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

 

[Gaboni]

I did find something about the display which doesn't help, and that is that only 4 rotary switches are supported, while I need 5. I contacted them anyway so maybe something can be figured out.

Hi William. I am Gaboni, one of the developers of the GS-PRO display.

First of all, contrats for your work with this steering wheel. It looks great!!

Regarding the GS-Pro display, it supports 4 rotary encoders, which are used to increase and decrease game settings, as engine boost, brake balance, etc.

But the display also supports 4 additional rotary switches, These 12-P switches can be used in the same way as a encoder, or can be used to manage some features of the display, like Led intensity, data to be shown, multifunction switch, etc.

Best Regards,

Gaboni

 

[William Geuze]

hey Gaboni, thanks for he reply

Indeed the 4 rotary switches are a bit of a limitation for me as I require 5 of them. Almost all F1 wheels have at least 5 rotary switches, it therefore would be a great advantage if you support that as well.

 

[Vojvoda]

Display GS-Pro supports 4 rotary switches and 4 rotary encoder, 8 rotary devices...
The rotary encoder is better for engine mapping and brake bias.

 

[William Geuze]

This is really getting old.........

 

[michal226]

http://www.virtualr.net/stigr-f1-display-for-thrustmaster-f1-wheel

 

[William Geuze]

I noticed that, interesting

 

[Everaldo R. Lima]

 

[Everaldo R. Lima]

More Photos.

 

[Everaldo R. Lima]

Hello everyone!
Above photos the details of building my wheel.
The body was constructed of wood cut with laser. The buttons and SLI are acrylic, also cut with laser. The model is not finished yet and also has no electronics. I'm from Brazil and I apologize for the English.

 

[Everaldo R. Lima]

The back, in the initial stage of construction.

 

[William Geuze]

Errr, thanks for hijacking my topic Everaldo...

On another note, I'm working on the smaller parts to prepare them for creating a mold. I really am going for a mirror finish on those parts now to ensure they will not get stuck anymore. Very labor intensive and I'm already a week in on this little part, I really hope to be able to create the new mold out of it in another week. If that succeeds, I'm doing the other small grip. After that it's the backside again.. Everytime I'm thinking of how close I am I get a setback... If I had gone the route Everaldo has taken I would have been done already, but an MDF steering wheel, not exactly F1 style in the end..

It also seems the guys at simdisplay have had the same idea I had when I looked at their previous display, that it just wasn't close enough to the actual McLaren display. So now they came up with a new one who does! I'm very curious as to how it is going to be priced, it just might be a good contender to compete for my attention next to the sli-f1 from Bodnar
http://www.simdisplay.net/

 

[SIM Display]

Hello William

That is correct. Our previous display is smaller than real McLaren display and it was not made for that purpose. The SIMR-F1 is much closer to real F1 display module and also support more buttons, switches, encoders and external leds

We hope you like new design. Our website has also been updated with estimated release date and price for display + housing.

Regards,
SD Team

 

[belldanndy]

Errr, thanks for hijacking my topic Everaldo...

On another note, I'm working on the smaller parts to prepare them for creating a mold. I really am going for a mirror finish on those parts now to ensure they will not get stuck anymore. Very labor intensive and I'm already a week in on this little part, I really hope to be able to create the new mold out of it in another week. If that succeeds, I'm doing the other small grip. After that it's the backside again.. Everytime I'm thinking of how close I am I get a setback... If I had gone the route Everaldo has taken I would have been done already, but an MDF steering wheel, not exactly F1 style in the end..

It also seems the guys at simdisplay have had the same idea I had when I looked at their previous display, that it just wasn't close enough to the actual McLaren display. So now they came up with a new one who does! I'm very curious as to how it is going to be priced, it just might be a good contender to compete for my attention next to the sli-f1 from Bodnar
http://www.simdisplay.net/

At least they have a release date and attractive price!!
Looks promising!

 

[belldanndy]

Hello William

That is correct. Our previous display is smaller than real McLaren display and it was not made for that purpose. The SIMR-F1 is much closer to real F1 display module and also support more buttons, switches, encoders and external leds

We hope you like new design. Our website has also been updated with estimated release date and price for display + housing.

Regards,
SD Team

This is looking really good! Any video showing the finishing product in action? Thanks!

 

[SIM Display]

Thank you. We dont have a video yet but it will be published soon.

 

[William Geuze]

I actually do like it @SIM Display, for a price including enclosure with similar (expected) specs to the bodnar sli-f1 I'm seriously considering this product. However, it still is more money than I'm willing to spend at this point in time because of the state of this project... Still sanding like crazy...

At least they have a release date and attractive price!!
Looks promising!

Indeed, I especially like the fact that they kept the enclosure how it needs to be

 

[belldanndy]

Thank you. We dont have a video yet but it will be published soon.

Looking forward to that!!

 

[belldanndy]

I actually do like it @SIM Display, for a price including enclosure with similar (expected) specs to the bodnar sli-f1 I'm seriously considering this product. However, it still is more money than I'm willing to spend at this point in time because of the state of this project... Still sanding like crazy...

Indeed, I especially like the fact that they kept the enclosure how it needs to be

I still have faith in your project! Little by little, it will start to take shape.

 

[William Geuze]

Thanks man, myself, I'm losing it and gaining it again from time to time, it's a really, really frustrating process of many ups and downs.. I'm really working on the MDF plugs now, sanding, priming, sanding, priming, filling, etc. The part I'm working on now is already about three times as smooth as it was before. And apparently, the smoother the part is/looks, the less surface area it has for the mold to get stuck on. Compare a golf ball with a regular ball. I hope to do a test this weekend where I will also stick the part on a piece of wood before I start and have some leverage for when I want to extract the pug from the mold. If this doesn't work, I'm going to call in some help from people who know what the heck they are doing...

I received an email with the specs of the simdisplay display, man I'm stocked for this, as the costs including the housing are still the sim as the bodnar one without!
The only thing I was worried about was available buttons,switches and encoders and it looks great, no limits to not build any F1 or GT wheel I would want

- 8 digits (14 segment display)
- Gear indicator (7 segment display)
- 15 RPM leds
- 6 warning leds
- 32 buttons/ 16 encoders
- 9 rotary switches
- 2 potentiometers
- 7 external leds
- Mini USB connector
- Alternative USB connector
- Adjustable brightness
- Optional F1 housing
- Free SLIMax Manager software license included
( http://www.eksimracing.com/new-slimax-manager-iii/ )
- More than 40 games and simulations supported


I can build my prototype with this unit, scripting included

edit2:
Actually, who am I kidding. I'll try to source some people with knowledge just this evening BEFORE I screw up again. I need to learn more about this stuff in order to advance properly towards my first goal, having the first complete prototype/mockup of all major parts put together.

 

[belldanndy]

Yes, the simdisplay looks very promising, hope they release some video soon.
After all those hard work, your wheel should turn out great! Looking forward for the prototype to finish!!