3d model made for my 3D portfolio.

Estimated cost: €450,-

Yes, this might seem way out of my league for someone who has no experience with this stuff at all. Because it is. But I'm a stubborn bastard and I would love to do this. There isn't a single product on the market which suits me for an affordable price. Buying a Thrustmaster and adjusting that still sucks, since thats costs about 500 without the SLI-Pro and buttons added, and it basically is a plastic toy still..

For now, I have the following questions:
- According to Bodnars' website, the hall effect sensor can be connected directly to the SLI-pro, is this true?
- Is it expensive to have moulds routed/cnc-ed?
- Which microswitches for the shifters? What about the mounting, no idea how just yet.
- Is the quick release worth my money?
- Is it possible to route all wires through the steering wheel/colum into the steering wheel base?
- I will be in the market for a new steering wheel base, Im still using an old Momo Racing. second hand g27?

Any feedback, opinion, help etc, is much appreciated.


edit:
Before I forget, any plans, templates, files I create, will be free to use by the community Im just not responsible for any mistakes in them

 

[William Geuze]

It seems to fit great on the wheel itself!

Again, I would very much like to know what pushbuttons and switches people used on their wheels, especially the ones used on the T500 Ferrari rims

Im going work on the insides a bit now I have the wheel fully fleshed out. I have no clue about construction, but I didnt expect I was able to create the above images in the first place as well

This is the inside of the front panel, would like some feedback on the structure

 

[William Geuze]

I have a question, it's about the rotary switches Leo Bodnar recommends using with the SLI-Pro (and the SLI-F1 I expect). How long are the shafts on those, and is it easy to make them shorter if needed? I couldn't find a clear measurement in the documentation so I guesstimated it from the pictures in the SLI-Pro manual.

This isn't looking good on the wheel so thats why Im wondering if the shafts can be altered easily.

Front panel update:

I'm already getting short on space in the cavity, need to check the thickness of the material. How thick or thin should I go? Is 2mm enough?

 

[glowplug]

They are nylon - you cut them down to fit the knob.

 

[William Geuze]

They are nylon - you cut them down to fit the knob.

Great, thanks!

Requested a quote again for a prototype milled out of wood Im curious how much that will cost me.

 

[William Geuze]

I received a quote for milling the front panel out of pom material.
It amounted to 600, holy crap!!!

hopefully someone has cheaper alternatives to produce this :x

 

[Miguel Gonzalez]

If

I received a quote for milling the front panel out of pom material.
It amounted to 600, holy crap!!!

hopefully someone has cheaper alternatives to produce this :x

if you're looking for someone to make the base for you Charlie Visser over at simracnwheels.com does CNC work for custom wheels, he cuts out of plexiglass and offers the carbon fiber adhesive for looks after. You'll save yourself bout 400 easy of you talk to Charlie. Tell him I sent you =)

 

[William Geuze]

Thanks I'll keep that guy in mind!

I'll keep working on this anyway, there surely will be a chance I can have it built locally.

edit:
An update on the inside

 

[William Geuze]

I started working on the shift assembly.

I don't know how to mount the microswitches yet, and I need something else than a M5 screw to hold the larger springs, but for now this looks like it is ready to be prototyped. Next week when I'm going to visit my parents I can get my old Meccano set and use it for this

edit:
I'm having one paddle printen through www.shapeways.com for it to be used on my prototype, lets see how this works

edit2:
First try on the clutch paddles

Don't quite know how to make them work properly though. Meaning, how to fix them with springs, the same method as for the shift paddles won't work.

 

[William Geuze]

I've kind of decided on a way of production, I will stick to carbon fiber for now!

Here are the prototypes I made this weekend (partly from my old meccano set) and the shift assembly works great I was also glad to see from a fellow forum poster that he had roughly the same mechanics on his wheel which is way further in development

 

[William Geuze]

Im wondering what the springs on the clutch paddles here are called, they are the same ones like you find on clothing pegs, but more buffed up obviously. anyone know where I can purchase them or what their name is?

 

[belldanndy]

I still have all sorts of questions that I hope someone can answer for me

- In another topic I saw someone made a casting of a wheel picture (looked like it), what are the costs for that (estimate)
- How do I know which switches and buttons to get? I do know the tumble switches need to have 3 poles and the buttons need to be momentary, but anything else about the specs which I need to know?
- Any ideas as for cluth and gear paddle mounting and mechanics? I have an idea but I'd like to see more ideas which I haven't thought of.
- Should I use micro switches for the gear paddles? If so, what kind, there are so many..) (clutch will use hall effect sensors)
- Would it be an idea to have the quick release mount to the center frame through the rear panel, or just the rear panel?

Questions questions...

Before I start building a prototype of any kind, I really want to have these technical drawings out of the way. I'll probably start working on the back panel this week, and post images of the parts, I'd very much like some feedback. I have never built anything like this at all so it will be quite usefull!

edit:
A big 'if'. What if, considering costs, its better to produce lets say, the parts for 5 wheels in total (excluding any hardware that is). Would anyone interested in buying some? If so, speak up and you can even help along improving the technical aspects of the production if you want to.

Will hopefully be able to post new images next week. I would really like some feedback on construction. Because of cost, I will probably need to settle for polyethyleen or something similar... Creating a mold and my own carbon fibre shell, that is going to very expensive and I might just end up with a very expensive wobbly steering wheel which is of no use...

Also, will this quick release fit on a g27 or t500?

It's really cool to see someone spend so much effort on the F1 wheel project. I am consider buying Ross wheel but hesitate on the out-dated looks and also the unknown delivery date. I am glade to buy one from you if you consider selling as a complete wheel. I think there are plenty want to get a realistic look and feel F1 wheel mod for their G25/G27. Just look at how many customers complaining the delivery time for a Ross wheel.
The Lifeline electronic quick release can fit on the G25/G27, as this is an 400 Euro option for Ross wheel too! And it's great to know you stick with Carbon Fiber for the wheel's structure, Carbon Fiber is what F1 means, right?

 

[belldanndy]

Im wondering what the springs on the clutch paddles here are called, they are the same ones like you find on clothing pegs, but more buffed up obviously. anyone know where I can purchase them or what their name is?

I think they're just binary switches sensor use spring pressure apply on it. Here are some links I found before, hope they help.

http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=222264&page=31

http://www.thewayiplay.com/mainforum/index.php?topic=1063.msg15040#msg15040

http://www.virtualr.net/team-arc-steering-wheels-webshop-now-open

http://www.virtualr.net/team-arc-steering-wheels-new-photos

 

[William Geuze]

Thanks I appreciate the nice words!
You can always buy one if you want of course, but for now there is nothing to buy yet

The spring was look for is called a torsion spring

The sensors I will be using are hall effect sensors, the same one which are used in actual GP2/F1 steering wheel (cheaper versions ofcourse) and which is also used in the Zroso wheels

 

[Gary Jibb]

Have you agreed on a material yet? How were the quotes? Are you making much physical progress or is everything still hypothetical until you get a physical wheel to start tinkering with?
I'm 1 step away from getting my wheel cut, still considering throwing a layer of carbon fiber overtop for looks (and I guess it may strengthen it). Ill keep you updated when I make progress. Looks like you've been busy!
Cheers

 

[William Geuze]

Im very much leaning towards an outer shell of carbon fibre filled up with glassfibre to cut the costs. The frame will be aluminum as I intended for now. Im waiting on a company to send me a quote for milling the wooden version of the front panel. I will have to work that myself quite a bit to make it ready to create a cast from. The result of the cast I will use as a mould for my carbon fibre shell.

As I don't have any money to spare, and since the SLI-F1 isn't available yet, I want to make the post out of planning and prototyping

To have the panel milled out of POM, would cost me €600,-........... Needless to say, that is not an option.

During the daily bussride home however, I came to the conclusion I have overlooked a problem which I don't know how to solve yet. It will not be a problem to attach the front panel to the frame. But once that is on there, how do I fix the back panel to it? I cant reach behind the frame anymore to keep a nut from rotating with the screw. How would you guys go about that problem?

edit:
Figured out how the clutch could function, I do need a beefier spring though!

edit2:
the prototype works! A clothing peg sacrified itself in the process though

 

[Mr Pibb]

During the daily bussride home however, I came to the conclusion I have overlooked a problem which I don't know how to solve yet. It will not be a problem to attach the front panel to the frame. But once that is on there, how do I fix the back panel to it? I cant reach behind the frame anymore to keep a nut from rotating with the screw. How would you guys go about that problem?

Wgenuze,

I made a totaly invisible connection between my front panel and the frame just using 2 standard computer motherboard mounting stools. I then just used 2 more stools behind the rear panel acting as thumbscrews to hold the front panel in place.

You can see here the front of the wheel and there's absolutely no visible connections.

Here you can see the two stools behind the front panel.

And here you can see the "thumb screws" behind. I was cheap and used the G25 shifter paddles, and the paddles clear the thumbscrews by quite a bit when in use. I never had the two touch ever and I've done a buck load of shifting! Anyway, this holds the panel firmly in place in the forwards/backwards direction.

To stop the front panel from rotating or going sideways, I just had 3 pins protruding from the frame into 3 matching half-depth holes behind the front panel.
You can't really see the pins in this shot, they're quite small, but they're there. They certainly do their job well despite their size.

And here's a shot from behind the front panel showing the matching half depth holes to accept the pins.

I actualy wanted to be able to deliberately remove the front panel quickly and easily on a regular basis. I've done this so I can swap the front panel out with another one depending on the sim I'm using. I have one front panel for F1, and another for street cars.

Here's the same wheel but with the hub swapped out with the street car hub.

Since I used a standard wheel rim from a logitech momo black, I didn't need to get anything milled. The front panel and switch/circuit board frame is merely layered plastic which was laser cut. So I used brass "threaded inserts" in the plastic to accept the mounting stools. Like so:

This is a really effective and cheap method of fixing your front panel invisibly and yet allows you gain access as regular as you like. Hope this helps. Good luck with the build. I been enjoying this thread.

Mr Pibb

 

[William Geuze]

Big thanks to you sir! I have never thought of this option and it sounds really good actually!
I will surely find a way to utilize it the current design, and if not atleast I know it is an option.

Found these babies, looks awesome because I will using M5 Hex screws to fix the front panel to the aluminum frame. If the holes on the frame are threaded, in theory, you can very easily bolt on the front panel with your method since it just can't get loose unless you want them to!

http://www.conrad.nl/ce/nl/product/521855/AFSTANDSBOUT-M5/2304340&ref=list

I already purchased some M5 bolts today, and a set of torsion springs will arrive next week. What will also arrive next week is my first actual prototype 3d printed. First 3d print ever, can't wait We also salvaged shock springs from my brothers old rc-car so I should get it working pretty soon... If I drill the 2 holes I forgot that is, they weren't on my template since I forgot to update that before printing

 

[Mr Pibb]

Those are the ones. Note that they come in many different lengths! Dig a bit deeper and you should find some of the length you require.

Also, be wary - these come with metric or imperial threads. Make sure you know what you're getting.

I used a bit of loctite on them so when I turn the thumb screws on the back, they don't turn the inner stools. If that makes sense.

BTW, if you'e going to use plastic sheet and have it cut, be wary of the sheet thickenesses available. I designed my wheel around 2mm plastic, but I soon discovered most plastics came in 1/16 or 1/8 inch thicknesses! (That's 1.5875mm and 3.175mm respectively). For me that meant a total redesign.

 

[William Geuze]

Yeah I seen them from 10mm range to 50mm
Since I'll be buying them locally I don't thing the threads will be different than normally but thanks for the heads up.

That redesign must have sucked :X
I'm going to stick with a combination of carbon- and glass fibre to build the panels For extra sturdiness and to distribute the force feedback forces I will be using a aluminium frame. The latter is also kind of decided for me since that is what is probably used in the actual wheel It will also be the cheapest part that I will manufactor myself btw, just mill it out of some standard spec sheet, a 2d drawing, some drilling and threading two to four holes. Doesn't sound too expensive to me, but I don't know what I'm doing anyway.

 

[William Geuze]

Put the tip straight to use, seems to be work fine! They are all the same length now, but I will probably pick different lengths according to their location later.

Working on the wiring is so gonna suck haha.