9mm ABXY Button Mod Tutorial

[jrfhoutx]

9mm ABXY Button Mod

By: jrfhoutx

READ THE ENTIRE TUTORIAL BEFORE BEGINNING.


DO NOT USE LIVE AMMUNITION FOR THIS MOD. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT ALL EMPTY CASINGS HAVE HAD ALL PRIMING POWDER REMOVED AND HAVE BEEN CLEANED.


Introduction
I did not create this mod, I do not know who did. I came up with this method of performing the mod and that is all...

This tutorial will show you how to make ABXY buttons out of 9mm casings. This method does not destroy your OEM ABXY buttons. So, if you want to swap them out you can.

There are many ways to obtain 9mm casings. It is possible to purchase empty casings from reloading suppliers. You will find that there are several ways you'll find casings from these suppliers. First, they mostly deal in bulk (after all you don't go to the firing range and only shoot 10 rounds...), but they'll have many options available for you. Most suppliers will have the casings with the old empty primer still in them, as well as with no primer at all (no old one or new one). The primer-less casings are good for LED installs as you can sand down a 5mm LED casing and fit it into the hole for the primer. You will also most likely see them offered dirty or polished. I think for this mod this is really an issue of personal preference, which one you get will really affect nothing other than the aesthetic of your mod (personally I don't like the shiny high polish look, i prefer the buttons to look a little worn and weathered). Another way to obtain empty casings is to visit your local firing range and ask them if they have any for sale (first ask if they have any empty shells you can have, then ask if they'll sell them to you if they won't just give them to you). Some ranges reload, some don't reload but ship off empties anyway for sale by a reloading supplier, both will most likely make you pay for the empties, however some places are ok with you taking a few without paying... I get my empty casings from my in-Laws who are avid gun and hunting enthusiasts, they do not reload ammunition so they save their empty casings to give to me.

Now, there are two ways to do this, with or without a torch. Without a torch, you can easily break tabs if the metal tears at the bottom of the notches you cut; due to bending the brass against the preformed curvature the casing. With a torch, you are able to heat the metal enough that it will be pliable and easier to reform without tearing or breaking. The torch is not a necessity by any means, as I have done this mod many times without it; however it does help in making a cleaner looking finished product. No ugly tears or curved tabs.



Please read the entire tutorial before beginning as recommendations for tools, supplies, and procedures are given through out the tutorial but are not listed with the tools and supplies lists (this is so that you will read the entire tutorial before you start, or at least look it over to get the tips before you start and in the process get general idea of the mod and what you are getting yourself into).




Parts Needed

• 4 EMPTY 9mm casings
• 1 set of ABXY buttons

**EMPTY means the cartridge has previously been fired by a qualified individual and has no remaining gunpowder, primer charge or slug, or are purchased empty and primer-less from a reloading supplier providing no chance of anything going off and injuring you**



Tools/Supplies Needed:

• Dremel
• Dremel cutting wheels
• Dremel sanding bit
• Pliers
• Needle nose pliers
• Pencil
• Paper
• Hot glue gun
• Hot glue
• X-Acto knife

Optional:

• Butane torch

Difficulty rating:
Experienced: 2-3/5
Inexperienced:3-4/5


Average Time to Complete:
45 mins to 1 hour or more


Notes:
This mod can be difficult because the shells are soft brass and it cuts, thins, bends and breaks very easily...

ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES WHEN WORKING WITH A DREMEL ROTARY TOOL.
 

Step By Step Tutorial

Luger 9mm


OK so here is how you make 9mm ABXY buttons, I'm only going to show the entire process for one button because that's all that you need to see, you do all of them the same way, so no point in showing the same thing four times...

First, you need to make some templates, so take out your stock buttons and trace their 'footprint'. Basically the pattern of the tabs on each button. Make sure you remember which ones you've done, you don't want to end up with two of the same button pattern...




Here you can kind of see the pencil markings that go vertically on the shells... That's to mark the placement of the tabs, making the mark extend further helps you keep the cut straight and allows you to see it better when you get closer to the depth marker. that way you don't end up with odd size tabs that allow the buttons to turn too much...


Here is marking the depth of the tab. This measurement determines how high the button will come out of the controller. To get it right you just need to mark it off on the same paper that you marked the footprints and transfer it to the shells. This way you can lay a pencil right on the mark and line up the shell in the right place and just roll the shell and it will mark in the right spot if you're carefull... I use the X button for this because all the buttons have the same tab depth and overall height, but the X has the most level face surface...


I usually just trim off a little of the shell right now, but i usually just eye it and freehand that part with the cutting wheel but to determine a proper place to mark you would just use the same method as the tab depth, measure and then mark.



Here you can see the line I've marked for how much needs to be removed to make it fit properly. It's really not much, maybe the same width as a cutting wheel on a dremel, maybe a bit more...





Here is another shot where you can see the difference in length... I know it's not much, but it is necessary. If you don't trim this then when you press the button the shell will actually make contact with the board and cut through the rubber contact pad. When you trim the shell like this you allow a bit more travel in the button, saving your controller... Technically you could trim the shell all the way back to the tabs, but i don't bother, it makes em a bit easier to hold onto when installing...









OK now, debur the jagged edges as best you can, then carefully fold back the tabs. The metal is thin and because of the cut we made and the curve of the metal, it can tear and then snap off... So you have to be careful...



Or you need one of these:

[img =500]http://[/img]

A small Butane torch is definitely something to invest in if you plan on doing this mod often. This one came from a creme brulee set that I have, but can be purchased separately. You can find these in many places but most definitely in a kitchen store. I have no idea how much they cost; this one was a gift. A torch that has a solid base that it can stand up on, an adjustable flame and a flame lock are things you should look for in a torch for this mod.

Optional if you have a torch handy:
[spoiler]

If you have a torch available then you don't have to worry about breaking off those tabs. Get your torch, a pair of pliers, a pair of needle nose pliers, and a small bowl of water.

Light up your torch and set it on a flat, stable surface, away from flammable objects. Now, take a pair of pliers and use them to grip the rim of the shell. Insert the opposite end of the shell into the flame. Aim the flame right at the base of tab you want to bend. Hold it there until the metal glows a reddish orange, then remove it from the flame. Immediately use the needle nose pliers to bend the tab to the proper position and then return the tab to the flame until the tab glows, remove from the flame and use the needle nose pliers to flatten the tab out. Now, move on to the next tab until you're done with that shell. When all the tabs are bent, heat the whole base and then dip it in the water. This will create a good deal of hissing and steam and a little smoke, all of which is normal...



[/spoiler]


Pics for this revision will be up as soon as new ones are taken...






So trim that off the ends of all the bullets and fold back the tabs. Be careful, you don't want this \/ to happen.

If this does happen it's not a problem, you can still have the button sit properly with only two tabs. If one had to break off you'd want it to be the smallest one, but because of the curve of the shell the biggest tab will be the one most likely to break... This becomes a problem later because the smallest tab will now be under the most force and pressure, so it will be the most likely to break next; At that point you'd have to make a new button, but if you have the resource to do this in the first place then I'd imagine that making another one wouldn't be a problem for you...

OK, here you can see, on both the shell furthest to the left and right, the lines I've penciled in to mark the tab positions. This photo shows another good reason to extend those lines. when you cut in you leave a mark to follow, but the lines will help you to distinguish which part is the tab you need to fold back. If you lost that you might fold back the wrong section accidentally...


You can also see the difference in height between the trimmed shell and the untrimmed one. The two on the left are the finished X button (the shorter one with the tabs already turned down, which I made first), and the others that I made afterwards... so you can see that you really don't trim much off...



Now pop it into the controller and check the fit of the footprint...


Here you can see that the tabs turned out a little small... All that means is that the buttons will have a  bit more of a chance to rotate in their place. also you can see that if you already trimmed some of the shell before you bent the tabs back that you don't have to trim the tabs any more than that, and they will not interfere...




/\ \/   OK, so here you can see that even with careful planning the tabs for the buttons are just a bit too big. Sometimes they come out perfect the first time without any trimming, and sometimes you're a little off...



Anyway, test fit the buttons first, mark the tabs that need to be trimmed and then trim them. Test them again and if they fit then move on, if not repeat until your tabs fit...



Here you can see that the buttons fit well in the slots and they're trimmed back, just don't forget to check the action on them by pressing them to make sure that the tabs don't catch in their slots...



So once all the buttons fit properly, take each one and load it up with hot glue, level the glue right around the height of the tabs... I like to fill the glue just above tab level and then press in with the back end of my X-Acto knife. The back of my knife fits perfectly and this will press the last of the glue out the sides giving you a good height with very little trimming left to do; just wait till it cools to get your knife back or you can pull the glue out. As I said before if you get too much just trim it a bit with an X-Acto knife...



This one here was a perfect pour. It came to just the right height and didn't need any trimming or any additional glue to fill it in if there wasn't enough the first time...




/\  \/  Here you can seethe one I showed you earlier with the tab that was breaking off... Well when i was trimming the tabs to fit their slots the tab broke off, so here are a couple shots so you can see that, and can see that it'll still work...




Pop the button in...

Test it out...


that's pretty much it... very very simple...









Now you can see the fruit of your labor...
Top view:


3/4 view:


Side view:


Side view 2:


So that's all of it!

Credits and Thanks to:
digitizd @ X-S for his write up on how to make 9mm ABXY buttons, his was the first one I saw and where I got the inspiration for this version...

[Anonamous]

Nice tutorial

[45th Assassin]

Thanks man.... God knows how many 9mm casings I have lying around....

[jrfhoutx]

I'll be revising this soon and adding some pictures for the alternate section that uses the torch, just don't have any right now...

[Anonamous]

Ive got a friend who already made them using this tutorial. From the pics of them it looks like it came out great. Lucky bastard can just go into hist back yard and let off rounds. These r the times where I hate living in NJ you cant do a damn thing here

[jrfhoutx]

I had to wait to respond to this I was so infuriated by the insinuation that these images were poached from another site (never has a comment on AM made me consider leaving this site until now). That is the watermark used for all but one of these images. I took all the pics, I made the watermark, and I applied it to all the images before uploading them. So, yes, they are my original images.

As for the alternate method of glueing the caps of shells to button stubs, I personally feel it's an inferior method of construction, and does not look as nice as a finished product. I also feel that it doesn't hold up as well in the long run (the shells eventually detach from the stubs, yes, I've done both methods, that's why I use this one). Do it however you want, but I use this method because it holds up better, looks nicer, and should you decide to take them out at some point, you still have your unaltered stock buttons.

[whitetop]

nice tut ill be trying this on the ps3 if its the right size.

plus dont listen to bad comments mate.


keep up the good work look forward to your next mod

[jrfhoutx]

It's cool, no worries, let's just let it rest as it is and move on from here.

Im quite calm, and Matt, you know me I'm one of the last people here to fly off the handle and speak before thinking. That why I waited till I cooled off a bit to post anything.

As for the title I still maintain that it's up to the admin staff to decide if and when my admin title is put back up.

Anyway, I hope everyone finds the tut useful. If the procedure was leaked then guess it's my own fault for dragging my feet on the release. Either way, enjoy!

[jrfhoutx]

@whitetop: if you have a set of dial calipers then you can measure the diameter of the buttons (or use a ruler and be as accurate as possible, preferably use millimeters if you use a ruler, if you use calipers then give both inches and mm) and let me know and I can try and find the best size for them. I'd measure them for myself but I don't own a PS3 and don't plan to fork out $60 for a PS3 controller when I have no system


Btw, a teaser for the next on the list of cartridge mods are guide button, start and select (probably .380s and most likely will require drilling out the button holes in the controller shell, .22s just don't fit right IMO), and rimfire .22s for rapid fire buttons... Oh and bottle cap d-pads too!

[whitetop]

8mm length
1cm weight

that's just a normal ruler Ive got nothing better to get sizes but that's a spot on size

[jrfhoutx]

8mm length
1cm weight

that's just a normal ruler Ive got nothing better to get sizes but that's a spot on size

What's the width (distance from side to side across the face or base of the button)? I usually set the button upright (in the orientation the button would be in if in the controller) on the ruler to measure width.



Ok guys lets drop the discussion of the pics. It's cool and I have no problem with any of you. I understand where Rodent is coming from and appreciate him keeping AM's best interests in mind. Let's let it be and move on. No harm no foul.

Let's keep the thread discussion on the topic of help for those following the tut and related questions. If this isn't possible then I'll just lock the thread.

[whitetop]

What's the width (distance from side to side across the face or base of the button)? I usually set the button upright (in the orientation the button would be in if in the controller) on the ruler to measure width.

this is all i have i made it more better in the pic its upright
the 1cm is sized from the bottom side from side

[jrfhoutx]

Hmmm. Ok, wow, that's a wide button. Off hand a .40 S&W has a 10.8mm base which is just a little bit bigger than the button. I'll look and see if I can find something right at 10mm (other than a 10mm cartridge, I don't think those are very common).


Edit:
Lol didn't think about the fact that the 360 buttons are around the same size lol

Best bet would probably be a 10mm auto or a .40 S&W... They're both about 10.8mm at the base and shoulder...

[sgtmajorsav]

Anyone know how to make the bottom plastic piece of doing like this or another way to mold the bottom piece of the regular xbox button instead of cutting the bottom piece and attaching it to the bullet? Ive seen people who have the notches in platic that seems to have been casted somehow. Anyone know how to do it?

[jrfhoutx]

yeah, make your own mold and cast your own, or just follow the tut and save yourself the headache.

[sgtmajorsav]

no

[jrfhoutx]

depends on how you want to go about doing it, if you want a direct replacement similar to the 9mm buttons in this tut, then there are a couple of rounds that kinda work, but after all the research I've done to find them I'm not handing out that information until I have a tut finished for it (and I doubt that you want to spend ~$20 per empty unmodified shell anyway). if you want to do it the way I see a lot of people do it where you cut the top of the guide button off and glue a shell to it then from what I understand a 7.62 or a 30-30 will work, and there are a few others as well.

[sgtmajorsav]

oh

[jrfhoutx]

As I stated before, I've spent a lot of time researching the correct rounds to use for a direct replacement and until I release a tut for it I'm not giving out the info, and I have no obligation to do so and I don't care how it makes me come off to people...

If you want to do it the other way, then I've given several acceptable rounds to use that others have successfully used previously with the cut and glue method...

[sgtmajorsav]

 

[Blazinkaos]

Wow how did i miss this. Thats really sick idea.

[RyanF]

I just finished this and the Shotgun shell D-pad and a mod of my own.  I put some small .22 shells in the back/start buttons.  It looks cool.   

[Blazinkaos]

Very nice ryan I am impressed.

[Sammy]

 wish this was for psp

[Blazinkaos]

wish this was for psp

you never know

[jrfhoutx]

probably not for PSP, it's an issue of finding the right size shell, having a gun to fire them from and then also an issue of primer depth... the PSP buttons are ridiculously thin and any cartridge's primer would most likely be prohibitively large...

however in case you missed my little teaser on this one and you happen to have some .40 S&Ws laying around and a wiimote...




uses the exact same construction method as the 9mm ABXYs, just substitute the A button for the ABXY buttons when making your template and boom, .40 S&W wiimote A button...


and just to point out, I have yet to see anyone do this one, so when I start seeing them pop up on ebay and the like, I know where you :censored:ers got it from, just remember where you saw it first... or feel free to correct me if you have seen it before, and remember to post a link to it. 

[FOOKz™]

I'll let you know when they become the next ebay trend, jr.

[Blazinkaos]

Ahh nice the wii controller now.

[jrfhoutx]

Yeah I picked up a wii at Christmas last year and I've been itching to do some wii mods, but I don't have much time for it anymore, but this took about half an hour to do, so I thought I'd start here

It's about the only button I can find a shell to fit though, so it may be the only one that gets done... You can use the .40 S&W for 360 ABXY too, but you have to grind out the holes in the controller shell to make them fit, so it's not as practical really... Next paycheck I'm going to have a go at a direct fit replacement for the 360 guide button, but the shells are not only very expensive, but really hard to come by for the average person who only wants to do one or two of them...

[roc82]

Great TUT man very detailed thanks for putting this together