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Step 12Creating the Ribbon
We'll be using the plastic wire that we took out of the secondary spool as the ribbon. The trick of this step is getting the wire looped around the two pulleys and tied together in a way that maintains the ribbons appropriate tautness. But there are a few other tricky step before we get to that.
First you have to make the ring. This is the part of the ribbon through which your finger will go when playing with the controller. I used a binder clip with the two arms removed to create a permanent loop in the plastic wire. This meant that I could avoid making any cuts in the wire and tying any more knots than I already had to. However you attach the ring, make sure that you have plenty of wire on either side to loop around the rest of the controller.
Once you've put your ring in place you'll have to thread the both ends of the wire through the joystick. This is a breeze in reverse when you're taking the instrument apart, but it can be quite the challenge when you're trying to re-thread them. My only advise is persistence. The ends of the wire can and will get through the small opening at the end of the joystick, it just takes a bit of will power.
Next, loop the ends around the two pulleys. For the secondary spool, you may want to consider using some material on the spool's surface to help it grip to the smooth plastic wire. I used a thin strip of soft velcro because it was what I had lying around, but I imagine some light, pliable rubber would do the trick nicely.
Once you have the wire looped around the entire apparatus you'll have to tie it back together. This is where the small extension spring comes in. By tying either end of the ribbon to the spring you can pull and push on the ribbon to work the two joysticks. Make sure that the point where you tie the spring doesn't limit the ring's mobility along the controller. You'll want to tie the ribbon so that it is constantly taut, not so taut that it stretches the spring, but such that the spring will immediately expand when you begin to stretch the ribbon outwards. As you can see in the picture, I decided not to cut off the excess plastic wire and instead let it lie at the back of the controller. As long as it wasn't tangling with anything I figured that it was best to leave it in case I had to re-tighten the ribbon.
First you have to make the ring. This is the part of the ribbon through which your finger will go when playing with the controller. I used a binder clip with the two arms removed to create a permanent loop in the plastic wire. This meant that I could avoid making any cuts in the wire and tying any more knots than I already had to. However you attach the ring, make sure that you have plenty of wire on either side to loop around the rest of the controller.
Once you've put your ring in place you'll have to thread the both ends of the wire through the joystick. This is a breeze in reverse when you're taking the instrument apart, but it can be quite the challenge when you're trying to re-thread them. My only advise is persistence. The ends of the wire can and will get through the small opening at the end of the joystick, it just takes a bit of will power.
Next, loop the ends around the two pulleys. For the secondary spool, you may want to consider using some material on the spool's surface to help it grip to the smooth plastic wire. I used a thin strip of soft velcro because it was what I had lying around, but I imagine some light, pliable rubber would do the trick nicely.
Once you have the wire looped around the entire apparatus you'll have to tie it back together. This is where the small extension spring comes in. By tying either end of the ribbon to the spring you can pull and push on the ribbon to work the two joysticks. Make sure that the point where you tie the spring doesn't limit the ring's mobility along the controller. You'll want to tie the ribbon so that it is constantly taut, not so taut that it stretches the spring, but such that the spring will immediately expand when you begin to stretch the ribbon outwards. As you can see in the picture, I decided not to cut off the excess plastic wire and instead let it lie at the back of the controller. As long as it wasn't tangling with anything I figured that it was best to leave it in case I had to re-tighten the ribbon.
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