I made a F1-style steering wheel for VR sim-racing from scratch

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/51305553

I've been wanting an F1-style steering wheel for sim racing for ages, but I didn't want to spend massive amounts of cash on a commercially-built steering wheel that could be great but had loads of features I didn't care about (especially LEDs and a screen) since I play in VR.

A colleague of mine, who is also into sim racing, built a steering wheel that was better than almost anything you can find from Fanatec/Moza/Thrustmaster/whatevs for around 500€.

So, of course, I decided to buy the same thing build it myself from scratch for the challenge and to save some money. Because I'm an idiot, I guess. I thought it would take me 2-3 weekends. It took 4 months. It's basically a wheel-shaped mechanical keyboard. It was the biggest non-essential project of my life. I learned a lot, including not getting myself delusional enough to start that kind of project on a whim.

Features:

• F1-shaped steering wheel, heavily inspired by Ferrari's one with the general shape and front. Back is closer to Mercedes'.
• Magnetic shift paddles
• Analog clutch (WIP)
• 7 rotary encoders
• 10 face buttons + 2 back buttons + 5 clickable encoders
• Quick-release connection to the steering column
• Aviator-style USB connector
• QMK firmware
• Everything is 3D-printed except for the aluminium mid-plate and the quick-release

If you guys are interested I have a few WIP pictures, so I could start a build log. WDYT?