Repairing my Kraft Executive III Joystick

[rubber_jonnie]

As I posted on my general chat, I have a Kraft Executive III joysick that has seen better days:

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As evidenced by the floppy X axis, which when you consider it to be a self centring joystick, its somewhat alarming.

Currently it looks like this:

IMG20260104175747.jpg (231.3 KiB) Viewed 609 times

So it's time to get it fixed. The broken part is on the left here:

IMG20260105143251.jpg (73.8 KiB) Viewed 609 times

It appears to be a Zinc or Aluminium cast/injection moulded part and the long pin that engages with the X Axis has sheared off. I suspect planned obsolescence, cheaping out or both to be at play here!!!

So I intend to use the brass and steel pin to replace it. It will need a bit of machining but I have what I need to do it, so am quite hopeful it will be a relatively simple job.

Will report more as the repair commences

[rubber_jonnie]

For reference, this is where the original part sat:

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So hopefully I can replicate this with the new part I make.

[mrbombermillzy]

Cool topic Jon.

You dont often see joystick repair topics around here.

Never seen one of those before. It reminds me of the BBC Voltmace joysticks.

[rubber_jonnie]

Cool topic Jon.

You dont often see joystick repair topics around here.

Never seen one of those before. It reminds me of the BBC Voltmace joysticks.

As it goes I have a pair of Voltmace sticks for the BBC as well as the original BBC sticks.

IMG20260104175733.jpg (476.6 KiB) Viewed 579 times

The BBC sticks are awful and non self centering.

I think Kraft were expensive at the time and not well known in the UK. I once had a 2ch radio control set from Kraft, it was half decent and I won it in a competition.

[rubber_jonnie]

So I managed to get some time at lunchtime and came up with this:

IMG20260106160043.jpg (285.42 KiB) Viewed 560 times

It looks like it should do the trick, I just need to decide if I will epoxy it all in place or if I'll see if I can do something less permanent, though I expect permanence not be an issue once it's all reassembled and working.

[rubber_jonnie]

OK, so the replacement part is all epoxied in and has set very strongly.

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However I don't understand why one was made this way and the other was part of the injection moulding like this:

IMG20260108113324.jpg (161.94 KiB) Viewed 543 times

Especially when it's installed like this:

IMG20260108113056.jpg (162.18 KiB) Viewed 543 times

There is no real reason to do it this way and make it out of a mechanically inferior material to the steel pin...

So I have some epoxy putty I'm going to add around the pin to make sure it won't be failing again.

[rubber_jonnie]

So I was going to use Milliput to fill in the joystick gimball, however mine has gone kind of funny due to sitting in a drawer for a while, so I opted to use a thick UV cured resin and it's done a fantastic job

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IMG20260108142012.jpg (189.89 KiB) Viewed 532 times

So next up I need to reassemble and test/clean the pots and switches before reassembly.

[rubber_jonnie]

And all back together:

IMG20260108152347.jpg (285.93 KiB) Viewed 525 times

IMG20260108152742.jpg (85.4 KiB) Viewed 525 times

Works great and the latches for turning off self centering work perfectly too. I need to test on a real system but the pots and switches are all fine.

[mrbombermillzy]

Splendid work as usual Jon.

[rubber_jonnie]

Splendid work as usual Jon.

Thank you sir