DIY Sim Racing Button Box | Cheap and Simple!

[@clemsiemckenzie9799]

Possibly one of your best videos mate! Funny and super helpful! How would one go about making these boxes work in sim? Do you have a simple software that'll recognize those and make it work in sim?

[@ChrisHaye]

Thanks man! There's no need for any software, the USB board is picked up by windows and works natively. I probably should have mentioned that!

[@clemsiemckenzie9799]

@@ChrisHaye Brilliant! Man you really undersold the cheap and simple part, looks like a super fun quick project.

[@DarthPoyner]

@@ChrisHaye Sorry to piggy back on this comment, but does that board only support momentary switches or does it also work with switches or potentiometers?

[@ItsHelmet]

@@DarthPoyner It works with knobs, switches, and anything like that, just has to have the connection type to be able to work with the board is all

[@JamesW81]

@@DarthPoyner Pots might be a stretch, but you could possibly get away with a rotary encoder, one input for press, and one each for clockwise and anticlockwise turns.

[@wanabdulhadi1268]

As both a fighting games enthusiast and a sim racer, I’m absolutely elated that you used arcade buttons!

[@pedrosilvaproductions]

Imagine using sanwa buttons for a sim rig. The great feel with the practicality of the button box

[@benji928]

Kazuya nods in agreement

[@single_daddin_it]

After scouring a few sites for panels I'm convinced building my own will me FAR easier and better than what's out there for my needs. We have 3 different 3D printers at home and plenty of these switches and wires already from previous projects. This is gonna be a fun one.

[@HPsawus]

Please let me know how it went 😁

[@adambodorkos1745]

I just bought a cheap USB keyboard featuring a touchpad, printed some stickers, mounted it on my playseat challenge and bam, multi-purpose button box :)

[@ChrisHaye]

I did the same thing to start with. But, when I got an Alcantara wheel I wanted to use gloves, which made the touchpad unusable.... which is a shame, because it was much more convenient than having a separate mouse!

[@adambodorkos1745]

@@ChrisHaye Yeah and for older sims the mouse is a must unfortunately. Cool DIY btw!

[@munkymittens]

You sir.... Deserve my humblest and sincerest thanks for this idea.... ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@atomgaming7170]

A mastermind! Will try the same

[@munkymittens]

@@adambodorkos1745 do you mind telling me how you solved plugging more than one keyboard in? I've tried messing with AHK and LuaMacros but haven't a clue what I'm doing lol

[@andyc280081973]

Pro-tip: Many of the boxes have a grid etched on the inside of the lid - making it super easy to plan your button spacing, and it's just as easy to drill from that side (i.e doesn't make a mess of the outside). Also +1 for carbon - I did the same!

[@jordangrant-smith1248]

Chris this is the most simplified way someones ever taught DIY (as should be the standard). Gonna follow this and make one in the near future, I cant see myself messing it up too badly! :D Thanks for the vid!

[@darknewt9959]

Chris, you're a legend. This is such a simple but effective build. After buying the bits back when you released this video, I finally got around to designing a layout and doing the build. So many latent man-tools called into service. Pure workshop joy. Just what the doctor ordered. Works first time, added into iRacing, AC, FS22 and Elite Dangerous. Once I work out just where I want it on my rig, I'll sort out a proper mounting solution.

[@roadhog29389]

Also with this, If you buy a kit with all the buttons and joystick, You can use said joystick as a sequential shifter. I did such for many years with no issues

[@christophertcraig]

Your vid’s are always times so we’ll, I’ve been shopping button boxes the last few weeks!

[@ChrisHaye]

Heh. I can't take too much credit for the timing of this one.... it should have been released 3 weeks ago, but getting the printer to play ball for the 'numpad' box took far longer than it should have :D

[@R3mix97]

@@ChrisHaye Printers are literally the worst

[@phillupson8561]

heh, "My limited DIY experience" - says the man in a kickass studio he built ;)

[@doggieboy773a]

Your DIY skills are on point and is worthy of another KZbin topic.

[@mrj3217]

Thank you, thank you , thank you brother. This is awesome, I am going to save a ton of money, make the boxes how I want them and have a cool project with the kids.

[@placeholder2924]

I did this a few years ago myself and it's excellent. I really like it, though mounting is definitely an issue.

[@ForSquirel]

Holy crap. This is what I need in my life right now. Thanks!

[@bottomsplitracing]

love the zip tie that bad boy on there hahaha

[@jenscee7679]

Most useful video I’ve seen for sim racers on a budget. Thanks.

[@revalutionzzz]

Made these myself in the past, I used a glue gun to secure the connections instead of solder. A cheap glue gun with glue can be found on eBay/Amazon too.

[@coriddeval1815]

Seems like with the right setup you could make both an ebrake (just on and off not pressure sensitive) as well as a sequential gear box shifter. Even a H shifter.

[@joel7812]

Definitely gonna use the numpad one. No clue why I havnt thought of that before. I even have one laying around too.

[@crashturnone7611]

Seeing the prices of prebuild boxes I was looking into whether to build my own. This vid helps finally convince me to just give it a go. Just need to workout how to integrate my stream deck into the box for extra buttons.

[@aeiouxs]

Bloody. Awesome. Work. That's all I need to say Chris!

[@lukejordan9670]

for mounting a button box 3m dual lock is another great option

[@rhyswhite4018]

What a brilliant video. Would welcome any future videos where you share tips and advice on how to save money in sim racing.

[@tonyyimbo]

Dude i literally just got these in the mail today perfect timing! great content as always!

[@JimLem]

This is awesome Chris! I only discovered your channel a couple of weeks ago and had been considering a DIY button project for my sim rig. Thank you and subbed!

[@Glorious_Kim_Jong_Un]

Carbon is very strong, especially if you ever decide to use it around the Titanic

[@ndb6ndk99]

New simracer, new fan of yours! Really love your stuff Chris. Keep it up!

[@everythingofnothing3744]

Thanks for this. Been on the fence all week after watching a few videos. Yours has finally persuaded me. Parts all ordered and arriving Saturday.

[@keithbriscoe99]

who knew!!!??? This is so helpful and eye-opening. Thank you.

[@al-dorifto1631]

Bro I'm a Queenslander and dunno bout anywhere else but back in the day anyway we have a saying "if zipties can't fix it, it ain't worth being fixed" ;) my pro drift car the bodykit is done up with zipties but anyone that is in the drift world should know the reasons for that... Incase anyone is curious it's cuz zips will break before fibreglass so if u hit the apex or something and rip the body kit off the zipties break and u don't issues from screws etc breaking the kit

[@AmillionCo]

Hello Can you wire a start ignition led button without soldering?

[@cgpilk]

I love those USB joystick encoders, way easier than an arduino or pi for an electronics noob like me :)

[@Dasspapirfly]

Surprisingly this almost looks like something even I'd not be able to fuck up and doesn't look too bad. Witchcraft!!

[@ChrisHaye]

I managed to not ruin 3 of them, it can't be that hard :D

[@SergioSergio12345]

"I just REALLY need to use this random stock footage every minute bro you dont get it"

[@Bbarrow79]

ive made the joy usb boxes in the past dont know why i never thought of a 10 key. my dad was an accountant,man he loved his 10 key

[@marcusdutton1808]

Loved the Joffrey line :))

[@catnipherb]

People in the arcade game community especially the fighting game scene use those kind of PCB's all the time, to build their own joysticks to play Tekken, Street Fighter, King of Fighters and so on. They buy parts separately, the pcb, buttons and joystick from either Sanwa or Seimitsu and then begin their DIY projects. Before the existence of those zero delay arcade encoder pcb thing, people used Playstation One control pads (the original, not the Dual Shock analogue), took it apart and used the pcb from it. ...And now Sim Racers using arcade buttons for button boxes is about to become a trend. Brace yourself, Sanwa and Seimitsu all the sudden have loads of new customers coming in...

[@wwjnz9263]

Chris... This is an amazing video. I can use a button box and building one myself would be a nice little project. Definitely going to make my own button box now! Thanks.

[@rudyversteeg1]

this is really a funny and great vid... thanks Chris. gonna try to build soon something myselves

[@ChrisHaye]

Glad you enjoyed it! Have fun!

[@chrinaldi]

Title : DIY sim racing button box. Content : button box for anything, really. Price : cheap Value : priceless References : we gonna need more warehouse for that.

[@schmidtvonhallzig]

Not as cheap but also easy to use, I can recommend the Leo Bodnar ButtonBox Interfaces. They also support rotary encoders. Anyways. Nice video, I enjoyed you, diving deep in your Adobe Stock library.

[@ChrisHaye]

Definitely! I’m a big fan of the Bodnar boards. I still have one kept safe for a bit of a dream project that I hope I can realise this year!

[@vb_matic4166]

You can add two rotary encoders to the shown USB encoder. In total 12 buttons and two rotary

[@Joakim_Johansson]

@@vb_matic4166Where do i plug the rotarys in on the USB board?

[@timayres2405]

Entertaining and informative at the same time, breezy and quick as always, thanks!

[@troystevenson4038]

Great video! Def going to make a keypad button box. What do we have to do to get that sticker button file?!?

[@WhiteTornadoGaming]

I'm having an issue hooking a 3 pin toggle/led to a usb encoder. I wired it according to all videos and the instructions. I either can get just the light always on or the toggle works and registers on the pc. I want the light to come on only when the switch is turned on. And that's exactly how i wired it. But it does not work as it should. Right now the toggle does work and registers in windows, however the led is not lit at all

[@RossoSimRacing]

Using as easy to use Leo Bodnar boards, you can also use encoders

[@ChrisHaye]

Oh definitely - I'm a big fan, I've still got a pair of Bodner boards left. With a bit of luck, maybe I'll make my own wheel one day :)

[@RossoSimRacing]

@@ChrisHaye if you need help, you know my number😉

[@BadWallaby]

Since Im into rhythm games and arcade stuff I have a ton of these Sanwa arcade buttons as well as switches and I cant wait to do this as well! I already ordered those little arcade boards :D Thanks Chris!!

[@kevinmastrogiacomo2727]

I just followed this tutorial and it turned out amazing!!! Thanks so much for this! I’ll find a way to send pics

[@AdamKaylor]

Would rocker switches work?

[@SnoodyMcFlude]

Proud just how many cable ties are used on my rig.

[@utopianandroid]

Dude this video is perfection! Hilarious and helpful. Great job!

[@Gary-si8lr]

Can you do a video on how to build a backlit button box?

[@Lachlan_2005]

How do you Know which cord plugs into where? Very good video just not sure where which cord goes where into the board??

[@citricnick2252]

I see in button boxes that there is a "fuel button". What type of switch is that called? When you push it in, it stays pushed in, pressing it again de activates the switch.

[@JimVR]

Brilliant video mate, nicely put together and really informative.

[@martinsorg4929]

what a great video! Thanks a lot! Think Im gonna opt for the numpad one. Really pushed my buttons there ;)

[@ChrisHaye]

Thanks Martin. I think the labels and carbon vinyl ended up costing more than the numpad in the end 😂

[@mons2639]

Chris, you are the best....

[@SimonRoss-vl1nx]

Hi mate I know you mad ethos vid a long time ago but can you tell me what buttons you used please as I can only find buttons you have to hold in to be on. Great video 👌

[@diegojusto705]

is it alredy compatable with the computer so you just have to set up the controls in game?

[@Jansson18]

Never done anything like this but seems kinda easy (and fun) . Just got a quick question. Wanna start with a super small one , ignition and start engine. The start engine is gonna be a push button ofc but want a toggle switch with cover for the ignition. Now here comes the question , how can I make it so if i open the cover , hit the switch and the ignition comes on, but i want the ignition to stay on even if i close the cover?

[@killroy713]

need to build a button box for truck simming but need toggles rather then momentary switches

[@ValiantSaintAndSon]

Brilliant video! I've just bought a cheap numpad (£8 off amazon) thanks to this video. What's the best way to attach the icons (thanks for uploading them) to the keys? I was thinking about laminating them for longevity......

[@mizaro0511]

This is nice. Is it plug and play? Then assign each button from the game setting?

[@ml1186]

alcantara foil is also a good option, instead of the carbon

[@jacksawyer7300]

I was just about to buy a button box, but think I'm gonna have a crack at making one now

[@ChrisHaye]

It's worth a look dude - especially if you can pick up the parts cheaper than from Jeff ;)

[@jacksawyer7300]

@@ChrisHaye even going with old Jeff, it's significantly cheaper than an pre-built ebay jobby

[@OfficialRedDirtNurse]

I use RAM Mounts to attach my button boxes to my rig.

[@fanofhumor9384]

Can u explain one thing, usb board has ~ 12 pushbutton ports, so u used 4 separated usb boards as 4 different usb devises? Thank you Chris.

[@alexharkettsimracing]

Awesome video! I'll definitely be giving this a go!!

[@pwi-studio]

really like this video - will help many guys to start their DIY career i think i started with such a USB controller 😃

[@Meditech509]

You are so right. We really are not above anything. Anyone have a zip tie?

[@DavidJackson-zc4eq]

Nice one, feel a DIY project coming on :)

[@EnsiFerrum]

Next time we meet (next SimRacingExpo?) I will bring my soldering iron to give you some lessons :-D Nice idea with the tape! I have to learn using tape the hard way ;-) For fixing the BBox I prefer Velcro Tape from Tesa.

[@smithp573]

Absolutely brilliant. Simple as that eh.

[@matk4731]

Bloody awesome 👏 Thanks for sharing 👍🏻👍🏻🙃🙃

[@yokoh691]

never realized how it easy it is lol

[@awdmz3]

I did this and it's great but it detects as a gamepad so some buttons don't work and have interference with my wheel, any advice?

[@dr0nz893]

Is there a way to to add more types of inputs like switches and sliders?

[@Walt1119]

Great video Chris!! Im in need of a button box and this sure fits the bill!!! Thanks so much!!! w

[@Manu68-Simracing]

Thanks a lot for this very useful tutorial. Could you maybe give us some purchase links ? Thanks in advance

[@dylman5744]

Thank you for this very good tutorial, but do you know if they would work with fighter-jet style switches as well?

[@rtimmins7212]

great video, easy to follow. Im going to make one. Thank you

[@kyussgaming5588]

Awesome Video! A few questions though. First, could I use this to control my OBS directly, or would I have to map the buttons to keyboard keys? Second, could I use a toggle switch to mute my microphone (i.e Toggle switch up for Mute on, switch down for mute off)? Third, Do i need to be an admin to install/use this on a computer? Lastly, Could I make this wireless in some way?

[@Odysseus38]

Omg i love you thank you for this video youre saving me so much money on buying a new wheel with more buttons haha

[@Anytheros]

Will there be any keybinding issues if i buy 2 of those boards to make 2 boxes to put one on each side of the wheel?

[@mikepollard4757]

Mate, my pedals were zip tied down for the first 6 months of my sim racing 😄

[@alexandercurtis7772]

Great video! Is there a way to use switches too with the encoder?

[@jeep4lyfe319]

Are the red and black buttons the 12mm ones? 18mm dont seem to pop up well on the old amazon. Obviously the big red ones are the 24 mm lol

[@dave-j-k]

Very nice, would the zero delay board show up on an X-Box console?

[@YotaakGFX]

If i wanted to use a rotory switch for like brake bias for example, how would I go about doing that / what switch would I use?

[@VS_00393]

I had a question for a usb button box. Can it work outside of racing sim, like for other uses/task

[@patrickjanssens5923]

Nice Job, is it also working for the xbox series x, or do I need another encoder

[@JoakimGulbrandsen]

That numpad-idea was great, but when i tried it it connected as my main keyboard numpad. Made all sorts of issues :(

[@combatwombat594]

I made one myself the exact same way before even seeing the video. My issue is, I want 3 way switches for my button box, but don't know how to make them work with the USB board. Clearly I can't use the cable with the connectors they came with, but can I just splice it and make it work?

[@Merom]

Hi! Is it possible to use more buttonboxes at the same time? For example I want a button box above me but also next to the steering wheel? Hope somebody will see this comment hha

[@jameswiggin2631]

Would it be easy to use a few rotary encoders with this type of PCB?

[@Steven-bq5fu]

Sorry if dumb question. I saw that the USB is automagically recognized by windows. Is there software needed to map the keys? If I wanted to use this for something else like a space or flight sim, would that be needed, or is it game dependent?

[@theobrown3141]

Could you have some of the buttons set up to control other software in the background? Would it be possible to have discord controls set to a few buttons while the rest be set up for a game?

[@kriss_077_]

Can i use another. Usb board and make one box whit 64 buttons?

[@Finch7Stunt]

Are buttons from the numeric keypad recognized as the same button from the keyboard ? Example : 7 from keypad = 7 from the keyboard ? or it is a different input signal for the game control ? i would like to avoid conflict during configuration. Thanks !

[@_mati90_82]

does the Burton box need software or drivers to work?

[@heelandtoeknee]

That’s a short one and I love it. 👍 So all I do in the end is plug it into the PC via USB? Thanks Chris!