The gasket really helps. When I installed the metal stick without any sanding the scratching was noticeable and created resistance. I think the scratching came from under the lip of the stick not in contact with the gasket. I could be wrong but sanding the coating off to a smooth steel surface...
I recently replaced my new 3ds xl circle pad with a metal Shapeways stick as shown above. I definitely would recommend this mod BUT all the surfaces touching the housing needs to be sanded down thoroughly. The stick is solid metal with a powdered type coating which will scratch and add...
My 1500ish games is all hand picked and scraped it's taken me months but zero trash well except MAME.... Tried deleting clones and broke the originals uugghh