jog pendant

This project ended up easier than I thought. Turns out the Due, Seeedstudio XIAO and a few others have built in keyboard and mouse emulation. In other words once you load your sketch, reset the device and windows sees the arduino as a HID interface (keyboard and mouse). See the attached pic of my prototype.
Once the drivers are loaded a simple button input send keyboard commands exactly as if you hit a button on your PC. I used the Seeedstudio XIAO because it is small, has an onboard USB-C connector, is less than $6 and I had one sitting around. I ordered a 6 pack of two position toggle switches from amazon for ~$10. You need a momentary ON left - Off in the center - and momentary ON right toggle switch for each axis. The 6 contacts plus ground are wired directly to arduino inputs. The green push button acts like a shift key. If you hold it down and toggle one of the switches you get 100% jog speed. This little tool has already come in handy. My next step is to print up a box for it. I'm going to make it like a little origin cube with the switches on the sides so the direction of the switch is exactly aligned with the direction of intended movement. The code is pretty hack right now but if anyone wants more info or the code PM me.

why don't you use a gampad?

That's interesting. For me I put a high priority on customization and learning. I want to be able to put switches in space where they make sense to me and assign functions. As an alternative and future reference how does the game pad option work in practices? Can you describe what buttons map to what action? is there any ability to specify button functions?

You can map the buttons and analog sticks however you want, you can also use an external num pad but it will be digital and not analog.
I made two videos, one with the game pad...
https://youtu.be/9TffMHVSxX0
and one with the num pad...
https://youtu.be/8KuJ7HXlgcc

This is super helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share. For the game pad will any of the many options on amazon work the same? or are there specific features / brands that matter?
I'd really like to understand how the analog / variable speed works. I assume the game pad is emulating keyboard inputs so there must be some way to change the jog speed on the keyboard also?
Is there any other special software or drivers needed to custom map keyboard inputs or is everything configurable via stock windows?

you have to install the free XBox 360 Controller Plugin for UCCNC.
https://www.craftycnc.com/plugins-for-uccnc/

instructions you'll find here
https://www.forum.cncdrive.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4235&sid=5cf833782c959e8f816ee6817da9a83e